**7. Farmers' sources of information of COVID-19 pandemic**

The result in **Figure 6**, shows farmers'sources of information of COVID-19 pandemic in the area. It reveals that about 99.50 and 93.02% of the farmers source of information was radio and mobile phone (Bulk Text messages) respectively. The merging and use of technology particularly during this period of COVID-19

**Figure 6.** *Farmers' sources of information of COVID-19 pandemic.*

pandemic, that is, telephone (Bulk SMS) and radio has made it more accessible to many. Farmers are able to go everywhere with their radios, including to their farms. Every home had a radio while others had more than one radio. Radio is one of powerful communication tool and has proved to be the most effective media in promoting agriculture and development in rural areas, particularly as a tool for the delivery of quick information.

Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. The [1] recommends cleaning hands in a specific way to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. The guidance for effective handwashing and use of hand sanitizer was developed based on data from a number of studies [8, 9]. About 76.83% have started heavy consumption of fruits and vegetables while a smaller proportion (33.72%) said that Blood of Jesus Christ protects them and they do not and will not practice any measure. The report of [8, 9] has advised people to Use fresh ingredients and those that have a shorter shelf life first. The study of [1, 8, 9] further states that if fresh products, especially fruits, vegetables and reduced-fat dairy products continue to be available, prioritize these over non-perishables. Frozen fruits and vegetables can also conveniently be used over longer periods of time and often have a similar nutrient profile to fresh foods. The author founds out that most farmers do not trust the government and think that COVID-19 is a hoax and means the Nigerian Government and other world leaders want to use and embezzle public fund. This situation, therefore, calls for urgent concern for the global and Nigerian Government to show great sincere and

*Does the Incidence of COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Rice Yield? Lessons from Southeast Nigeria*

**9. Farmers' perceived effect of COVID-19 pandemic in rice farming**

The result of the farmers' distribution based on perceived effect of COVID-19 pandemic in rice farming is compiled in **Table 2**. The various attributes of were rated in a 4- point likert scale type of questions of Strongly Agreed (4); Agreed (3); Disagreed (2) and Strongly Disagreed (1). Using the method of mean score analysis, a discriminatory mean of 2.50 was produced which divided the distribution into four scale was produced. The mean value of each attribute equal to or above (*X̄*= ≥2.50) was regarded as being an accepted decision while attributes with mean value less than (*X̄*= ≤2.50) was regarded as a rejected decision. The values of standard deviation (SD) denote the degree of variation in the responses of the farmers. Standard deviation with values equal or above one indicates high variances in farmers a response regarding level of knowledge of organic farming practices. The standard deviation value which ranged from 0.10 to 0.40 indicated that farmers were in agreement in their perceived effective of organic farming practices on poverty alleviation in the area. Additionally, all the items were rated high and had an acceptable overall discriminatory score (*x̄*= ≥2.50). This result strongly confirmed that COVID-19 pandemic is seriously affecting rice farmers in the area. A very salient finding was that COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting activities in rice value-chains (*x̄*= ≥3.11). The result also showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the partial restriction of all agricultural institutions in the country since March 2020 and disrupted rice activities, like harvesting of 2019/2020 season's rice produce that was ongoing and land preparations and planting for 2020/2021 season. Result show that the non-availability of labor is interrupting planting, harvesting and distribution activities of rice (*x̄*= ≥3.32). There are disruptions in supply chains for purchase of inputs because of poor transportation system and partial lockdown (*x̄*= ≥3.12). Rice farmers are also paying more on inputs (*x̄*= ≥3.43). Result also shows that extension visits to farmers have been seriously and market access limited (*x̄*= ≥3.44) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With its far-reaching geographical spread, the findings confirmed the study of [8, 9] which reported that the pandemic is projected to have devastating effects on the global economy, as attested by the projection of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April 2020 that the world economy would contract sharply by 3.00%, and that the economy of sub-Saharan Africa would

accountable leadership to its citizens at all time.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93744*

contract by 1.60% in 2020.

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The result is strengthened by the finding of [30] who found that radio leads in overall media consumption followed by the mobile phone (Bulk Text messages) with the wake of many vernacular radios which are able to effectively communicate to the targeted groups. The result also shows that simple majority (48.73 and 12.62%) of the farmers identified extension agents and television as one of the sources of information on COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it should be a call for serious concern. For poor extension service delivery, it could be attributed to poor extension contact observed earlier from the socio-economic variable of the farmers in the study. Agricultural extension agents can offer great support to farmers during uncertainty and sudden changes that come with the pandemic, and strategies to bounce back from shocks and enhance resilience. Television is one of the possible mechanisms to activate already existing mental skills in the farmers. Television combines multiple symbol systems, such as visual images, sounds, music, spoken and written language, and presents them simultaneously. Regrettably, poor power supply and high cost of television-set have made it difficult for farmers to assess COVID-19 information thorough it.
