PERCEIVED INFORMATION NEEDS IN CORN PRODUCTION OF FARM MANAGEMENT TECHNICIANS IN LEYTE

Abstract

The Farm Management Technicians involved in Maisagana or corn production program in Leyte who served as respondents had ages ranging from 22 to 41 years with a mean age of 28.9. Majority were males and married. All of them completed a bachelor's degree, one-half of whom majored in agronomy. More than half (55%) visited their clients 1-5 times a month, and one-half reported that their visits to their clients usually lasted 2 hr. Almost all (90%) of the respondents reported that they listened to radio, and majority of them listened to radio daily. Both music and farm programs topped the list of radio programs listened to by the respondents. All of them read print media, and of these, newspapers were reported to be the most frequently read publication by 35% of the respondents. A great majority (85%) of the respondents spent from 1 to 8 hr per week reading print media. Co-extension workers were consistently reported by the respondents to be the most frequent source of information for all corn production practices, followed by print and radio. The information needs of the respondents on corn production were found to be on shelling, marketing, and disease and insect pest control.