Role Of Agricultural Extension Research Articles

Strategi Peningkatan Kinerja Penyuluh Pertanian dalam Pengembangan Agribisnis di Kabupaten Banyuwangi

<p>Agribusiness development in Banyuwangi growing supported by the agricultural extension. The role of agricultural extension is needed by communities and farmers. Therefore, strategies are needed to improve its performance, especially with the implementation of the difference between the central government and local governments (regional autonomy). Research related to strategies for improving the performance of agricultural extension workers, especially in Banyuwangi has been done by first analyzing the factors that affect the performance of the extension, which is then analyzed more in depth with the IE method, SWOT and QSPM and eventually obtained agricultural extension strategies for improving performance. The results showed that the strength factor is the suitability of a high enough salary, weakness factor is the lack of monitoring of the performance of agricultural extension, chances are the interest factor be enough agricultural extension, the threat factor is the lack of agricultural extension PNS. Strategic priorities for performance improvement of agricultural extension is the need to evaluate the performance of agricultural extension monitoring periodically, the second priority is additional quota admission counselor civil servants, the third priority the strengthening of IT, the fourth priority intensification of agricultural extension training programs to improve the performance of the performance competencies of agricultural extension, the fifth priority the improvement of cooperation among government agencies to integrate all of the work program for the right target, and the sixth priority poktan role to participate in the establishment of monitoring the performance of agricultural extension. While the managerial implications in the development of agribusiness, there are three themes, namely human resource development extension agent, performance evaluation, and monitoring the performance of agricultural extension.</p><p>Keywords: The performance of the agricultural instructor, Banyuwangi agribusiness development, strategic priorities,managerial, implication</p>

Kinerja Penyuluh Pertanian di Kabupaten Pidie Provinsi Aceh dalam Melaksanakan Tugas dan Fungsi

<p>Various programs and the results achieved must not be separated from the role of agricultural extension in carrying out their duties and responsibilities in fostering farmer. The purpose of the study to identify the level of performance of agricultural extension in Pidie District in carrying out their duties, and to analyze the factors associated with the performance of agricultural extension. The method used in data collection is the census. The number of respondents in this study were as many as 47 people. The data collection was carried out from February 2014 to April 2014, using questionnaires, interviews, observation and study of literature. The data obtained were tabulated and then analyzed using Spearman Rank. The results showed that the level of performance of agricultural extension in Pidie District in general is still relatively low. Spearman rank correlation results showed: (1) factors related to the internal characteristics of the performance of extension are: length of service and number of target groups (2) factors related to the external characteristics of the performance of extension are: administrative support and working conditions, and (3) Factors competence extension tasks related to the performance of agricultural extension are: the application of adult learning principles, communication skills and ability to cooperate.</p><p>Keywords: agricultural extension, performance, characteristics, competencies.</p>

Awareness of agricultural extension agents to the current role of agricultural extension in the province On agricultural environment from pollution under the economic liberalization policy

Awareness of agricultural extension agents to the current role of agricultural extension in the province On agricultural environment from pollution under the economic liberalization policy

The Role of Agricultural Extension in Maximizing Export Marketing Abilities of Farmers and Owners of Processing and Backing Stations of Vegetable Crops in Kafr- Eldawar District, Elbehira Governorate

The Role of Agricultural Extension in Maximizing Export Marketing Abilities of Farmers and Owners of Processing and Backing Stations of Vegetable Crops in Kafr- Eldawar District, Elbehira Governorate

Prospective Role of Agricultural Extension in The Field of Sheep Husbandry among Farmers' Wives in Kafr- Shehata, Tala District, Elmounifia Governorate

Prospective Role of Agricultural Extension in The Field of Sheep Husbandry among Farmers' Wives in Kafr- Shehata, Tala District, Elmounifia Governorate

Exploring the Role of Agricultural Extension in Promoting Biodiversity Conservation in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Biodiversity conservation outside designated protected areas remains challenging in South Africa, where 80% of the biodiversity resources occur on private and communal lands. This applies to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, which is the focus of this study. Landholders logically choose agricultural production ahead of conservation, which they often perform using non-ecological methods. Extension is well positioned to promote ecological agriculture, but its current contribution is unknown. This study examined the role of extension in ecological agriculture in KZN by investigating extension’s promotion of ecological agriculture among smallholder farmers and the factors impacting their employment of ecologically compatible practices. Data was collected through semistructured interviews with 44 respondents, comprising 5 provincial biodiversity conservation practitioners, 1 national biodiversity conservation manager, and 1 national and 4 provincial agricultural extension managers, selected by purposive sampling; as well as 25 extension officers and 8 farmers, selected by convenience sampling. The study found that extension mainly engages in technology transfer and distribution of production inputs, which poses challenges to biodiversity conservation. Extension shows little concern for biodiversity, and effectively promotes its degradation. Four sets of factors impacting extension’s capacity to promote ecological agriculture emerged: household/community-level, governmental, extension management, and ecological factors. Key among these were inadequate involvement of youth and men in agriculture; inadequate household production resources; poor collaboration and coordination between extension and biodiversity conservation institutions; top-down extension intervention; poor extension management and delivery capacities; and irregular and inadequate rainfall, as well as droughts and flooding. The study concluded that there is a need for a clearly articulated extension and biodiversity conservation policy supporting appropriate linkages and better coordination and integration of services among extension and biodiversity agencies within the National and Provincial Departments of Agriculture and with farmers; more effective agricultural education in schools; strengthening extension support systems; and creating conducive atmospheres for effective extension.

Descriptive Study of The Agricultural Extension Needs for Sheep Raisers in The Balqa Governorate in Jordan

The aim of this study was to determine the agricultural extension needs of sheep owners Balqa governorate in Jordan and some Personal characteristics. A sample of 60 owners was selected and interviewed individually. Using a questionnaire included two parts; the first was the personal and socioeconomic information of the owners and the second was a measure of knowledge levels on the sheep rearing areas. For analyzing data, frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviations. The most important results were: There was three categories for need levels; low ( 65.22) degree. It was found that 18.3%, 73.3%, and 8.3 % of the sheep owners were fall in the low, medium, and high levels, respectively.The arrangements of extention needs for owners in the items includes in sheep raizing was: health care,reproductivity, raizing and the last is nutrition,the important ratio of means for these issues were (51.4%, 50.6%, 45.6%, 41.5%) respectively. The results of this study recommend in strengthening the role of agricultural extension in animal field by teaching and awareness sheep owners through the preparation a scientific and practical plan dealing with the detailed results of this study.

Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation in the context of sustainable agriculture: The role of Agricultural Extension

Accomplishing household food security simultaneously with biodiversity conservation, particularly on communal farm lands, constitutes a great challenge in South Africa. This is because biodiversity species are being threatened on lands wherein agricultural production is done in the name of securing food availability. The general threats to biodiversity are in the forms of deforestation and habitat fragmentation, encroachment, pollution, invasion of alien species, wild fires, logging, and hunting. Over time, agriculture emerges the greatest threat to biodiversity. Using this framework, this paper presents a scientific argument, backed with empirical evidences, by exploring the role that agricultural extension can play to realise the goals of biodiversity conservation on South African communal and farm lands. Drawing on relevant published works, this paper argues that extension is particularly well positioned to address both food security and biodiversity conservation concerns through the instruments of linkages, local knowledge facilitation, social capital and education.

Listenership of Radio Agricultural Broadcasts in Southwestern Nigeria

Agricultural broadcasts on radio play a major role in agricultural extension and rural development in Nigeria due to the low ratio of extension agents in relation to the farming population. The broadcasts have been on air for some time and therefore there is a need to investigate their acceptance among the rural dwellers in Southwestern Nigeria. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select 450 respondents from three out of the six states that make up Southwestern Nigeria. They were asked to respond to an interview schedule designed for the study. Out of the returned schedules, 438 were found suitable for analyses. Results showed that agricultural broadcasts enjoyed wide listenership (94.1%) among the respondents, many of whom (69.0%) had medium listenership index (64.3%). Rural dwellers' educational attainment was significantly related to listenership of rural development broadcasts (χ2 = 69.619), while there was no significant relationship between rural dwellers' perception (r = −0.080, P > 0.05) of agricultural broadcasts and listenership of agricultural broadcasts. Since agricultural broadcasts enjoyed wide listenership and were found to be potentially beneficial to the rural dwellers, they should be sustained, while avenues of improving the programming should be explored.

Agricultural Extension Needs of Grape Growers in Jordan and It's Relation to Some Personal Characteristics

The aim of this study was to determine the agricultural extension needs of grape growers in Jordan and it's relation to some Personal characteristics. A sample of 900 growers was selected and interviewed individually. Using a questionnaire included two parts; the first was the personal and socioeconomic information of the growers and the second was a measure of knowledge levels on the grape cultivation areas.For analyzing data, frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviations, Pearson & Spearman correlation, chi-square, and t-test. The most important results were: 1-There was three categories for need levels; low (< 16) degree, medium between( 16-32) degree and high (> 32) degree. It was found that 13.2%, 71.4%, and 15.4 % of the growers were fall in the low, medium, and high levels, respectively. 2-There was a significant relationship between the agricultural extensionneeds and each of age, number of family members, number of experience years, , and exposure to information sources. 3-There was no significant relationship between the agricultural extensionneeds and each of educational level, size&holding type ,and residence place. 4-The study recommends strengthening the role of agricultural extension in educating grape growers through the preparation of the plan dealing with the detailed results of this study.

The role of Agricultural Extension in Maintaining Soil Fertility" In the New Valley Governorate

The role of Agricultural Extension in Maintaining Soil Fertility" In the New Valley Governorate

Commercialization of Agriculture and Role of Agricultural Extension

Today commercialization of agriculture is an inevitable reality throughout the whole world. There are a number of factors affecting the commercialization process in agriculture. Some of them could be named as rapid growth of economies in the both developing and developed countries, introducing of new technologies, market expansion, market liberalization, urbanization, rapid increase of demand for food, decreasing of farming population, liberalized and open economic policies, bilateral and multilateral economic agreements, developed infrastructure facilities in farming areas and government agricultural policies. However, commercialization in agriculture is not a new phenomenon and it is not a surprise to the farming community. Since the nineteen fifties, farmers in most of the countries have moved towards commercial agriculture. Their major objective was surplus production aiming market prospects. Agricultural extension plays a major role in agricultural production. Role of agricultural extension in a commercialized agricultural system is different from such service in subsistence farming system. In the commercialized agriculture the extension service will mainly concentrate on the resourceful big farmers, with favorable environmental conditions and higher socio-economic status. Under the commercialized agriculture the number of farmers is to be reduced and the size of the farm land should be increased. This is a generally accepted concept in commercial agriculture. Do we have to accept this concept under each and every situation? We think the answer is "no". By using improved technologies farmers can move towards commercial agriculture without considering the size of land. Under protected agriculture, farmers follow concepts of the commercial agriculture. Commercial livestock farming does not rely on the farm size except diary farming. However, the role of agricultural extension in the commercialized agricultural system is mainly dependent on the type and way of commercialization in a given society. We have to expect that agricultural extension services are supposed to fulfill many aims, from reducing rural poverty and improved livelihoods for rural households to increasing the overall production and contributing to foreign exchange earnings from exports. But the level and percentage of this contribution may vary from one situation to another. DOI: 10.4038/suslj.v6i1.1686 Sabaragamuwa University Journal, vol 6, no. 1, pp 13-22

Factors Influencing the Design of Electronic learning system in Agricultural Extension

Problem statement: Nowadays appropriate training and education are important. Still some organizations make the mistake of not training their employees adequately in the utilization of ICT or in the use of internet information systems, often due to the cost of providing training and the loss in productivity when employees are absent. But many organizations have adopted e-learning as a solution for their corporate training. The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) also have considered the necessity of e-learning in agricultural extension for training extension agents as human resources that are working in extension centers throughout the country and have direct interaction with farmers, because they understand that traditional education is no longer effective. As a result, understanding factors influencing e-learning system in Iran’s agricultural extension centers is crucial for creating the new opportunities for extension agent to update their information. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting to design an e-learning system. Approach: The research in terms of nature is a kind of quantitative research and in terms of goal is applied research, in terms of controlling the variables is descriptive and correlation kind, which has been carried out in a survey way. Statistical population of the study consisted of 6539 extension expert in extension centers in Iran. Based on the classification of the Ministry of Agriculture which has divided these centers into six regions, sample taking has been conducted using stratified proportionate random sampling technique. Sample size for the students is 400 people using Cochran formula. Considering the entire size of the sample, 379 questionnaires have been returned. Results: With using factor analysis the variables were classified into seven factors, which they are included: financial, policy, support, personal, educational, technical and organizational factors. The confirmatory factor analysis determined that the relationship between observed variables and latent variables in the model. Conclusion: Extension agents will continue to play a crucial role in agricultural extension, therefore to accomplish this role in the best manner there is a need of applying new and effective methods to train extension experts in this field. On the other hand, for access to this goal, finding factors influencing the design of electronic education in agricultural extension is necessary. In this research we found some of factors that should be considered before implementation of any e-learning programs in any extension systems.

The ‘Business’ of the Public Sector: Extension in Transition and the Balance of Powers

The paper addresses the public sector’s role in agricultural extension. The first part of the paper subtitled ‘Extension in Transition’ reviews the ideological and technological changes that have occurred since the 1980s and stresses the importance of educating producers and establishing a climate where they begin to organize themselves for profitable purposes. The second part of the paper subtitled ‘the Extension System as National Commitment’ examines the current reform measures affecting public sector extension and differentiates two distinct reform pathways, commercialization and democratization. Highlighted is the tension between the privatization of public sector extension systems and the call for institutional pluralism. The third part of the paper subtitled ‘Enhancing Capacities for What’ raises the question of the purpose of modern (public) extension services.

The Role of Agricultural Extension in Developing the Egyptian Exports of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

The study aims to: determine the participants’ level of knowledge for thevariables within the international and local markets of medicinal and aromaticplants, recognize the role of agricultural extension in developing the exports of thesecrops, recognize the nature of the relationship between the extension service and theorganizations working in the exports field, recognize the requirements for extendingthe production of medicinal and aromatic plants, and finally determine the level ofrecognizing the required quality standards for exporting the chamomile as long asthe international demand for it is increasing.The study has been investigated on a sample of 117 participants, 80 of themare medicinal and aromatic plants growers and 37 of the extension staff in FayoumGovernorate.The most important results regarding the extension staff were; low level ofknowledge regarding the international marketing variables (the global price ofchamomile, the proper time for exporting, and the quality standards for exports),73% of them referred that they don’t provide any services for the growers inmarketing the product, 67.6% of them stated that there is no relationship between theextension authorities and the governmental organizations that working in the exportfield, at the same time 18.1% of them stated that there is a relationship between theextension authorities and the associations working in the field of exporting crops. The most important requirements for expanding the cultivated area of these crops– as the extension staff point of view – were; organizing a trainings for the extensionstaff who are working in this field (100%), inform the growers about the qualitystandards for exports, expand the growing in the new lands (45.9%), and offermoney incentives for the extension agents and the marketing specialists (59.5%).Regarding the participants of growers, the most important results were;56.25% of the growers market their production by contracting with the exporters,88.7% of the growers don’t know about the quality standards, and 75% of themdon’t know the global price and the proper time for growing.The main problems facing the growers within the production process were;the infection of pests and diseases (78.5%) and the low quality of irrigation waterwhich affects the quality of the production (80%). Regarding the marketingproblems, the growers stated the following problems; the high cost of harvesting(94%), the monopoly within the market where there are few exporters andmiddlemen (78.5%), and price fluctuations (75%). The main requirements forexpanding the production were; the availability of the information about qualitystandards (76.3%) and the availability of high quality seeds (75%). The marketingrequirements were; pre-contracting (87.5%) and exporters commitment with growers(66.5%).It’s, also, stated the weakness of the agricultural extension in developing theknowledge and skills of the growers regarding the production and exporting of themedicinal and aromatic plants. Finally, the study has shown that both the extensionstaff and growers have a low level of recognition for the quality standards requiredfor exporting the chamomile where 10.8% and 15% of them respectively are in thehigh recognition category.

The need for a new generation of farmers and agriculturists in South Africa and the role of agricultural extension

Agriculture remains an important sector in the South African economy. According to the Strategic Plan for South African Agriculture, it recognises the importance of the youth, emphasises the education and training of the youth, to ensure a new generation of farmers and agriculturists. The youth however show very little interest in agriculture, not only in South Africa, but worldwide and one of the challenges will be to change the negative image of agriculture among the youth. A research study among Grade 12 learners from 25 schools in the Limpopo Province was done and it revealed that learners performed very poor in the final exam and 66% failed. Clear indications were found that the learners overestimated their performance; incorrectly assessed their coping strength; the majority (65%) were repeating the subject; there was a total lack of practical classes; the attitude of fellow learners (peer group) towards learners taking agricultural science was negative. Agricultural Science was perceived as unimportant to further their career and only 43% took the subject out of own choice. Teacher quality, knowledge, attitude and their enthusiasm were perceived by the learners as insufficient and negative. South African Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 35 (2) 2006: pp. 132-157

The Changing Role of Agricultural Extension in a Global Economy

The Changing Role of Agricultural Extension in a Global Economy

The role of home economics in agricultural extension

Home economics could play a vital, supportive and complementary role in agricultural extension. Home economics training is, however, in much need of reorientation if the profession is to play this much‐needed role. A comparison of the mission statements, foci and roles of these disciplines illustrates the value of including home economists in agricultural extension teams. The two professions have areas of similarity, but each also has specialist expertise vital to agricultural development. As a multidisciplinary, female‐dominated profession, home economics is able to assist agricultural extension officers in designing extension programmes which suit the needs of women farmers. The article outlines the areas of collaboration, specialist expertise and cooperation between the two professions while questioning the focus of traditional home economics training.

The changing public role in agricultural extension

The public sector extension services in which governments of less developed countries (ldcs) have invested large sums often at the behest of donors are achieving uneven impact, often at unsustainably high costs. Further, the fundamental premise of public sector extension - that low-income farmers are unlikely to obtain technical information unless it is provided by government — increasingly requires re-examination. This paper reviews the pressures facing conventional agricultural extension, examines the prospects of recent approaches that are participatory, institutionally pluralistic and geared towards cost-sharing, and suggests ways forward for governments.

Role of Agricultural Extension in the Management of Drought and Impact of Extension Messages on the Farmers

Present study was planned as an extension of our earlier study on the 1987-86 drought submitted to the Directorate in April 1990, under the caption "Impact of 1987-88 drought on the economic conditions of rural people in Maharashtra". The same households sampled for the earlier study. where approached with additional question to meet the requirements of the present study.