Essentialities of Digital Technology Incorporation in Research Tasks by Agro-Researchers in the Southwest Nigerian Farming Zone

Abstract

The study examined the incorporation of digital technologies in the Nigerian agricultural research system and showed that digital technologies such as digital balance, digital pH meter, phone sensors, and the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS), among others, had a high rate of incorporation in agro-research activities in the southwest farming zone of Nigeria. Determinants of such incorporation in agro-research activities were accuracy of data collection, enhancement of research task execution, improvement of research quality, usage convenience and portability of the devices, convenience of usage for data storage, and ease of data retrieval. The Spearman rho correlation test showed a significant correlation between the use of digital oven and its ready availability/accessibility (r = 0.168); digital pH meter and convenient of data storage on the device (r = 0.157); Spectrophotometer and convenient of data storage (r = -0.161); phone sensors and ready availability/accessibility of the device (r = 0.156); use of GPS/GIS and convenience of usage of the devices (r = -0.173) at p<0.05 level. It concluded that only a few of the digital technologies were readily incorporated in research activities by the Nigerian agro-researchers. It was also recommended that application of digital devices in agro-research activities should be intensified for agro-research development in the country.