Agricultural Communication Research Articles

Agriculture and natural resources business owners economic and communication concerns early in the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this study was to describe agriculture and natural resource (ANR) leader business owners’ initial concerns and feelings about the impacts of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Based on the theories of opinion leadership and bounded rationality, researchers analyzed survey findings to identify and describe ANR business owners’ 1) business and economic concerns associated with COVID-19, 2) communication concerns associated with COVID-19, and 3) any other concerns or impacts experienced due to COVID-19. Findings indicated that the majority of respondents were concerned about their bottom lines, employees missing work, and their abilities to provide employees a safe workplace. Additionally, respondents were concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy. Regarding communication concerns, respondents were concerned about others sharing inaccurate COVID-19 information. When asked about additional concerns related to COVID-19, many respondents noted their concerns about economic impacts, personal and business finances, and canceled events causing them to become unable to interact with customers. Overall, the biggest concerns were related to economic impacts and misinformation. Recommendations for future research are to continue to assess this population as the pandemic continues, and again when the health crisis ends to understand the recovery process for ANR leader business owners.

The Recommendation Of Community Development Courses Through The Activities Of Holistic Programming And Village Empowerment Programs (PHP2D) In Agricultural Extension And Communication Study Program Sebelas Maret University (UNS)

Recommendations are recognized circumstances by an agency in appreciation for the appearance of an activity. The holistic development and rural empowerment program or Program Holistik Pembinaan dan Pemberdayaan Desa (PHP2D) a 2020 Gondangmanis is initiated on opportunities from the Directorate of Learning and Literacy, the Directorate General of Higher Education, and the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud). The program is particularly helpful for village development and the implementation of student competence in the community. The free policy of studying the Free College is particularly relevant to the program, students have the right of three semesters for study outside the program, including performing the program. Recommendations in PHP2D activities relating to the implementation of a subject that will be converted. Associated with conversion of subjects, at this time between tutors, leaders of HM Pelita, lecturer and head of the Agricultural Extension and Communication study program have a number of subjects that can be converted by the PHP2D Gondangmanis activities. PHP2D activities can be converged into a Semster Credit System (SKS) a course with a scheme (a) activities carried out ina full (offline) village (b) activities carried out ina full village (b), offline and online combination, can be converged into 8 courses (c) activities fully online, can be incorporated into 8 courses. Conversion of subjects adapted to the scope selected by each group of students matches the caption of college studies to which there are Penyuluhan Pertanian; Proses Belajar dan Penyuluhan; Komunikasi Pertanian; Manajemen Pelatihan; Jurnalistik Pertanian; Dinamika Pembangunan Pedesaan; Pembangunan Pertanian; Perubahan Sosial; Pengembangan Masyarakat; Pengembangan Partisipasi Masyarakat; and Kuliah Kerja Nyata (KKN).

Introducing the Academic Discipline of Agricultural Communications to the United Kingdom

Introducing the Academic Discipline of Agricultural Communications to the United Kingdom

Communicative interventions for collective action in the management of potato late blight: evidence from a framed field game experiment in Ethiopia

Potato late blight remains a threat to food security and livelihood of millions of people in Ethiopia. Despite a rapid dispersal of the disease pathogen and farmers’ interdependency in managing it, the literature on agricultural extension and communication tends to frame the disease and its management as a problem of the individual farmer. This study appreciates late blight as a collective action problem whose management requires a corresponding re-configuration in information sharing and communicative practices. We employ a framed field game experiment with a mixed quantitative and qualitative method to explore how and to what extent different types and combinations of communicative interventions affect collective action in the management of the disease among farmers in Ethiopia. Interestingly, our quantitative findings revealed that the provision of technical information about interdependency involved in the management of the disease and social monitoring information about the management practices of other farmers negatively affected collective action. However, collective action performance significantly improved when farmers were given the opportunity to interactively communicate about their management strategies. Further qualitative investigation sheds light on how farmers used and made sense of the different communicative interventions to inform and adjust their individual decisions, coordinate collective strategies, pressure free-riders, and develop a shared identity. It is concluded that interventions that mainly promote the provision of technical and social information can be counterproductive in managing collective action problems such as late blight unless it is complemented with interactive communication and deliberation processes.

Extension agents perception of open data usage in agricultural communication in Abia State

The study assessed agricultural extension agent’s perception of open data usage in agricultural communication in Abia State. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 83 extension agents for the study. Data for the study was collected with the use of questionnaire and described with frequency counts, percentages and mean. A moderate percentage (68%) of extension agents were aware of open data with only 15% and 7% having high and very high level of awareness. A relatively high percentage (54%) understand what open data is all about with only 49% consenting to be involved in the use of open data mainly at a moderate level (66%). Extension agents mainly perceive open data to facilitate agricultural research ( x̄ = 3.2), facilitate access to research findings (x̄ = 3.2), give access to the work of other extension agents in other states ( x̄ = 3.2), expose them to innovation in agriculture ( x̄ = 3.2) and ensure timely access to all necessary information (x̄ = 3.1). The major challenges to the use of open data among extension agents were lack of fund to purchase internet bundle ( x̄ = 2.2), unavailability of internet facilities( x̄ = 2.1), lack of basic ICT facilities ( x̄ = 2.1) as well as lack of adequate knowledge of the use of ICT( x̄ = 2.0) and open data ( x̄ = 2.0). Propagation of the use of open data could be done mainly by provision of ICTs in offices ( = 3.6), training of extension agents to understand the concept of open data ( x̄ = 3.6) and provision of internet facilities for extension agents ( x̄ = 3.5). The study emphasized the need for Government through the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) to provide basic ICT tools in offices and provision of internet facilities to enable extension agents maximize the use of open data.
 Keywords: Open data, challenges, agriculture, extension agents

Requirements for cybersecurity in agricultural communication networks

Agricultural cybersecurity is a rising concern because farming is becoming ever more reliant on computers and Internet access. During the last few years, the agrotechnology community, public sector, and researchers have been alerted to the problem and a significant amount of research has focused on the issue. However, the majority of the existing work focuses on external threats or specific parts of the farm technology ecosystem. This work examines the cybersecurity capabilities of individual farms and focuses on the farm local area network; the network and connected devices of six dairy farms in Finland are examined in detail. In addition, the farmers were interviewed in order to ascertain their opinions and understanding of agricultural cybersecurity. The results of the reviews were mixed. The physical cabling, for example, was all in good condition and followed appropriate regulations. On the other hand, network topology, malware protection, and system backups were not handled appropriately. Surveillance cameras typically did not work as expected. Often, the farmers did not know the network topology, the connected devices, or the details of individual devices in the network. In summary, the cybersecurity on the farms reviewed in this work was not handled optimally and significant improvements would be needed in order to secure the reviewed systems. However, since the approach of this work is qualitative in nature, care must be taken when generalizing the results. In conclusion, there is a significant need for improvements in agricultural cybersecurity on the level of individual farms. Many of the threats faced by farms are caused by their own activity or the physical environment and thus, emphasis must be put on improving their own situations.

Do touch that dial: A guide to continuous response measurement in agricultural communications

Do touch that dial: A guide to continuous response measurement in agricultural communications

An Evaluation of Agricultural Communications Faculty Members’ Mentoring Experiences

An Evaluation of Agricultural Communications Faculty Members’ Mentoring Experiences

Technically Speaking: Technical Skills Needed for Agricultural Communication Baccalaureate Graduates

Technically Speaking: Technical Skills Needed for Agricultural Communication Baccalaureate Graduates

The Assessment of Access to and Utilization of Agricultural Information on Bread Wheat by Smallholder Farmers of Gedab Hasasa District, West Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

This study seeks to determine access to and utilization of agricultural Information on Wheat bread by smallholder farmers of Gedab Hasasa district. The study was motivated by the fact that benefits of agricultural information communication development still need to be known among rural smallholder farmers in the district. It is also not effectively communicated to farmers especially in rural areas although access to and utilization modern information technology is largely available. This paper will examine the relevance of AIs to the rural farmers in Ethiopia. The objectives of the study are to assess the status of access and utilization of agricultural information of rural farmers in Gedab Hasasa district; to identify the constraints faced by farmers to access and utilization of agricultural information to rural farmers and to determine the relation between dependent and independent variables. The sample size was 138 respondents. Random sampling was used in identifying the respondents. A questionnaire was used to solicit responses from the respondents. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. As a descriptive statistic, frequency, percentage, minimum, maximum, and range was used. In relation to statistical tests, one-way ANOVA, F-value, Chi-square and spearman’s rho were applied. Data was analyzed using SPSS and presented in tables. From the study, except Age all explanatory variables were positively significant relation with information access and utilization categories of the farmers. One of the major challenges to access to AIs was lack of awareness, inadequacy of facilities or professional and DAs biasness in the area. The others, such as lack of credit services, lack of money (Unaffordable price of inputs) and untimely delivery of agricultural inputs was the main constraints to utilized accessed information among the farmers. It was therefore, recommended the need for government, NGOs and public intervention to provide appropriate extension services, to improve DAs capacity through training and create conducive work environment and also establish training sectors for the rural farmers to access the agricultural information as well as to strength the capacity of the existing rural financial institutions and establishing new financial institution, encouraging the farmers to participate in cooperative organization and others local organization to increase accessed information utilization of the farmers. Keywords: Agricultural information, access, utilization, bread wheat production package, smallholder farmers, Ethiopia. DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/10-4-01 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

Impact of Agricultural Communication Interventions on Improving Agricultural Productivity in Malawi

Agricultural communication (AGCOM) has been known to aid in disseminating research-based agricultural information among Malawian farmers. In 1958 the Malawi Government, via the Ministry of Agriculture, established the Agricultural Communications Branch (ACB) in an attempt to increase access to and adoption of scientifically-proven technologies among farmers. Moreover, in 2000 the Malawi Government started implementing an agricultural extension policy that promoted pluralistic demand-driven extension, which led to the increased availability of non-governmental organizations providing AGCOM services to farmers. However, after several decades of using different communication tools to promote new technologies, low productivity in most small holder farms remains a challenge, with limited adoption of improved technology as one of the contributing factors. In this exploratory, convergent, mixed methods study, 30 Malawian farmers and six AGCOM officers who were selected using convenient and snow ball sampling respectively participated in key informant interviews. In addition, 64 AGCOM officers who were selected using simple random sampling were involved in a survey. The findings of the study revealed that information delivered to farmers does not address farmer needs in most cases. Specifically, existing policies, source and availability of funding, and the agricultural calendar influenced choice of information that was disseminated. For example, the existing policy does not allow AGCOM officers to disseminate local and innovative farmer practices unless they are tested and approved by scientists. Such policies, perpetuates a mindset among farmers that innovations originate from outside their communities, thereby making it hard for them to share their local, indigenous ideas with their colleagues. Moreover, it has contributed to the inability of AGCOM to be used as an innovation creation tool, hence AGCOMs’ limited impact. Keywords: adoption, improved technologies, agricultural communication, increased productivity, information dissemination

Impact of Agricultural Communication Interventions on Improving Agricultural Productivity in Malawi

Agricultural communication (AGCOM) has been known to aid in disseminating research-based agricultural information among Malawian farmers. In 1958 the Malawi Government, via the Ministry of Agriculture, established the Agricultural Communications Branch (ACB) in an attempt to increase access to and adoption of scientifically-proven technologies among farmers. Moreover, in 2000 the Malawi Government started implementing an agricultural extension policy that promoted pluralistic demand-driven extension, which led to the increased availability of non-governmental organizations providing AGCOM services to farmers. However, after several decades of using different communication tools to promote new technologies, low productivity in most small holder farms remains a challenge, with limited adoption of improved technology as one of the contributing factors. In this exploratory, convergent, mixed methods study, 30 Malawian farmers and six AGCOM officers who were selected using convenient and snow ball sampling respectively participated in key informant interviews. In addition, 64 AGCOM officers who were selected using simple random sampling were involved in a survey. The findings of the study revealed that information delivered to farmers does not address farmer needs in most cases. Specifically, existing policies, source and availability of funding, and the agricultural calendar influenced choice of information that was disseminated. For example,the existing policy does not allow AGCOM officers to disseminate local and innovative farmer practices unless they are tested and approved by scientists. Such policies, perpetuates a mindset among farmers that innovations originate from outside their communities, thereby making it hard for them to share their local, indigenous ideas with their colleagues. Moreover, it has contributed to the inability of AGCOM to be used as an innovation creation tool, hence AGCOMs’ limited impact.

Review on Impact of ICTs on Improving Agricultural Productivity and Rural Incomes in Ethiopia

The experience in Ethiopia rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies, which facilitates the flow of data and information, has tremendously enhanced the knowledge management practice in agriculture. The objective of this paper is to review the impact of information and communication technologies to improve agricultural productivity and rural income in Ethiopian and review the recently developed agricultural knowledge and information systems in Ethiopia and others related documents. The study is based on a systematic review of existing literature of agricultural information communication and knowledge management system work in the country and supported documents of others countries. The review paper is organized in four sections. Section I focuses on importance of Information and Communication Technologies to the Ethiopian agricultural extension system. The second section discusses types of Information and Communication Technologies used by the farmers in Ethiopia. The third section to review the challenges and opportunities of Information and Communication Technologies ICT in provision of information services for the developments of agricultural production and generates rural income in Ethiopia. The findings of this study reveal that the various forms of Information and Communication technology have been used in agricultural service delivery and were more in tune with the circumstances and requirements of smallholder farmers. Therefore, the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in this era has opened new opportunities in agricultural knowledge management that could play an important role in meeting the prevailing challenges related to innovation, sharing, exchanging and disseminating agricultural information, knowledge and technologies to the intended smallholder farmers. Keywords: Information communication technology; Agricultural Information ; productivity; Rural Income; knowledge management system; Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/IKM/10-5-01 Publication date: August 31 st 2020

A critical analysis of e-learning agricultural technical capacity for rural development: lessons from Pakistan

Undoubtedly, high demands from food from the world-wide growing population are impacting the environment and putting many pressures on agricultural productivity. As advanced information systems and Internet technologies are adopted in Agriculture, enormous farming data, such as agricultural information, capacity buildings, training, marketing demands, and land uses, can be collected, analyzed, and processed for assisting farmers in making appropriate decisions and obtaining higher profits. e-Learning technologies have clearly emerged as development poles for rural development and food security through growths for access to knowledge and exchange through advance agricultural communication tools. A multistage random sampling technique was used by 300 selected e-Learning users from rural areas with a simple linear regression model via SPSS. A comprehensive analysis is conducted from the aspects of interoperability, scalability, accessibility, usability, etc. Based on the evaluation result, upcoming challenges are detected and summarized, suggesting the development trends and demonstrating potential improvements for future research. One of the main obstacles that farmers were not aware and training of technical information flows in rural development. Therefore, ICTs services and applications have been highly significant for agricultural technical capacity in rural development. Government should establish technology facilitating condition via information hub center to boost up and sustainable rural development.

Role of ICT on Agriculture and Its Future Scope in Bangladesh

Agriculture is the oldest profession in the world. Since the historic human civilization periods, it has gradually developed. Technologies have enriched this occupation with the pace of time. Modern agriculture nowadays is so much dependent on ICT. A thorough review of secondary data sources; i.e. overlook of literatures from web, online published articles, reports, news etc. on some selective districts of Bangladesh was made to study the current features of ICT, its exercise and future prospects in the context of agriculture information and communication. Findings revealed that the majority of the farming group and thereby involved extension workers (SAAO) have limited access, usage, knowledge and capacity on the use of ICT tools and media. Farmers mostly use AICCs (Agriculture Information and Communication Centre), non-smart cell phones, TV and radio for agricultural communication. Conversely, SAAOs (Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer) used mobile phones, demonstrations and consulted AEO (Agriculture Extension Officer) for information and communications. Their utilization level of ICT based service was found much lower. Solutions to address these problems were found to be IT-based trainings, easy access and availability of ICT tools and services at a convenient price. Being an agrarian country; there’s a huge opportunity for improvement of ICTs in the agricultural sectors. These include, dedicated bandwidth of internet, electricity, reducing internet data charges, establishment of a data center, agriculture database, encyclopedia, GIS, RS, GPS, radio-based technologies, online-based agricultural (seed, fertilizer, pesticide, irrigation, marketing linkage etc.) management systems, IoT, drone, artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, machine learning, big data analytics etc. Incorporation of these high techs are now a burning issue for the future development of agriculture and sustain production in a rapid changing world.

What Makes a Good Agricultural Story? Validation of a Scale for Marketing and Communication

Agricultural communication covers all kinds of human communications involving agriculture, food, natural resources and rural interests. Such communications exchange and deliver the information of the agricultural and natural resource industries to the right receivers through effective media. Storytelling in marketing is also a managerial application; it is a marketing strategy that includes the agricultural industry. While an increasing number of agricultural businesses are promoting the application of agricultural stories in marketing and facilitating increases in the consumption of agricultural products, few researchers have explicitly developed valid tools for measuring the constructs of agricultural stories. This study continued previous research on effective model of storytelling in agricultural marketing, with the aim of exploring the constructs of a good agricultural story and developing the “Agricultural Story Scale” to measure them. Thirteen items measuring three factors—authenticity, narrative, and protagonist’s distinctiveness—were confirmed to have satisfactory structural model fit. The findings of the study and recommendations that contribute to both theoretical and practical implications are reported.Keywords: Agricultural Story; Agricultural Communication; Measurement; Storytelling; Storytelling in Marketing

What Are Reviewers Looking For? A Qualitative Analysis of Open-Ended Responses from a Questionnaire Sent to Faculty in Agricultural Communications

What Are Reviewers Looking For? A Qualitative Analysis of Open-Ended Responses from a Questionnaire Sent to Faculty in Agricultural Communications

Communication of Genetic Modification Science: Consumers’ Critical Thinking Style, Perceived Transparency of Information, and Attitude

Consumers’ attitude toward GM science is not only an important factor to determine the industry’s development, it is also a crucial topic across various countries. How people express their judgment of GM science, involves a highly complicated process. Because of this complexity, influence on attitude toward GM science has become a popular research topic and has been examined through various variables. This study sought to examine the effects of critical thinking styles and perceived transparency of GM science on attitude toward GM science. To fulfill the purpose of the research, an online survey was conducted. A total of 1,047 adults across the United States were recruited using non-probability sampling techniques. The results of the study found critical thinking style had a significant impact on the perceived transparency of GM science information and attitude toward GM science. However, consumers with higher perceived transparency of GM science information reported lower attitudes toward GM science than those who had lower perceived transparency. An interaction effect of critical thinking styles and perceived transparency of GM science on attitude toward GM science was found. Further research examining perceived transparency was recommended. In addition, it was recommended that extension agents or agricultural communicators could develop various communication strategies based on various attribution of consumers. Keywords: genetic modification science, critical thinking styles, perceived transparency, attitude

Communication of Genetic Modification Science: Consumers’ Critical Thinking Style, Perceived Transparency of Information, and Attitude

Consumers’ attitude toward GM science is not only an important factor to determine the industry’s development, it is also a crucial topic across various countries. How people express their judgment of GM science, involves a highly complicated process. Because of this complexity, influence on attitude toward GM science has become a popular research topic and has been examined through various variables. This study sought to examine the effects of critical thinking styles and perceived transparency of GM science on attitude toward GM science. To fulfill the purpose of the research, an online survey was conducted. A total of 1,047 adults across the United States were recruited using non-probability sampling techniques. The results of the study found critical thinking style had a significant impact on the perceived transparency of GM science information and attitude toward GM science. However, consumers with higher perceived transparency of GM science information reported lower attitudes toward GM science than those who had lower perceived transparency. An interaction effect of critical thinking styles and perceived transparency of GM science on attitude toward GM science was found. Further research examining perceived transparency was recommended. In addition, it was recommended that extension agents or agricultural communicators could develop various communication strategies based on various attribution of consumers.

Floridians’ Engagement in Landscape Best Practices to Protect Water Resources: Information from a 2018 Survey

Extension programs are most effective when informed by a deep understanding of the target audience. To guide programs in Florida’s managed landscapes, especially pertaining to water quality and conservation, faculty from the UF/IFAS Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology conduct an annual statewide survey. The survey gathers data that includes common landscape elements, neighborhood characteristics, engagement in irrigation and fertilizer best practices, and learning preferences. This new 5-page publication of the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication presents highlights from the 2018 statewide survey with recommendations for how to use the information. Written by Laura A. Warner, Esen Momol, Claire Lewis, Tom Wichman, Wendy Wilber, and A. J. Reisinger. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc345