Plant Protection Practices for Enhancing Maize Production in Secondary School Farms in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine plant protection practices for enhancing maize production in secondary school farms in Imo State, Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study was guided by six research questions and six corresponding hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study was 392 comprising 158 agricultural teachers in urban and 234 in rural area of Imo State. The sample of study was 235 compring 95 agricultural science teachers in urban and 140 in rural area using purposive sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a researcher developed questionnaire titled: Plant Protection Practices for Enhancing Maize Production Questionnaire (PPPEMPQ). The instrument was validated by three experts. Two from Agricultural Education unit of the Department of Agricultural and Vocational Education and one from Measurement and Evaluation unit of Science Education Department, all from College of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The reliability of the instrument was 0.76 derived using Cronbach Alpha statistic. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistic. The results of the data analyses revealed that the 22 identified items were the: Disease, pest and weed control that students can adopt to enhance maize production in secondary school farms. Based on the findings, it was recommended that: The Government of Imo State should create awareness on disease, pest and weed control practices that can be adopted in schools to prevent loses in maize production to improve supply of maize in the state.