Agricultural Extension Officers Research Articles

Erroneous Classification of Brassica juncea L. in South African Studies: Consequences for Agricultural Extension Services

Agricultural extension services play a crucial role by providing expert guidance on enhancing production and processing and facilitating the dissemination of knowledge and scientific findings into practical use. For this reason, researchers must generate accurate information for agricultural extension officers to relay to the ultimate beneficiaries - the farmers. In this paper, we highlight an instance of misidentification by researchers about one of South Africa's extensively researched vegetables, Brassica juncea L. Due to its broad adaptability, this crop has been the focus of numerous South African studies aimed at maximising its production for resource-poor farmers. Regrettably, the accumulated research on B. juncea reveals a prevalent issue of inconsistent naming and classification, leading to confusion with Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa subs. chinensis). Such inaccurate species identification fosters a disjointed body of knowledge, potentially generating conflicting results and thereby restricting the applicability of the research findings to farmers and other stakeholders. This literature review examines 20 years of South African research to guide future studies and extension efforts on B. juncea. It underscores the necessity for accurate species identification and nomenclature, thereby enhancing the reproducibility and relevance of research outputs.

The Provision of Agricultural Extension Services to Rural Farmers as a Strategy to Improve Agricultural Practices in South Africa

The government of South Africa has shown a commitment to providing extensive support to farmers by providing agricultural extension services. This qualitative study on providing agricultural extension services to rural farmers to improve agricultural productivity was conducted in Msinga Local Municipality. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Participants were sampled purposively, and data was analysed using content analysis. The agricultural extension officers played an important role in helping farmers with the provision of extension services, including seeds, manure, and the implementation of irrigation schemes and farm fencing. The extension services also included training and assisting farmers with vaccinating crops and livestock to protect them from diseases. Rural farmers were unable to attend training sessions and meetings organised by extension officers, and this has turned out to be a problem since farmers lack knowledge of farming methods and available information on possible financial assistance. There is a need to establish agricultural cooperatives that will liaise with agricultural extension officers and be able to communicate with other farmers when the officials are planning to meet with them for the provision of extension services.

Knowledge and perception of cereal farmers and extension agents on fungicide use in Northern Ghana.

Agricultural pesticide use in sub-Saharan Africa has doubled over the past three decades; with a greater relative increase for fungicides. As pesticide inputs continues to rise, so does the potential for the development of resistance. Here, we report on a survey conducted to understand pesticide resistance awareness, pesticide use knowledge and practices of growers and agricultural extension officers (AEOs) in the cereals growing-belt of Northern Ghana, with emphasis on fungicides. The results may inform development of strategies for improving pesticide literacy including resistance awareness, extension services, and crop protection outcomes. The survey revealed a low level of pesticide use knowledge for AEOs and growers. This was more so for growers with low education, predominantly women. Education level (and indirectly gender) influenced perceived effectiveness of fungicides and levels of adoption of cultural and agrochemical best practices. Only 28% of growers and 11% of AEOs practice crop and fungicide rotations, respectively. More than half (53%) of the respondents indicated that fungicides used in Northern Ghana are not effective. Given the low level of pesticide literacy of AEOs and growers, training programs on best practice on the use of pesticides, with targeted initiatives for female growers would improve crop protection outcomes, and safety. The limited adoptions of crop rotation and repeated use of fungicides with the same active ingredients, along with >50% of respondents reporting 'fungicides not working' suggest the potential presence of fungicide resistance cases in growers' fields in the Northern region of Ghana. Further work is needed to determine the incidence of resistance in the region. It is recommended that a key policy priority should focus on understanding broader agrochemical use practices, crop losses and household-level food security in the presence of resistance risks. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Transforming Arid and Semi-Arid Areas to be Food Secure: The Role of Small-Scale Irrigation Projects

The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the contribution of irrigation-based initiatives towards ensuring food security. The specific objectives encompassed assessing the role of labor within small-holder irrigation projects in bolstering food security, analyzing the impact of external donor assistance on food security outcomes within these projects, and appraising the extent of governmental backing for small-holder irrigation endeavors in the pursuit of food security goals. Employing a descriptive survey methodology, the study was conducted within various small-holder irrigation projects. The research population consisted of 1303 members affiliated with the irrigation schemes, alongside 12 agricultural officers. Utilizing a simple random sampling technique, two agricultural extension officers were selected from the irrigation schemes, while a stratified sampling approach identified 66 irrigation scheme members for participation in the study. Data collection primarily relied on the administration of questionnaires. Findings revealed that the majority of farmers predominantly relied on their labor or that of family members, with minimal utilization of hired labor observed in small-scale irrigation ventures. Consequently, labor scarcity emerged as a notable challenge within these projects. Furthermore, the study highlighted that a significant proportion of small-holder irrigation initiatives benefited from external donor support. To address labor shortages, the research suggested incentivizing specialized labor while recommending collaborative efforts among farmers to engage specialists in crop management, thereby enhancing crop productivity within the schemes.

Readiness of Semarang City Agricultural Extension Officers and Influential Factors in Implementing Cyber Extension

The main focus of information and communication technology applications in agriculture is to fulfill farmers' information needs. Cyber extension is not only for information seeking but also for disseminating agricultural technology innovations. This study aims to examine the readiness of agricultural extension workers in Semarang City to apply cyber extension in the era of digital extension and analyze the factors that influence their readiness to use cyber extension. The research was conducted from November to December 2022 at all Agricultural Extension Centers in Semarang City. A method of census was used in this study. Data were collected by interviews, observation, and documentation and analyzed descriptively using multiple linear regression. The results showed that the readiness of extension workers in Semarang City to apply cyber extension was high. Age, formal education level, training, experience, motivation of extension agent, and environmental factors have a simultaneous influence. Training, experience and motivation of extension agents have a partial influence, while age, formal education level, and environmental factors have no partial influence.

Budidaya Tanaman Hortikultura dan Lumbung Pangan dalam Upaya Pemanfaatan Lahan Pekarangan di Kelurahan Klitren Yogyakarta

One of the characteristics of urban areas is the increasingly limited land that can be used for plant cultivation. Only now, a lot of yard land has yet to be utilized optimally, especially for cultivating vegetables. Klitren Village, in the center of Yogyakarta City, has community-owned yard land that can be used even though the area is limited. This service activity aims to maximize the use of yard land for cultivating vegetable plants, herbal gardens, and food storage. This service activity was carried out in Klitren Village at the Asoka Farming Women's Group (FWG) in July 2022. The service activity was attended by 81 people who were a combination of women members of Asoka's FWG, the Village Head of Klitren Village, Village Agricultural Extension Officers, Lecturers, Students, Research and Community Service Units, and the Klitren Village community from various. The service is carried out through several activities, including making planting media for cultivating vegetable plants, arranging herbal gardens, and providing food barns. 100% of the evaluation results stated that the activity participants knew how to make planting media and food storage. In comparison, 66.7% said they knew how to organize and maintain an herbal garden. 66.7% of the participant's responses to the activities indicated that they were helpful and hoped they could be sustainable and improved.

Effect of Operation Assessment on Performance of State-Owned Sugar Firms in Kenya

The primary goal of supply chain design is to improve service quality and interaction levels between service providers and customers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of operation assessment on the performance of state-owned sugar firms. The research employed a descriptive causal research design to provide a cause-and-effect relationship between the variables. The target population comprised all four operating state-owned sugar companies, namely Chemilil, Muhoroni, Sony, and Nzoia. The composition of the target population consisted of four factory managers, four finance managers, five hundred and twenty-four agricultural extension officers, four human resource managers, one hundred and eighty agricultural services personnel, and four strategy and planning managers, bringing the total target population to 720. The simple stratified purposive sampling technique was applied to obtain a sample of 325 respondents. The researcher used questionnaires for data collection. The analysis of the data was executed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) helped in the analysis. The data was organized and presented in tables. The hypothesis was tested at a 95% confidence level. The results indicated that operation assessment had a positive effect on the performance of selected sugar manufacturing firms in Kenya (t = 6.666, p<0.05). Simple regression helped determine the strength and direction of the relationship between the study variables. The study is of importance to potential investors and managers to help in policy formulation. It will also be of importance to academia, which will beef up the study, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and encourage further investigation in the area of performance based on supply chain design. The study recommended the need for managers to use proper data management approaches and tools, ensure timely access to relevant data, and ensure quality control and assurance of field tasks at all times in order to boost operational efficiency, which leads to the realization of profits in the manufacturing enterprise, especially the sugar manufacturing sector.

ADOPTION OF SORGHUM NATIONAL INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS TECHNICAL PACKAGE BY RAINFED FARMERS, GEZIRA, SUDAN

The effect of climate change on African agriculture represents a major challenge to continental agricultural development including food security, nutrition and management. In Sudan, the yield of rainfed crops is characterized by high variability in the yield due to the high variability in seasonal rainfall and does not exceed two sacs/feddan because the rainfed farmers were adopted low input rainfed agriculture as a risk management option which led to reduce in the yield per unit of land and water. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has designed and financed a special programme for the traditional the rainfed sector of the country called Integrated Solutions Programme as the main adaptation strategy for the 2014/ 2020 growing seasons to diversify and increase production and productivity of crops cultivated in traditional rainfed areas in each State of the country such as sorghum, sesame, millet and sunflower. This programme was implemented by the Administration of Agricultural Extension and Technology Transfer in each State in collaboration with Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) and the Agricultural Bank of Sudan. Field survey was used to collect data from 50 rainfed farmers participated in the programme and an equal number from non- participant farmers from the study area were selected (for comparison) using the simple random sampling technique. A close ended questionnaire was constructed and the personal interview technique was used to administer the questionnaire. The collected data were coded, fed to computer and statistically analyzed using (SPSS), discussed interpreted using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The results showed that the participant farmers adopted the programme components. The majority of chi-square test results revealed no significant association between farmer`s adoption of the programme components and participation in the programme and also no significant association between farmer`s adoption of the programme components and the selected socio-economic characteristics of the respondent farmers. From this study, it can be concluded that the NISP are very effective agricultural extension policy that can be applied in the rainfed sector of the country, which will help rainfed farmers to increase their income through their participation in various activities of the programme. The study recommends that NISP should become the main national policy specially designed for the agricultural rainfed sector of the country, the needed agricultural inputs should be available at a reasonable price, the curriculum of NISP should be updated and developed regularly to solve the constraints that might face the programme, in-service training should be organized for agricultural extension officers on various aspects related to the rainfed sector, various means for conduction the programme should be available, Further agricultural extension research should be conducted

Community Interpreting and Translation in Africa

In an increasingly interconnected world, the relevance of effective communication cannot be overemphasized. Nowhere is this more evident than in the diverse and linguistically rich continent of Africa. With over 2,000 indigenous languages spoken across its vast expanse, Africa presents unique challenges and opportunities for community interpreting and translation. As a matter of fact, community translation and interpretation is a daily occurrence in many African communities, from the newsreader who takes an article from Reuters or BBC and renders it in the local language, adding their own cultural twist, to the master of ceremonies at a traditional marriage ceremony between a couple from different ethnic/ language groups, to the agricultural extension officer whoneeds to translate his message of seedling management to a group of farmers who speaks a different language. In this editorial, we present selected papers from the ATSA conference on Community Interpreting and Translation in the African Context, exploring the significance of language empowerment and the bridging of linguistic divides.

Minat Kerja Generasi Muda Pada Sektor Pertanian di Desa Ngablak Magelang

Agriculture is the use of natural resources to produce food. The phenomenon that occurs is a decrease from year to year in the number of workers. Data shows that there has been a shift in interest in working in the agricultural sector. Efforts to increase the interest of the younger generation in the agricultural sector require an intensive and structured policy design. This research was carried out in Ngablak village, Magelang Regency. This research uses a qualitative method with a case study approach. The research subjects were young people aged 19 to 27 years. Data analysis was carried out with 3 participants and 1 informant using purposive sampling techniques. Data collection by observation and interviews. Non-participant observation, while the interview technique carried out by the researcher was an in-depth interview using a semi-structured method. Passion research results emerged because of work motivation, attractiveness to work and work activities. External factors that influence this are HR innovation, technology upgrades and human resource improvements. Other factors include government support, namely agricultural extension officers and fertilizer subsidies. This research also indicates that the interest of rice farming family members is low in working in the rice farming sector because of minimal income. A person's passion in the agricultural sector is influenced by interest in the field of work, motivation and work activities. External factors that influence passion are HR innovation, technology upgrades. and improving human resources. The suggestion is that there is an additional variable, namely the gender variable. Suggestions for improvement for the development of agricultural technology include agribusiness development, collaboration or research with developed countries that have already used technology in agriculture.

It's not all about drought: What “drought impacts” monitoring can reveal

Drought impacts monitoring has been called the missing piece in drought assessment. The potential to improve drought management is high but uncertain due to rare analyses of impacts datasets, predominantly because there are few impacts monitoring programmes to generate the datasets. Drought impacts monitoring is conducted on the ground in much of Brazil by local observers at monthly and municipality scale to support the Brazilian Drought Monitor. In Ceará state, within drought-prone semiarid northeast Brazil, over 3600 drought impacts reports were completed by agricultural extension officers from 2019 to 2022. We investigated, through manual coding and observer interviews, the reported drought impacts and impact drivers. Analysis provided a catalogue of the experienced impacts and showed that impacts still occur, and are often normalised, during non-drought periods, sometimes as lingering effects of previous droughts. The impact drivers were predominantly non-extreme hydrometeorological conditions or a result of socio-technical vulnerabilities such as insufficient water infrastructure. The normalisation of “impacts” included, in particular: a generally accepted high level of crop losses and consistently low reservoir levels around which the agricultural and domestic systems are adapted. Conventional drought indices often did not align with experienced impact severity, highlighting the limitations of relying solely on these indices for emergency response. Continual impacts monitoring could be extremely valuable anywhere in the world for identifying vulnerabilities and informing proactive measures to reduce drought and other hazard risk, in addition to guiding targeted mitigation efforts.

KOMPETENSI DAN PEMBERIAN TUNJANGAN FUNGSIONAL SERTA PENGARUHNYA TERHADAP KINERJA PENYULUH PERTANIAN LAPANGAN KABUPATEN MUNA BARAT

The research problems are: 1) Do competence and provision of functional allowances simultaneously have a significant effect on the performance of agricultural instructors?; 2) Does competency have a significant effect on the performance of agricultural instructors?; 3) Does the provision of functional allowances have a significant effect on the performance of agricultural instructors? The approach used uses quantitative methods in answering research problems, by conducting a survey of all agricultural instructors in West Muna Regency in 11 UPTs of Agricultural Extension Centers and Agricultural Service Headquarters, totaling 68 people, and a sample of 40 respondents was determined using the Slovin method in determine the number of samples. The research instrument is a questionnaire with a Likert scale with a score range of 1-5. Data analysis used a multiple regression model, with the help of SPSS version 26. The significance test used an alpha criterion of 0.05 to test the proposed hypothesis. The results of the research were concluded: 1) Competency and provision of functional allowances simultaneously had a significant effect on the performance of agricultural extension officers; 2) Competence has a significant effect on the performance of agricultural instructors; 3) providing functional allowances also has a significant effect on the performance of agricultural instructors. Both variables show a positive influence, meaning that the better the competence and satisfactory provision of functional allowances, the better the performance of agricultural instructors.

Assessing prevalence of misperceptions in agricultural activities of smallholder farmers in Tanzania

Misperceptions in agriculture are challenging the adoption of agricultural technologies in African developing countries. Incorrect beliefs such as agricultural inputs have effects on soil, crop yields and human health, have led some smallholder farmers conduct traditional agriculture, resulting in low yields, of poor quality. This research studied prevalence of misperceptions among smallholders in Tanzania when dealing with agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides and seeds). To accomplish this, agricultural extension officers in research areas were interviewed to learn inaccurate beliefs held by farmers which were then validated by agricultural experts through semi-structured interview to identify misperceptions; identified misperceptions helped to design a questionnaire with TRUE and FALSE statements, rated on a 5-point Likert scale, which was administered to 431 smallholders in four districts in Tanzania. Descriptive statistics helped to learn prevalence of misperceptions, regression analysis determined association of predictors on misperceptions. Results revealed respondents were confident with inaccurate beliefs while dealing with agricultural inputs which confirmed prevalence of misperceptions among smallholder farmers in pursuit of agricultural activities. To help smallholders adopt agricultural technologies, agricultural extension systems need to minimize associated misperceptions and adopt strategies that can help farmers access correct agricultural information. The essence is to improve yields, efficiency and profitability in agricultural sector.

TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE (WIA) EXTENSION OFFICERS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

The study analysed the training needs of Women in Agriculture (WIA) extension officers in Kano State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to purposively select two local government areas (LGAs) from the three agro-ecological zones in Kano based on the intensity of the WIA officers, making a total of six LGAs for the study. From the six LGAs, 74 WIA officers were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires and analysed using frequency counts, percentages, and the mean. Results revealed that the average age of the women was 34 years, 56.8% were married, and the average household size was 9 people. 50.0% of the respondents had secondary school education and averaged 8 years of working experience as extension agents. The study further revealed that the majority of the women (95.9%) received training on crop production technology and (64.9%) on marketing agricultural commodities. It was also revealed that the WIA needs training on livestock production and disease control, ICT in agriculture, and fish farming. Conclusively, WIA officers competently perform their job in the demonstration of improved technologies and the dissemination of information. It is therefore recommended that women extension officers be trained and provided with training facilities based on their requirements.

Expert System for Diagnosing Corn Plant Diseases Using the Web-Based Certainty Factor Method

In the process of corn plant growth, it often faces the threat of various diseases that can hinder optimal growth. Dealing with this issue often requires the presence of a plant expert, such as a field agricultural extension officer.  However, limitations in the human resources of  agricultural extension officers, time constraints, and geographical distances often make it difficult for farmers to get direct assistance from experts. To overcome these constraints, a system capable of addressing issues related to corn plant diseases, similar to the role of an expert, is needed. In this study, the Certainty Factor method is employed, suitable for an expert system that measures the level of uncertainty, and through testing with 28 sample data cases, the accuracy level of this system reaches 90%.

Agricultural extension officers' adoption of ICT‐based extension services: A critical realist approach in Mali

AbstractInformation and communication technology enables extension services to farmers in developing countries. Although they have been deployed and adopted by farmers, the causal mechanisms (i.e., processes through which a result is brought about) underlying their adoption and use have not been adequately studied. This study uses the Critical Realism philosophical perspective to understand and integrate the various factors into a consistent and coherent model for adopting information and communication technology‐based extension services by agricultural extension officers in Mali. The study gathered data from 26 extension officers and farmers in Koulikoro and Segou, Mali. We analyzed the data using thematic analysis with the help of the qualitative data analysis software NVivo. The results revealed that the successful adoption of information and communication technology based extension services is the leading factor that can cause extension officers' satisfaction with agricultural extension services. This satisfaction drives societal change, that is, farmers improving their knowledge of extension services and extension officers efficiently disseminating them. In turn, this change may result in higher yield and, thus, better productivity. These findings guide policymakers, managers, and network providers for higher productivity in developing countries.

The role of local pigs for economic and socio-cultural in East Flores District, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract. Keray AS, Widiati R, Kusumastuti TA. 2024. The role of local pigs for economic and socio-cultural in East Flores District, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 25: 214-222. This study was conducted to identify the cultural activities related to swine rearing in East Flores District and analyze the decision making in choosing the types of rearing practice. Based on the survey using questionnaires from 120 pig farmers, which was conducted purposive, were those who had at least three sows for breeding, fattening with five heads of pigs, and combined with sows and sires. To identify the role of local pigs, as many as 3 informants consist of traditional leaders, farmers, and Agriculture Extension Officers, and analyzed by multinomial logistic regression model. The results showed that the traditional rituals that required the sacrifice of pigs included the ceremonies marking the start of building residential and traditional community buildings and dowry (belis)  presentation in a wedding ceremony. The decision-making in choosing the rearing practice was influenced by pig ownership, care system (P<0.01), and income (P<0.05). Farmers who have small scale will choose extensive and fattening systems to reduce feed costs. Those practicing breeding are still maintaining local breeds because traditional rituals require it. Further efforts are needed to increase the populations of local breeds as well as cross-bred pigs to maintain the ceremonies in traditional rituals and income generation.

The Effectiveness of Agricultural Extension Communication on Coconut Farmers Behavior Change in Farm Management in Enok District, Indragiri Hilir, Riau

This research evaluated the effectiveness of agricultural extension communication in influencing the behaviour change of coconut farmers in farm management in the Enok District, Indragiri Hilir, Riau. The research employed a quantitative method, utilizing a questionnaire as the primary instrument, with a sample size of 100 coconut farmers in the Enok District. The results indicate that farmers' interactivity during extension sessions is influenced by the relevance of the material to their needs. The communication media, information sources, and messages the extension officers convey significantly impact communication effectiveness. Overall, the effectiveness of agricultural extension communication in the Enok District is positive, with most farmers providing positive feedback on the team's abilities, message relevance, and media used. Hypothesis testing results reveal a significant improvement in the effectiveness of agricultural extension officers after the intervention, reflecting their ability to present relevant material that motivates farmers' behaviour change. These findings provide a basis for recommending a more active and strategic role for agricultural extension officers in designing and delivering extension programs. The success of these programs is also reflected in the tangible actions adopted by farmers, such as implementing better farming techniques and adopting more sustainable farm management practices. This research provides in-depth insights into the factors influencing the effectiveness of agricultural extension communication and contributes to the research literature in this field.

Inovasi Teknologi Budidaya Sayuran pada Lahan Kering Melalui Pupuk Organik dan Vertikultur dengan Sistem Fertigasi Sumbu di Desa Napan Kabupaten Timor Tengah Utara NTT

This community service aims to increase the innovation of farmer groups in implementing vegetable cultivation technology in dry land through organic fertilizer and verticulture with a wick fertigation system. The method applied in this service uses counseling and training (learning by doing). The implementation was carried out on the agricultural land of the Nunuh Naek and Taruna Tani Farmer Group in October – December 2023. This activity involved the Napan Village Government and the North Bikomi District Agricultural Extension Officer to support the partner team together with the Implementing Team (University of Timor) and the Accompanying Team (Widya Catholic University Mandala Surabaya) to develop regional development programs in accordance with the relationship between Kosabangsa and RPJMD activities. The results of the service concluded that there was an increase in the ability of farmer groups to independently design verticulture with a wick fertigation system as an innovation in cultivating vegetables on dry land; able to apply Ribon Atom I as a soil amendment as well as adding nutrients to plants; and increasing the ability of partners in agribusiness management of horticultural farming.

Job satisfaction of agricultural extension officers in Nalgonda district of Telangana state

Job satisfaction of agricultural extension officers in Nalgonda district of Telangana state