Abstract
Abstract Mobile applications in crop protection especially for speedy pest diagnosis, monitoring, and management are increasingly gaining global attention and support. An understanding of the awareness and perception of the youths, particularly students in tertiary institutions (who are heavy users of smartphones), on the use of smartphone applications for crop protection, is crucial for sharpening their orientations towards embracing the digital ecosystem in agriculture. The imperativeness is evident in the ongoing government drive towards promoting students’ engagement in digital agriculture as accommodated in the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (2022–2027). Consequently, this study investigated awareness and perception of mobile phone applications among crop and agricultural extension-related final-year students in selected Universities in Southwest Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 407 students. Data were obtained with the aid of questionnaires. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation using SPSS software. Findings show that very few (less than 8%) of the respondents were aware of the usage of specific smart/android phone applications for pest identification, disease diagnosis, and weather forecasting. Less than 4% ever used smart/android phones for pest identification, crop protection, and information sourcing on disease diagnosis and management. However, their perception of the need for pest and disease diagnosis as a foundation step to enhance crop protection (4.65 points on a scale of 5), and readiness to use android/smartphone applications for this purpose (MS = 4.45) was positive. There are enormous implications for increased awareness and knowledge sharing on the use of android/smartphone applications for crop protection and other interventions to promote digital agriculture among students in Nigeria.