1.1 Introduction
A successful operational farm management depends critically on having Farm Management Information Systems that are both accurate and user-friendly. Unfortunately, despite the agricultural industry’s growing professionalism and increased reliance on Information Technology, the majority of farmers still do not use farm management information system to run their businesses. Agriculture sector in Nigeria is considered a major contributor to economic growth and development. This sector not only meets food demands of population but also provides raw material for industry besides providing surplus for exports. Despite the face this sector has witnessed many high points and low points in recent years, overall growth has remained satisfactory. This sector has a proven great potential to support the nation’s economy both now and in the future if due consideration is given to solve rising issues.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The need for better farming and management practices grows as technology advances. Although many farm management tools are designed to keep advisors and farmers confined to their desks, their overall goals serve as a sort of manual or advice. While we are aware of what is expected of farmers, we are less aware of their actual practices. Farmers’ management tasks were outlined in an approximate manner, and references to numerous published studies—from case studies to large sample surveys were included to show which management tasks the majority of respondent farmers believed to be the most challenging.
Agriculture growth and improvement rely on how concerns various partners particularly farmers who are facing several risks in farm production and marketing of their farm produce, are adequately addressed. Regularly, farmers need to bear value reduction in their produce due to poor infrastructure and post-harvest practices. Moreover, frequent food surpluses and deficiencies have featured the need to modernize marketing system framework so that goal situations can be handled. Marketing can be defined and comprehended in various ways but commonly it is recognized as a place or areas where buyers and sellers gather and interact for buying and selling goods and services.
Many other scholars have described marketing as an exchange process of goods and services accompanied by price making mechanism. Agricultural markets play a central role of assembling rural agricultural produce from scattered and vast production areas and distribute these commodities further to consumers and other stakeholders in urban and peri-urban areas. Agricultural marketing most times encompasses activities which may be picking/harvesting, drying, cleaning, sorting, grading, processing, packaging, labeling, transporting, storage, promotion and sale of agricultural products. All these major activities contribute in adding value to agricultural products as these products flow from farm producers to consumers. While some of these major activities are performed on farmers’ farm, the others are carried out off-farm by other market intermediaries such as traders and agro-processors.
The challenges encountered that led to the execution of the research work is that the manual approach of recording farm information about various plants presented difficulties that prevented the research project from being carried out.
It is against the background that the developments of this software will benefit from the advancements in software, which will create an automated system for storing and retrieving farming data for various plants. By using the database of farming information provided by the system, it will assist the users in effectively implementing their farming practices.
1.3 Statement of Problem
Investigation revealed that following challenges of the existing Farm Management Information System, which entails that:
- There is manual method of documenting farm information concerning different plants.
- There is difficulty in retrieving farming information of plants.
- Absence of appropriate database applications for farm information record management.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to design and implement an Information System for Farm Management using the Ministry of Agriculture as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will:
- Aid farmers in have a proper platform to monitor and manage their farm product;
- Capture and store farming information of different plants; and
- Assist the end users in finding relevant farming information based on specific region.
1.5 Significance of Study
The implementation of the proposed system holds importance as it will furnish the research study with an automated system for archiving and retrieving farming data pertaining to various plants. By using the database of farming information provided by the system, it will assist the users in effectively implementing their farming practices. Additionally, the study will be a helpful academic resource for other researchers who require information on the topic.
1.6 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Design and Implementation of an Information System for Farm Management using the Ministry of Agriculture as a case study.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this research work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.8 Definition of Terms
Farm:
It is a place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.
Farming:
It is the business or act of cultivating land, or raising livestock.
Agro-ICT:
It is the use of Information and communication technology to carry out agricultural activities.
Registration:
This means to keep records received from the management for reference purposes.
Management:
It is the co-ordination of all the resources of an Organization through the process of planning, Organization, directing and controlling
Information:
A meaning full material derived from computer data by organizing it and interpreting it in a specified way.
Information System:
A set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization.
