ABSTRACT

The study was carried out to determine the influence of acquired skills on cassava production by senior secondary schools students in Imo State. Five specific objectives guided the study. Five research questions were developed in consonance with the objectives ofthe study. Five null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the probability of 0.05 level ofsignificance at 348 degree offreedom. The study made use ofsurvey research design. The population for the study was 6124 senior secondary two (SS2) students offering agricultural science in the 180 public secondary schools in Imo State. A multi -stage purposive random sampling technique was adopted, and a sample size of 360 students was drawn using Taro Yamane sample size formula. A37 structured item questionnaire titled ‘Influence of Acquired Skills on Cassava Production by Senior Secondary Schools Students Questionnaire’ “IASCPSSSQ” was developed and used to collect data from 360 respondents. 360 copies of the questionnaire were administered on the respondents and 350 copies of 173 males and 177 females were retrieved. The IASCOSSSQ questionnaire was face validated by three experts. Cronbach alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.70 was obtained. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer research questions while t-test statistics was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of alpha. The findings revealed that students acquired skills had moderate influence in pre-planting, planting, post-planting operations in cassava production as well in the harvesting and marketing of cassava tubers in senior secondary schools. Findings on the hypothesis 1, 2,3,4,and5 tested revealed that there was a significance difference in the mean response of the male and female students in their pre-planting, planting, post planting operations on cassava production as well as in harvesting and marketing of cassava tubers respectively in the senior secondary school in Imo state. It was concluded that an actuate planned step is paramount by teachers of agricultural science in making the subject attractive to students, so as to improve the psycho- productive skills thus, increase their participation in crop production (cassava) to enhance food security. Based on the findings, it is recommended that students need to advocate for guided discovery and learning by doing method ofteaching to enrich their learning process, and also to ensure that they get actual work experience before graduation.