Agricultural Extension and Education

The field of research on agricultural and rural extension and education, also referred to as advisory services and intermediaries, has always engaged with different aspects of the spaces in which agricultural producers (farmers, growers, ranchers) are situated and operate. In this editorial, I will reflect on the elements and environments which jointly constitute and shape the farm  and their connection with extension and advisory services in the digital age, opening up new digital and virtual spaces. Extension and advisory services receive ample consideration in current debates on digitalization and digital transformation of the agrifood sector, and are an important focus of attention for agriculture and food systems research, practice and policy . In this editorial, I will elaborate on some digital and virtual spaces as sites of extension and advisory services research, to progress the field of study for which The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension serves as a publication outlet.

This article takes an innovation intermediary perspective to examine farmer cooperative’s (FC) roles in facilitating agricultural innovation and its positioning in the agricultural innovation system (AIS). The article draws experiences from the rapidly emerging FC field in China. Three cases are selected to cross check findings from them and innovation journey analysis is used within each case to understand FCs’ engagement in innovation processes. The findings show that FCs cover a wide range of knowledge intermediation and innovation intermediation functions identified by the literature. FCs recognize the importance to connect technical, social and economic dimensions of farming practice and provide corresponding services to link farmers to relevant actors, like extension agencies, research institutes and supermarkets. Though they mainly work through bilateral relationships as opposed to acting as a systemic intermediary, they could take the role of coordinator in the service system and bridge the gap between the research and policy system and everyday farming practice, especially in the absence
of a systemic coordinator. However, their legitimacy as intermediary might be challenged due to the potential conflicts with governments, market actors or their members, and their local position may provide insufficient clout for developing durable relationships with relevant actors.

The present qualitative research study was designed to identify barriers to entrepreneurship development in Iran’s higher education system. The present study is applied and developmental in terms of its objective and it is descriptive case study in terms of its nature and data collection. The study population includes 45 elites, scholars, policy-makers, planners, managers, specialists, and experts endowed with expertise and experience in the subject matter of this study in Yazd province, Iran, who are selected through purposive sampling method. To collect the required data, in-depth and semi-structured interviews are performed that are continued until the achievement of theoretical saturation. Following the implementation of open and refined coding processes, findings are illustrated in a four-dimensional model. The research model is represents the upcoming context of entrepreneurship development in Iran’s higher education system. Finally, causal conditions leading to such impacts, consequences, and action strategies are proposed to reduce and alleviate the given impacts.

North Sinai governorate is one of the largest desert areas in terms of intensity of agricultural extension work, In spite of efforts by state agencies to bring about agricultural development in the governorate, agriculture is still somewhat characterized by primitive traditional methods, making agricultural development rates almost indistinguishable, And with the scarcity of extension research carried out in North Sinai in the field of environmental SWOT analysis, It was necessary to conduct the study that is trying to analyze the current situation of agricultural extension in North Sinai governorate through identifying the strengths; weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). A participatory SWOT analysis study using open-ended qualitative-type instrument was conducted; Research data were collected through personal interviewing questionnaire with 90 respondents representing 75% of the total extension workers in North Sinai Governorate, during the period from May till October 2018. The results showed that the most important strengths of these were that a large proportion of the extension workers are specialized in agricultural extension, more than half of the guides were from rural areas and the high job satisfaction degree among of the majority of the extension workers while the most important weaknesses were Weak budget and inadequate funding for extension work, Absence of job description for the extension workers, and Lack of financial and material resources. On the other hand the most important opportunities were Availability of research institutes in the governorate, NGO-Public Sector Collaboration. While the most important threats were Decreased investments targeting the agricultural sector in general and the extension system in particular, Poor Farmer Organization, Security instability in the governorate. Depending upon SWOT outputs, some relevant strategies were discussed to develop agricultural extension system in the governorate through some dimensions that uses strengths and opportunities to overcome weaknesses and to avoid threats or minimize their effects. Introduction Agricultural extension programs capacity to respond to the needs and problems of targeted rural groups and areas is one of the most important challenges faced by those responsible for these systems and programs in all countries in general and Arab countries in particular, The good preparation of the Strategy for the Development of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Systems and Programs in the Arab States is based on a series of activities and participatory efforts undertaken by the Strategic Planning Group of each country (Shafie, 2012) Hence, Strategic management is the ongoing process of establishing, implementing and evaluating decisions that enable the Organization to achieve its objectives. Strategic management allows the institution to be more active than the reaction in shaping its future. It allows an organization to start and influence-rather than simply respond to activities-and thereby control its destiny (David, 2003). The process of strategic management or strategic planning is one of the concepts related to identification of strategic decisions that are based on vision, mission, objectives and the external and internal analysis of the organization to make strategic choices. (Barney and Hesterly, 2006) The strategic management process consists of three stages: strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation. SWOT analysis of external opportunities and threats as well as the internal strengths and weaknesses of the enterprises is important for strategy formulation and development (Chang, Huang, 2006).

This study investigated information needs and challenges of agricultural researchers and extension workers in Edo State, Nigeria. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select 106 respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The majority (71.6 %) of respondents indicated their need for information with respect to climate change and adaptation measures (71.6 %). Extension workers communicated more with agricultural researchers monthly (77.5 %). Lack of office-wide internet connectivity (2.06±1.08), unstable power supply (2.05±1.07), and non-subscription to relevant online resources by employer (2.05±1.07) inhibited respondents from meeting their information needs. The study recommends that Edo State ministry of agriculture and the management of the research institutes, should improve ICT infrastructure in their establishments in order to enhance access to e-resources by staff.

This research paper focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness index of expert system applications in agriculture with special reference to 'KAU-Fertulator ' and 'e-Crop doctor ', developed by Kerala Agricultural University. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals with a total of 100 respondents who were actively involved in the field of agriculture. Based on the relevant review of literature and discussion with experts effectiveness index of agri-expert system was developed and standardized using the applications such as quick availability and opportunity of the expert system to programme itself, expert systems ability to exploit a considerable amount of knowledge, reliability, scalability, pedagogy, expert systems ability on preservation and improvement of knowledge and expert systems ability to address the new areas neglected by conventional computing. These applications were ranked based on their mean scores in decreasing order of importance and effectiveness index was calculated to distribute the respondents in different categories. Results showed that the effectiveness index of expert system application in agriculture was generally medium. In order to improve the effectiveness index of agri-expert system applications in agriculture, it is necessary to augment the attributes of expert systems such as accuracy, timeliness, format clarity and relevancy of the information from agri-expert systems. Highlights • Effectiveness index of expert system applications in agriculture is the pioneer study which revealed that effectiveness index of expert system application in agriculture was generally medium.

The present study was carried out during 2017-18 in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh state. This study was conducted in randomly selected 6 villages of two purposively selected blocks i.e. Burhar and Sohagpur of Shahdol district. The aim of this study to know the profile of audience farmers of Kisanvani programme. A total of 120 farmers were selected randomly as respondents. The data collection was done by the use of interview schedule through personal interview. Data were analyzed with help of suitable statistical tools. Majority of respondents belonged to middle age group, had formal education, belonged to nuclear families, had up to five members in their families, were small farmers and possessed 1-2 bullocks. Majority of the respondents were in the medium categories of annual income, social participation, extension participation and information seeking behaviour. Majority of the respondents had high attitude & opinion towards adoption of improved production technology.

Rice is a staple food and pesticides have become a dominant input for production of rice in Bangladesh. To protect the farmers' health and environment, farmers' understanding about risk on occupational risk exposure to pesticides is a crucial matter. Accordingly, a study was carried out in Khagdohor union of Mymensingh Sadar upazila (sub-district) under Mymensingh district in Bangladesh to assess the rice farmers' perception on occupational risk exposure to pesticides. An interview schedule was used to collect data during March-April, 2018 from 100 rice farmers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, rank order and coefficient of correlation. Majority of the rice farmers (73%) had medium to high level of perception on occupational risk exposure to pesticides in the study area. Among twenty (20) statements on four (4) dimensions: 'eating, drinking or smoking could be done during mixing and loading'; 'after applying pesticides more time should be taken to change clothes or to take bath'; 'pesticide store house can be also used for storing food, fire wood, farming equipment and kitchen utensils'; and 'pesticides do not kill target or non-target organisms (snakes, worms, insects, mud skippers etc.)' were the first ranked perceived risks by the rice farmers on occupational risk exposure to pesticides regarding handling; application; storage and disposal; and human health and biodiversity stages, respectively. It was revealed that the influential factors such as education, household size, farm size, annual income, organizational participation, training received, extension media contact, ownership of pesticide applicators, and perception on the use of pesticides of the rice farmers were significantly associated with the rice farmers' perception on occupational risk exposure to pesticides. The study specified some recommendations for the policymakers to address the aforesaid influential factors of the rice farmers on occupational risk exposure to pesticides in the study area. Moreover, awareness raising programmes, credit facilities, proper training on safety measures and suitable extension services could play a significant role in lessening the risks of the rice farmers on occupational exposure to pesticides.

Cocoa is a pre-eminent commodity in Central Sulawesi Province. Cocoa farming has not experienced a significant increase in productivity due to lack of technological improvement efforts, limited partnerships resulting in low access of farmers to capital institutions, trading dominated by middlemen and owners of capital, and lack of extension support role in improving the competence, capacity, and interdependence of cocoa farmers to increase productivity and income. Those aspects indicate the importance of research on competence, the capacity of cocoa farmers leading to the interdependence of farmers on a filtering system, competitiveness and partnership as well as increasing the productivity of farmers through increasing farmers’ interdependence. This study aims to: (1) identify the level of competence, capacity, and interdependence of cocoa farmers, (2) analyze the factors affecting the competence, capacity, and interdependence of cocoa farmers to produce quality cocoa, (3) analyze the influence of interdependence on farmer productivity cocoa, (4) to determine extension strategies in improving the competence, capacity, and interdependence of cocoa farmers. The research used survey design, was implemented in Central Sulawesi Province as the main center of cocoa production in Indonesia. Location of research were Donggala Regency of North Region, Sigi Regency of West Region, Poso Regency of Central Region and North Morowali Regency of Southeast Region. The research sample was 380 by fulfilling the statistical test requirement using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). In the research, selection of sample using (multi-step random sampling). Determination of location and sample is as follows: (1) two villages in each selected district are based on several criteria: developing and geographically located village close to the district capital and villages far from the district capital, and (2) sample determination in each village using proportional random sampling. The results of this research are first, the competence of farmers is weak due to the weak role of extension, lack of innovation received by farmers and low formal education. The capacity of farmers is weak in organizing and in adapting to the environment due to the low competence of farmers. The interdependence of cocoa farmers in the low categories of good filter system (47.7%), competitiveness (31.3%), and partnership (38.8%). This is due to low capacity and institutional support, thus affecting the low level of farmer interdependence in filter system, competitiveness, and partnership. Second, the level of competence of weak cocoa farmers is influenced by the weakness of (1) intensity factor following nonformal education, (2) the motivation of farming development, (3) role of agriculture extension, and (4) institutional support. The dominant factors influencing the weakness of the cocoa farmers' capacity are (1) the motivation for the development of farming, (2) the traditional attachment, (3) the role of agricultural extension, (4) and the availability of innovation. The low level of interdependence of farmers is influenced by the weakness of (1) the level of formal education, (2) the intensity of nonformal education, (3) the role of agricultural extension, (4) the availability of innovation, (5) institutional support, (6) the competence level of farmers and (7) ) farmers' capacity level. Third, increasing the interdependence of farmers is a determinant factor in increasing the productivity of cocoa farming in Central Sulawesi Province. The decline in production and quality of dry beans can be overcome by increasing cocoa farmer interdependence. Low farmer interdependence affects the low productivity of (0.8 tons per hectare per year)  is under the yield potential of 2 tons per hectare per year and income of Rp. 1.325.070, this is below the minimum wage of Central Sulawesi Province of Rp. 1.807.775 per month. Fourth, based on the results of the model of farmer interdependence in improving the productivity of cocoa farming, the formulation of strategies to increase interdependence is: (1) the strategy of increasing the interdependence of farmers through improving the capacity of farmers and (2) the strategy of increasing the interdependence of farmers through institutional support. The strategies undertaken are: (a) to develop a peasant group plan that is integrated with the extension program; (b) conducting consultation activities, technical meetings, field workshops and field meetings between farmers, industry and the private sector; (c) increase the use of compost and organic pesticides by farmers. Providing training by extension workers on how to use organic pesticides and organic fertilizers, and continuous intensive facilitation in order to improve the utilization of environmentally friendly technologies; (d) enhancing the role of farmer groups as collectors of cocoa beans; (e) cooperate with industrial and private institutions in the provision of adequate production, marketing and processing facilities for farmers; (f) develops the principal actors institutions as a concrete manifestation of the Law No. 16 of 2006 on Agricultural Extension System, Fisheries and Forestry in accordance with Article 19 paragraph (2, 3 and 4) that is the principal actors institution has a function as a forum for learning process, units of facilities and production facilities, production units, processing and marketing units, and supporting service units; (g) capacity and number of competent trainers on cocoa plants; (h) cooperate with credit guarantor for farmers. Cooperation undertaken in order to provide convenience for farmers in accessing capital so that farmers are able to provide the needs of production facilities to improve the quality of cocoa beans; (i) drafting regulations that support the development of cocoa farmer interdependence; (j) to assist the processing of dry cocoa beans into ready-to-eat products.

The knowledge, attitudes and practices of people hold towards any contagious disease like COVID-19 play an integral role in determining a society’s readiness to accept behavioural change measures related
to prevention of disease. Therefore, an effort was made to study the awareness toward COVID-19 among the farm women of Golaghat district of Assam. For the purpose, 110 numbers of farm women were selected from 5 different blocks of Golaghat district of Assam. A well designed questionnaire was developed as per the guidelines provided by World Health Organization on measures to be followed on time to time and distributed among the participants. The majority of respondents belong to the age group of 35 to 45 yrs old (34.55%) and 72 of total respondents were of OBC categories. Majority of respondent’s education level was recorded to be in high school level (53.64%). The results of the present study revealed that there was high level of awareness especially among the farmwomen regarding nature, symptoms and preventive measures to be taken for preventing the spread of disease. Majority of respondents (80.90%) were aware that COVID-19 is a viral disease and 79.10 per cent of the respondents opined that the main mode of transmission of the virus is via respiratory droplets. All the respondents were of the view that farmers should take their own food and water from home to their agricultural field, along with that soap and water should also to be brought (84.54%). Besides that 74.54 per cent respondents
were in the view that wearing mask and social distancing is important during agricultural operations.

This research paper focuses on horizontal and vertical diversification of specialised
homegardens. The study location was Central Kerala region consisting of Thrissur,
Palakkad and Ernakulam districts due to the presence of specialized homegarden system.
A total of 60 homegarden farmers were selected, to assess the horizontal and vertical
diversification of specialized homegardens. Respondents were personally interviewed and
data were enumerated from the homegardens with components of specializations so as to
get sufficient data from for interpretation. Horizontal diversification is a measure of both
the cropping intensity and the structure of homegardens. Vertical diversification throws
light into the functional dynamics and the economic entities in the homegarden as a result
of value addition or product diversification. Results revealed that there was no
homegardens without any type of horizontal diversification irrespective of the location in
which it belongs. Considering the vertical diversification for both economically dominant
crops and specialized components in homegardens, it is clear that the vertical
diversification is more for the specialized components. In short, this study has gone to
identify horizontal and vertical diversification of specialized homegardens with special
emphasis on different regions of Kerala.

It has been suggested that 'agri-expert systems' might have a significant role in the future by enabling large number of people so that they can access human experts. It is, therefore, important to understand how potential users interact with these computer systems. This study investigates the extension professionals' attitude towards the use of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) expert systems for fertilizer recommendation, pest, disease diagnosis, and management of weeds in crop fields. The study also depicts the factors affecting the attitude of extension professionals. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala's extension professionals with a sample of 100 respondents actively involved in the field of agriculture to evaluate questions about the attitude of respondent in using agri-expert systems. It also aims to depict the factors which are affecting the attitudes of extension professionals. Results showed that the extension professionals' attitude towards agri-expert systems was generally moderately favorable and the factors such as Training, Innovative proneness and Information content were positively and significantly related with the attitude towards expert systems among all three categories of respondents. In order to improve the extension professionals' attitude towards expert systems, information content available in the expert system should be up to date and addresses the problems which are location specific and need specific. There is also greater need to enrich extension professionals' knowledge about the innovative applications of expert systems by conducting suitable training programmes in a timely manner for the benefit of farming community and effective agriculture decision making.

Rice is a traditional staple food crop of India, rice farming having high cultural and ecological significance in the present global scenario. Tribal labourers in Wayanad was the traditional labourers in rice farming. The consequent migration of non-tribals to Wayanad had change the demographic and cultural entity of the district. The present study was conducted in Wayanad district of Kerala to compare the work participation between tribal and non-tribal labourers. Twenty tribal and nontribal labourers were selected from each selected panchyaths (Noolpuzha, Thirunelli, and Kottathara) and a total of one hundred and twenty respondents were included in the study. A well-structured interview schedule was used for collecting the data from the respondents. The data were tabulated and inferences were drawn after appropriate statistical analysis. The result shows that majority of the tribal labourers had high work participation (72 per cent) whereas 57 percent of non-tribals had high work participation. While comparing based on gender female labourers had high work participation than male labourers both in case of tribal and non-tribal labourers.

The success of agricultural development in Indonesia in developing the ability of farmers is inseparable from the role of extension services carried out professionally. This study aims to (1) Analyzing the level of farmers 'perceptions about the role of extension workers in improving the competence of rice farmers in Tayawa Village, and (2) Analyzing factors that influence the level of farmers' perceptions about the role of extension workers in increasing the competence of rice farmers in Tayawa Village. This research uses a survey method with a descriptive analysis approach and a quantitative paradigm, supplemented with qualitative data information to support and sharpen quantitative analysis. The level of competence of middle rice farmers tends to be low, due to the weak role of agricultural extension workers. The role of the instructor as a communicator, facilitator, educator, and communicator turned out to have a positive effect on increasing the competence of rice farmers. But now these factors tend to be low so that it is still lacking in efforts to increase the competence of rice farmers.

This paper reviewed the effect of chemical farming on wealth creation and food security among rural households in northwest Nigeria. Chemical farming has been adopted by many farmers because it's the faster way to get higher yields and create wealth. The paper also conceptualized food security and wealth creation. It also looked at wealth creation strategies and the effects of chemical farming to national development along with reasons why wealth creation is crucial to for rural household development. The article also showcases the role of chemical farming in combating pests, diseases and weeds towards improved food security and animal and wealth creation. Reasons for adoption of chemical farming and its role in food security and wealth creation was extensively discussed in the paper. It as well assessed the disastrous effects of chemical farming to both crops, human and soil health.

Agricultural extension agents are agents of change who are directly related to farmers The purpose of the extension is to change the behavior of farmers in terms of knowledge, attitudes, and skills so that farmers have a more prosperous life. Rice farmers in West Tojo District carry out farming activities that still rely on hereditary habits, causing farmers to lack the capacity to run food crop businesses, both technically in cultivation, harvesting, and marketing. The objectives of the study are (1) to determine the level of capacity of rice farmers in Kabalo Village Tojo Una-Una District and, (2) to determine the effect of the role of extension agents on increasing the capacity of rice farmers in Kabalo Village Tojo Una-Una District. This research was conducted from March 2020 to August 2020 in Kabalo Village West Tojo District Tojo Una-Una Regency. This study used a population sample of 56 rice farmers. Based on the results of this study, the role of agricultural extension agents had an effect on the success rate of rice farmers in Kabalo Village. Through increasing the role of extension workers, both facilitators, motivators, mediators, advisors, and communicators, could increase the capacity of farmers in managing capital, utilizing technology, labor, and marketing processes that benefit farmers.

ISSEMINATION of dialogue values such as justice, tolerance, freedom, humility and other positive dialogue values should not be viewed unilaterally, but should be viewed through a broad system of vision and thought. It represents about 57.3% of the total population in Egyptian society. This means the importance of attention to the problems facing the dissemination of dialogue values in rural society and ways to address them. The most important of these problems are the increase of illiteracy among the rural population, the high rate of poverty, the lack of renewal of religious discourse, the multiplicity of obstacles that hinder the ability of rural NGOs to achieve their goals, increase the divorce rate, the ineffectiveness of political party work, the phenomenon of revenge and retaliation in the rural community, and the phenomenon of smoking, and addiction. The study recommended activating the efforts exerted to confront the problem of illiteracy in the rural society, pushing more investments by the state, businessmen and the rural civil society, renewing the religious and emphasizing the decision of Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Endowments to establish two international academies to prepare an enlightened religious preacher capable of confronting terrorism and extremism in modern ways that are compatible with Variables of our contemporary reality, Speeding up the issuance of the new law of the Egyptian civil work, activating the role of family and community counseling before marriage to reduce the phenomenon of increasing the divorce rate, raising social awareness of the importance of political party work to establish the rules of democracy in Egypt, and the development of integrated rural development as a main entry to face the phenomenon of revenge, and activating the role of work And volunteer in rural areas to face the problem of smoking and abuse and addiction.

The changing economic scenario in India and the need for appropriate agricultural technologies and agro-management practices to respond to food and nutritional security, poverty alleviation, diversifying market demands, export opportunities and environmental concerns is posing new challenges to technology dissemination systems. To face these challenges there is need of appropriate mix of public and private funding and delivery mechanism known as pluralistic extension system. The present study tried to explore the existing extension mechanism in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India and level of their access by the farmers. The district is having ATMA as well as KVK along with different other public and private channels for offering services to the farmers. 200 farmers from different blocks were selected for the study. Study revealed that farmers' organization has highest access followed by private & corporate extension agents and general development departments. Significant difference was found in the classes of Castes on access to the services of government based agriculture and allied development departments, autonomous extension (viz. SAU & KVK) and NGO and more income raised the access

The Correlation of Farmer Characteristics and Agricultural Extensions Support with Decisions on Innovation Santana Varieties in Rice Cultivation. Innovation is a farmer's need if it can solve the problems that farmers are facing. This study was to determine the characteristics of farmers, the level of extension support and the process of adopting innovation in the Santana variety of lowland rice cultivation, and the relationship between the characteristics of farmers and the level of support of extension workers on the adoption rate of innovation in the Santana variety rice cultivation.The research was conducted from May to December 2020 in Tayawa Village Tojo District Tojo Una-Una Regency Central Sulawesi Province. The method used in this research is a survey method. The population of this study was 109 lowland rice farmers in Tayawa Village and 52 farmers as samples of lowland rice farmers.Data analysis used the Rank Spearman correlation test and was carried out to determine the level of perception of the characteristics of lowland rice farmers and extension support with innovation decision making in rice cultivation.The results showed that individual characteristics, including age, formal education level, non-formal education level, and land area, were not related to the innovation-decision for the Santana variety cultivation.The level of cosmopolitan one variable of far mer characteristics is significantly related to the decision of innovation in Santana variety cultivation. Weak extension processes have the potential to weaken the innovative decisions on the Santana variety cultivation. Increased levels of cosmopolitan and extension support to farmers in the form of interaction, problem-solving, and enhancing the cooperation with the group the potential to increase the use of varieties Santana.

FULL PDF:  https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/article_172842.html


Crop production is seriously threatened by drought. Greater availability of nitrogen and phosphorus through intercropping with grain legumes and inoculationwith Phosphate Solubilizing Bactaeria (PSB) can alleviate the negative effect of water stress on some crops. However, row crop-grain legume intercropping and using PSB bacteria is not welcomed or widely accepted by smallholder farmers in arid regions. The problem is that N-fixation by grain legumes cannot completely satisfy nitrogen demand of intercropped non-legume row crop especially in low phosphorus soils of these regions under restricted irrigation. The efficiency of PSB bacteria also is very low in the alkaline soil of this region. It suggests that some amount of nitrogen fertilizer should be used in this intercropping system. Nitrogen consumption also improves the efficiency of PSB bacteria. So, consumption of some mineral nitrogen, and incubation with PSB bacteria meet entirely the need for phosphorus fertilizer. Significant water saving by restricting irrigation without significant yield loss in row crop and grain legumes can be regarded as an advantage of this method. So, farmers can cultivate more land with the same amount of water. In such a situation, even small foliage of the grain legumes, as green manure, can convince the farmers to use the row crop-grain legumes intercropping system even under restricted irrigation conditions. Futures studies must focus on a better understanding of competition and facilitation of two crops for water and nutrients. They also must pay attention to nitrogen × PSB bacteria, and Phosphorus × rhizobacteria synergic interactions on yield and resources use efficiency of both crops. These studies may help to better water and plant nutrition management in a way that it is environmentally safe and economical for farmers.

La extensión rural y agraria ha rondado siempre el debate en cuanto a cuál es la mejor forma de compartir, difundir, extender o construir un conocimiento validado que permita una mejora en las condiciones de vida de la población. En el presente trabajo se aborda el análisis de las prácticas de extensión desde una mirada epistemológica. A partir de una revisión teórica y de documentos con relatos empíricos se propone una matriz de análisis en base al concepto de conjunto de saberes, con ello se intenta romper con la dicotomía de saber popular-saber científico. El objetivo es identificar de forma aproximada algunos criterios de validación en el conjunto de saberes populares de la ganadería familiar del norte del Uruguay.

Desa Sepe termasuk wilayah pengembangan areal komoditas kakao di Kecamatan Lage Kabupaten Poso dan desa ini ke depan dapat dikembangkan menjadi desa kakao. Permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh petani di Kecamatan Lage Kabupaten Poso khususnya Desa Sepe adalah produksi buah kakao ditingkat petani masih rendah. Alternatif solusi melalui kegiatan penyuluhan, pendampingan mengenai teknik budidaya, pemanenan, dan pasca panen, pengolahan dan pemasaran buah kakao. Pengabdian ini bertujuan untuk memperbaiki kualitas hasil dan produksi kakao melalui peningkatan kompetensi petani baik melalui proses pemupukan, pemangkasan, pembersihan gulma secara teratur, pemanenan yang sesuai standar, dan pengendalian hama dan penyakit. Metode pelaksanaan meliputi pendampingan, demontrasi cara, kunjungan lapangan serta pendampingan dan monitoring evaluasi. Kegiatan ini merupakan hasil dari kegiatan pengabdian bagi masyarakat khusus di kebun kakao milik petani di Desa Sepe Kecamatan Lage Kabupaten Poso dan telah mampu meningkatkan 58 persen kuantitas hasil produksi 60 kg/bulan dan penerimaan Rp.1.860.000/bulan.

The present study was conducted in Junagadh district of Gujarat. Ex-post facto research design was followed for the study. Total 120 respondents were randomly selected for the study representing 5 colleges of Junagadh Agricultural University. The findings revealed that 58.34 per cent of the post graduate students had medium level of aspiration, followed by high and low level of aspiration towards agricultural entrepreneurship. This paper throws light on the profile characteristics of post graduate students and level of aspiration. Findings revealed that the independent variables viz; father's education, family occupational status, self confidence and cosmopoliteness had positive and significant relationship at five per cent level of significance. Whereas, academic achievement, family income and risk orientation at one per cent level of significance. Age, participation in extracurricular activities, overall modernity, reading habit, agricultural business anxiety and knowledge about government projects about agribusiness exhibited non significant relationship with aspiration towards agricultural entrepreneurship.

Determination of the challenges extension agents are facing leads to increased efficiency and effectiveness of extension services. This study assessed the challenges extension agents in Iraq are facing. 100 extension agents were selecting, face-to-faces an interview with a pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The study revealed that fifty-three of respondents faced medium challenges. The most important challenges were; low extension agents to farmer ratio, lack of farmer participation, dispersion among the farmers, weak research-extension-farmer linkage, lack of funding, farmers are mostly small scale producers, extension agents are overloaded, and highly centralized in agricultural extension work.A significant and negative correlation was found between the challenges mentioned and the educational qualification, number of trainings attended by extension agent. Challenges can be addressed through staffing more extension agents, increase farmer participation, strength linkage of research-extension-farmers, and provide adequate fund.

The failure of the various extension delivery approaches in our country to effectively engineer significant and sustainable agricultural growth has become a major concern to all stakeholders, including the funding agencies and donor community. The midsts of these challenges extensionists are grappling with the question of how best to harness technology dissemination system of SDA (State Department of Agriculture) to benefit the farming community. There was no scale available to measure extension professionals' attitude towards technology dissemination system of state department of agriculture. The present study was contemplated to develop and standardize the same. Out of 50 statements, 18 statements were retained on the final scale. The reliability and validity of the scale indicates its precision and consistency of the results. This scale can be used to measure extension professionals' attitude beyond the study area with suitable modifications. Transfer of technology to the different levels of farmers is not a onetime exercise because new farm technology is being constantly evolved. A continuous flow of technologies in an appropriate manner is vital to provide quick benefit of such development to the farmers. There has been a technological explosion in the field of agriculture. This demands that the farmer has to know all the aspects of technology prior to its adoption. The concerns have been fuelled lately by the wave of pluralism, market liberalization, globalization sweeping across the world and giving rise to initiatives that will enhance efficiency and effectiveness of not only the sub-components of extension delivery but the entire system of technology generation, dissemination and use. Agricultural extension workers of State Department of Agriculture are personnel who are responsible for meeting the goals of extension system. The effectiveness of extension services is highly dependent on the ability of extension workers who are competent because the entire extension process is dependent on them to transfer information from extension organizations to the clients. Attitudes are acquired through experience and exert a directive influence on subsequent behavior and moreover, help individuals to interpret new information and to make decisions more efficiently than would otherwise be the case (Baron and Byrne 1991). Evaluation of the extension professionals' attitude, in most cases, has focused on performance effectiveness of extension personnel of State Department of Agriculture (Agbarevo et al., 2013). Hence, the present study was contemplated to develop and standardize a scale for measuring extension professionals' attitude towards technology dissemination system of SDA. METHODOLOGY Attitude is an organized predisposition to think, feel, perceive and behave towards a cognitive object. Attitude is the degree of positive or negative effect associated with some psychological object. According to Thurstone, "psychological object" means any symbol, phrase, slogan, idea, person and institution towards which people can RESEARCH NOTE

This research paper focuses on characterization of homegardens in terms of technology needs and techno-socioeconomic dimensions. The study location was Central Kerala region consisting of Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts of India due to the presence of specialized homegarden system. A total of 30 homegarden farmers were selected, to assess the homegardens in terms of technology needs. The study also covered the same Central Kerala region to assess the techno-socioeconomic dimensions as perceived by homegarden farmers, Agricultural Officers and Scientists. With respect to technology needs of specialized homegarden farmers, a Chi square test was performed and the interpretation was that, the distribution, by and large had the same technology needs as far as the perception of the farmer was concerned. In general, technology needs of the farmers had radically changed from the conventional ones to those of technologies like scientific storage, processing and value addition of homegarden produces. Technological, economical and socio-cultural dimensions related to the specialized components in homegardens show a variation in priorities between the specialized homegarden farmers and the Agricultural Officers and Scientists. Some of the dimensions which were of high relevance to the homegarden farmers were considered rather insignificant to the other section. Based on the results, it is imperative to identify the dimensions that were perceived to be important to all categories of respondents for providing economic, ecological, social and cultural benefits to the individual farmer and to the community.

In the contemporary scenario, the agriculture sector around the world has experienced profound changes in its core areas. Among these, a paradigm shift from agriculture to agri-entrepreneurship is one of the essential pathway to rejuvenate Indian agriculture and to make more attractive and profitable venture. Understanding this, the present exploration was carried out to assess the attitude of the rainfed farmers towards agri-entrepreneurship in Anantapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh. A survey was conducted among the farmers of Anantapuram district with a sample of 100 respondents selected by simple random sampling. The results revealed that, more than half of the farmers' had favourable attitude (45%) towards agri-entrepreneurship followed by moderately favourable (36%) and unfavourable (19%) attitude towards the agri-entrepreneurship and the factors such as education, scientific orientation, trainings undergone, extension contact and economic motivation were the factors, positively and significantly influencing the farmers' attitude towards agri-entrepreneurship. The study also depicted the ranking of various agri-business activities as preferred by the farmers and it revealed that, 'sheep rearing' ranks first preferred agri-business activity followed by millets value addition, dairy farming, seed processing units, poultry farming, mushroom production, medicinal crops cultivation and apiculture. In order to improve the farmers' attitude towards agri-entrepreneurship and convert them to agripreneurs, regular skill oriented training programmes should be conducted on the agri-business activities with special emphasis on rain fed agriculture.

The study assessed disease management and biosecurity measures among poultry farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study identified the prevalent poultry diseases and parasites in the study area, assessed disease management and biosecurity measures, and also identified the constraints limiting poultry production among the farmers. Multistage sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 113 poultry farmers using a struc-tured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and a four-point Liker-scale. Findings of the study revealed that Salmonellosis, Coccidiosis, and Newcastle Disease were the most common diseases in the area. Similarly, regular change of litter, consistent washing of drinkers/feeders, and also cleaning of the surroundings of the poultry house were the common biosecurity measures among in the area. Foremost among these constraints affecting the farmers were; extreme weather conditions, high cost of feed and other inputs, and inadequate capital and/or credit. Key among the recommendations was the need for the employment of more agricultural extension agents in the area.

Indigenous knowledge is local knowledge that is unique to a given culture acquired by local people through the accumulation of experiences, informal experiments, and intimate understanding of the environment in a given culture. It is the actual knowledge of a given population that reflects the experiences based on traditions and includes more recent experiences with modern technologies. indigenous knowledge are practices that differ from one community to another, a practice that is widely acceptable as a good one in a community may be bad in another community.We cannot totally discard our indigenous knowledge, there is need to incorporate some of the practices that have sustainable approach to development of our local communities with the scientific knowledge.

The importance of Amaranth as a valuable source of food, medicine and income has been documented. In the recent past, the cultivation of Amaranth by small scale farmers in Kenya have been promoted by public extension services, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), research organizations and universities. The extent of influence of access to extension services and availability of markets for Amaranth products on the adoption of Amaranth in Buuri District has not been adequately studied. The purpose of this study therefore is to determine and document how access to extension advice and availability of markets Amaranth products affect the adoption of the crop in Buuri District in Meru County. An expost-facto survey design was employed in this study and targeted common interest groups growing Amaranth among Buuri district stakeholders. The population sampled comprised of 360 members of all common interest groups in Ruiri and Nchoroiboro locations. A total sample of 110 respondents from...

Linkage mechanism refers to the connection between research, extension and farmers. talks about the stereotype concept of the channels of communication between researcher, extension personnel and the farmers is that the extension worker communicates research findings to the farmer and transmits the latter's problems to the researcher, who then incorporates these problems into his work programme. The stakeholders responsible for transferring the technologies to the farmers in the thar desert of India were the Subject Matter Specialists of Krishi Vigyan Kendras, scientists of Central Arid Zone Research Institute and officials of State department of Agriculture. This paper focuses on researchextension-farmer linkages that exist in the arid zone and also some strategies to be followed for better research extension linkages.