Future Agricultural And Forestry Extension By Applying Information Technology And Communication

Abstract

Since the past, extension has been seen as a transfer of technology from researchers to farmers. Now the role of extension is seen more as a process of helping farmers to make their own decisions by adding choices for them and helping them develop insights into the consequences of each of these choices. The role of extension workers is clear in bridging and communicating government policies to farmers and business actors who are directly involved in activities to realize food security and independence by utilizing technology and information so that it is easier to get information from various sources that can be accessed using the latest technology and communication equipment. Farmers who tend to master the technological aspect are very dominant seen in those of productive age. The ability to perform good analysis and problem solving is generally often seen in those who tend to be highly educated. In terms of extension activities using information technology media, all farmer groups tend not to have a real role in their members. Almost all farmers have a long experience in farming activities, even though they have quite a lot of knowledge and experience, farmers still need renewable information. While farmers still need additional knowledge and renewable information through information technology media, quite a lot of farmers in Simalungun Regency do not master the aspects of information technology. The majority of farmers stated that extension workers are rarely or sometimes in the field, and extension workers never carry out face-to-face counseling activities or are carried out in the field. Activities with a remote extension model to farmers in Simalungun Regency using information technology media which is very important to support activities. Farmers who tend to master information technology on average have Smartphone communication devices, and farmers who lack technology on average only have ordinary mobile phone devices, which cannot be used to access many functions. The lack of understanding of farmers towards the content of the counseling material presented is enough to explain that the lack of effective extension models for information technology barbasis if the material is presented in the form of visual texts