Mechanism for Exploring Nitrification Process by Agricultural Education Graduates for Sustainable Soil Utilization in North-Central Nigeria

The study identifies mechanism for exploring nitrification process by agricultural education graduates for sustainable soil utilization in North Central Nigeria. Survey research design was used for the study. Four research questions guided the study, two null hypotheses were posited and tested at .05 level of probability. A 29 item questionnaire titled ‘Mechanism for exploring nitrification process questionnaire’ (MENPQ) was developed from literature and used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by 3 experts in the Department of Agricultural education and soil science in the University of Agriculture Makurdi. A reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha method. Weighted Mean and Standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The result of data analysis revealed that respondents agreed on all the 7 items involved in the transformation of Nitrogen, 10 items on factors affecting mineralization of Nitrogen, 6 items on ways of Nitrogen gain and 6 items on loss of nitrogen from the soil. It was recommended amongst others that training and workshop should be organized by lecturers of Agricultural education and extension agents for students on methods in which Nitrogen is gained and lost from the soil.

Keywords: Nitrification, soil utilization, Graduates and Agricultural education.