ABSTRACT

 The study was on the perception of Agriculture as occupation among secondary school students in Imo State. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, find out the perception of secondary school students towards agriculture as an occupation, identify the motivating factors for the choice of agricultural science, determine the position of agricultural science in the students career scale of preference, identify the problems hindering young school leavers from taking up agriculture as a profession. The study was carried out in Owerri zone Imo state, the sample population is one hundred and twenty respondents. Multi-staged sampling technique was used with Questionnaire as data collection instrument. Major findings showed that the majority of the students were in the age group of 19 — 21 years. Fifty nine percent were female, while 40 percent were male. Parents of the students were mainly traders, and public Servants. Sixty percent the respondents strongly agreed that agriculture was a successful occupation. The respondents noted that inadequate financial support from the government is the major factor that discourages the from choosing agriculture as a career, while twenty eighty saw agriculture as a dirty and hard job. There is no significance difference between male and female respondents perception oi their choice of agriculture as an occupation. It was recommended that government and other concerned organization should pursue the professionalization of agriculture in Nigeria, especially by making agricultural science compulsory from Primary to secondary school levels. Incentives should be provided to students studying agriculture with a view to encouraging them.