Collection: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC) / Subject Term: technology / Within Last x Years: within 5 Years

Start Over Collection Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC) Subject Term technology Within Last x Years within 5 Years

1. Why isn't ag invited to the party? Earning trust in innovation

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Fleck, Terry (author)
Format:: Opinion
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 170 Document Number: D09214
Notes:: The Center for Food Integrity

2. Synthesis and challenge

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Miller, Mason E. (author)
Format:: Report
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09718
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, Winrock International. Pages 187-203.

3. Effects of new technology on information providers

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Marks, Joseph (author)
Format:: Research summary
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09719
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, Synthesis and Challenge by Mason E. Miller. Winrock International. Pages 187-188.

4. Message variables and the new technology

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Maurer, Len (author)
Format:: Research summary
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09720
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, Synthesis and Challenge by Mason E. Miller. Winrock International. Pages 188-191.

5. Social effects of the new technology

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Fleming, Richard (author)
Format:: Research summary
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09721
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, Synthesis and Challenge by Mason E. Miller. Winrock International. Pages 195-197.

6. Community development: organizational and inter-organizational dimensions

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Benson, J. K. (author) and Hobbs, Daryl (author)
Format:: Research report
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09722
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, Agricultural Exper. Station, University of Missouri. 2 pages.

7. Agricultural and home economics experiment station project 2725 in cooperation with Iowa State University cooperative extension service

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (author)
Format:: Survey
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09734
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, Iowa State University, 11 pages.

8. An initial policy for assigning contribution numbers to computer software programs developed by Kansas Ag experiment station scientists

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Format:: Survey report result
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09737
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, 5 pages.

9. Patterns of computer use by members of Iowa farm families

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Nibbelink, Darla (author)
Format:: Abstract
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: USA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D09810
Notes:: NCR-90 Collection, 1 page

10. Global networks of genetically modified crops technology: a patent citation network analysis

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ji, Jiaojiao (author), Barnett, George A. (author), and Chu, Jianxun (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2019
Published:: International: Springer
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 32 Document Number: D10590
Journal Title:: Scientometrics
Journal Title Details:: 118(3): 737-762
Notes:: 26 pages., via online journal., This paper employs the patent data of four major genetically modified (GM) crops, soybeans, cotton, maize and rapeseed, to illustratee how the innovation of GM crop technology diffused and distributed globally over time. Data collected from the Derwent Innovation Index, were employed to construct country patent citation networks, from 1984 to 2015, and the results revealed that developed countries were early adopters, and the primary actors in the innovation of GM crop technology. Only seven developing countries appeared in the country citation network. Most developed countries were reluctant to apply GM crop technology for commercial cultivation. Private businesses stood out in the patent citation network. The early adoption and better performance of developed countries can be explained by the activities of large established private companies.

11. Using a blog and social media to market extension

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Davis, Gregory A. (author) and Stollar, Mariah K. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-06
Published:: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 32 Document Number: D10612
Journal Title:: Journal of Extension
Journal Title Details:: 57(3)
Notes:: 4 pages., Article #: 3TOT7, via online journal., Extension professionals at all levels can use popular social media platforms to increase awareness of Extension. This article explores how our team of Extension professionals has used a blog in combination with Facebook on a weekly basis to better market Extension and our work. Every Extension professional can easily become part of a deliberate effort to more actively connect with stakeholders by using these tools.

12. Can you ensure that ICT for development apps are downloaded and used? A case study of the plantwise data collection app for plant health in Kenya

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ochilo, Willis N. (author), Ruffhead, Holly (author), Rumsey, Abigail (author), Chege, Florence (author), Lusweti, Charles (author), Oronje, Mary Lucy (author), and Otieno, Washington (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019
Published:: Taylor & Francis
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 77 Document Number: D10807
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
Journal Title Details:: 20(3):237-253
Notes:: 18 pages., via online journal., Mobile apps are increasingly being used to answer development challenges around the world. The development opportunities that apps offer is wide-reaching but uptake of the technology varies. This article examines the ease of use and factors impacting user acceptance and behavior when interacting with an app for agricultural extension in Kenya. Results show factors including gender and age play a role in the adoption of technology by agricultural extension agents. The findings have useful lessons for apps’ development in the agricultural sector and suggest that including intended users of an app in the design process significantly increases usability.

13. The formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters: a case from China

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Zeng, Yiwu (author), Hongdong, Guo (author), Yao, Yanfei (author), and Huang, Lu (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-08
Published:: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 78 Document Number: D10821
Journal Title:: Growth and Change
Notes:: 19 pages., via online journal., Agricultural e‐commerce clusters are new phenomena that have emerged in rural China. In examining the case of Shuyang County in Jiangsu Province, this paper puts forward an integrated model revealing the formation mechanism of agricultural e‐commerce clusters. The paper shows that the formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters involves four processes of technology introduction, technology diffusion, quality crisis, and industrial agglomeration based on elements such as industry bases, e‐commerce platforms, network facilities, logistics services, entrepreneurial talent, local government, and market demand. Rural social networks and imitation behaviors promote technology diffusion by reducing the cost of technology introduction, and industrial agglomeration is found in the economies showing a deepening of labor divisions and geographic agglomeration. Throughout the formation process, a quality crisis may occur due to a race to the bottom and the opportunistic behaviors of local farmers. This work suggests that regional e‐commerce development is a systematic project. Governments of developing countries should not only realize the positive impacts of e‐commerce for the development of the agricultural industry but also recognize the premise and logic of how e‐commerce can play a prominent role.

14. Digital marketplace and FinTech to Support Agriculture Sustainability

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Anshari, Muhammad (author), Almunawar, Mohammad Nabil (author), Masri, Masairol (author), and Hamdan, Mahani (author)
Format:: Conference paper
Publication Date:: 2019-01
Published:: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 102 Document Number: D10906
Journal Title:: Energy Procedia
Journal Title Details:: 156: 234-238
Notes:: 5 pages., 2018 5th International Conference on Power and Energy Systems Engineering, CPESE 2018, 19–21 September 2018, Nagoya, Japan, via online journal., Agriculture plays an important in providing food security and sustainability for the people in any country. However, lack of funding and limited distribution channels to reach customers are frequent problems faced by farmers to meet the level of sustainability. Agriculture’s sustainability can be strengthened by allowing an innovation of services such as Financial Technology (FinTech), and digital marketplace. Digital marketplace with Fintech enabled might transform agriculture’s business process into more sustainable in term of funding and distribution. FinTech offers farmers convenient ways of getting sources of funding through crowdfunding and digital payment system. Thus, digital marketplace can act as a platform for FinTech to integrate the innovative financial solution into broader agriculture’s ecosystem. The study proposes a modelling digital marketplace with FinTech enabled especially crowdfunding and payment system in order to support agriculture’s sustainability. The model connects all actors (farmers, landowners, investors, and consumers) into a platform that can promote transparency, empowerment, resourcefulness, and public engagement in agriculture.

15. Farmers’ intention to use text messaging for extension services in Trinidad

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Narine, Lendel K. (author), Harder, Amy (author), and Roberts, T. Grady (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-07-12
Published:: Trinidad: Taylor & Francis
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10969
Journal Title:: The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
Journal Title Details:: 25(4) : 293-306
Notes:: 15 pages, via online journal, Purpose: The effectiveness of new extension approaches hinges on farmers’ willingness to adopt innovative ways to interact with extension. Therefore, this study explored farmers’ willingness to use mobile text messaging for two-way interactions with Ministry Extension officers. Design/Methodology/Approach: Guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study followed a correlational design and survey data were conveniently collected from 200 farmers of Trinidad. Findings: Findings showed most farmers of the sample knew how to send and receive text messages, and many owned Internet-enabled smartphones. In addition, most farmers were willing to communicate with extension officers through text messages. Practical Implications: Ministry Extension should revisit and revise their policies of communicating with farmers. Administrators should encourage extension officers to use SMS to respond to farmers’ requests and information needs. Theoretical Implications: While the UTAUT provided an appropriate framework for understanding farmers’ use of text messaging, researchers should tailor the moderator variables to the country’s context. Originality/Value: This study is the first to look at farmers’ willingness to use two-way information communication technologies in Trinidad. Results showed there is potential for Ministry Extension to use text messaging to communicate with farmers.

16. Determining the effects of the smartphone as a learning tool on the motivation of school-based agricultural education students in Louisiana

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Smith, H. Eric S (author), Blackburn, J. Joey (author), Stair, Kristin S. (author), and Burnett, Michael F. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-10
Published:: The American Association for Agricultural Education
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10974
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Education
Journal Title Details:: 60(3), 141-154
Notes:: 14 pages., via online journal., The smartphone is perhaps the most influential device in modern society. Research has indicated students perceived that using smartphones in the classroom aided learning. However, most American high schools ban students from using phones in the classroom. Previous research supports the idea that advanced smartphone applications in student- centered learning environments can improve achievement and motivation. Currently, there is little in the agricultural education literature pertaining to smartphone enhanced learning among secondary agriculture students. This study compared motivational differences between non-equivalent comparison groups. Secondary agricultural students from 13 schools across Louisiana completed the Course Interest Survey to measure motivation during a forestry unit. Data were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. The analysis rendered no statistically significant differences between the groups in motivation. It was concluded that smartphones do not reduce motivation and should be considered in agricultural education classrooms where policy permits.

17. GrainBridge develops tool to help farmers more effectively market gain

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Bedord, Laurie (author) and Successful Farming
Format:: Online article
Publication Date:: 2019-10-10
Published:: United States: Meredith Agrimedia, Meredith Corporation
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10987
Notes:: 4 pages, via website

18. Information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in developing countries: A case study of rural smallholder farmers in Malawi

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Phiri, Austine (author), Chipeta, George T. (author), and Chawinga, Winner D. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019
Published:: SAGE Journals
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D11003
Journal Title:: Information Development
Journal Title Details:: 35(3): 421–434
Notes:: 14 pages., via online journal., The purpose of the study was to investigate the information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in Mzimba North in Malawi. A mixed methods approach was adopted for the study and the Wilson’s Model of Information Behaviour (1996) guided the study. A questionnaire and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data from 202 rural smallholder farmers. The study found that the major information need of rural smallholder farmers was crop husbandry as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 149 (77.6). The study found that majority of rural smallholder farmers 180 (94.8%) were aware of information sources. The study also found that the predominant information sources consulted by rural smallholder farmers were personal experiences as indicated by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 185 (96%). The major challenge faced by rural smallholder farmers was lack of mobility as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 147 (76.6). The study recommends that the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (DAES) should empower the social structures such as families in rural settings with agricultural information.

19. Assessing the Potentials of Digitalization as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in Urban Centres

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Balogun, Abdul-Lateef (author), Marks, Danny (author), Sharma, Richa (author), Shekhar, Himanshu (author), Balmes, Chiden (author), Maheng, Dikman (author), Arshad, Adnan (author), and Salehi, Pourya (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-02
Published:: Science Direct
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11094
Journal Title:: Sustainable Cities and Society
Journal Title Details:: 53
Notes:: 12 pages., Digitalization is a key enabler of sustainable development of cities’ socio-economic dynamics with the potential to foster climate-friendly urban environments and societies. The advent of the 4th industrial revolution has seen the increased application of digitalization in several fields and at different levels. High-tech digital devices, platforms and environments are increasingly being deployed to enhance productivity, efficiency and sustainability, and improve overall well-being of urban dwellers. Digitalization is projected to further impact cities in future, transform jobs and trigger life-style changes with far-reaching impacts that will ultimately affect cities’ resilience and adaptation capacities. While a growing body of research has highlighted the significance of digitalization to climate change mitigation such as reducing GHG and CO2 emissions, comprehensive evaluations of the potentials of digitalization as an enabler of climate change adaptation remain scarce. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the current trend in digital revolution in relation to climate change adaptation and examines the likely challenges of digitalization. A desk research method was adopted, focusing on core digitalization concepts driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0). Nine case studies in cities across various continents were selected to assess the potentials of digitalization in addressing climatic hazards and to highlight benefits from implementing digitalization, while considering the social-ecological-technological challenges and tensions around IR 4.0. Our findings reveal the capabilities of digitalization in supporting more effective early warning and emergency response systems, enhancing food and water security, improving power infrastructure performance, enabling citizen engagement and participatory adaptation measures and minimizing the impacts of climatic hazards. Finally, we recommend feasible pathways to overcome present risks and challenges in order to optimize the numerous opportunities offered by digitalization in support of climate change adaptation initiatives.

20. A study of the use of information & communication technology in disseminating farm information to farmers in India

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Solanki, Surabhi (author) and Verma, Seema (author)
Format:: Conference proceedings
Publication Date:: 2019-06
Published:: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11119
Notes:: 8 pages., Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Computing in Science, Technology and Management., In any country, agriculture plays important role in the prospect of economy and sustainability. As technology grow day by day so it is necessary for the farmer to know about the technology, innovations and take them into practice, so they make strong themselves in terms of economic and sustainability. In this paper discussed the intensity exposure to information and communication technology and its relationship to the characteristics of farmers at different stages of adoption use of information and communication technology for different farm practices and also know the preferences of farmers regarding the use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT). In the continuation of this process conduct the personal interview to collect personal details of farmers as well as farm information that associate them to know about the adoption of information technology. The data collected through personal interview of farmers have been classified, tabulated and analyzed to know how efficiently and effectively information and communication technology disseminate farm information to the farmer.

21. Assessment of extension agents' perception of mobile phone usage for communication with farmers in Edo South of Edo State, Nigeria

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Alakpa, S. O. E. (author), Afolabi, S. O. (author), and Ighalo, I. J. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11147
Journal Title:: International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology
Journal Title Details:: 4(2):430-435
Notes:: 6 pages., ISSN: 2456-1878, via online journal., The use of mobile phones as means of communication between the extension agents and local farmers in Edo South was examined to determine the perception of the extension agents on its effectiveness. Fifty-one (51) respondents were obtained through random sampling using questionnaires to obtain relevant information in the two local government areas; Ovia North East and Ovia South West selected for the study. The result obtained indicated that male extension agents were in majority (72.5%), 54.9% of the sampled population above 45 years of age and 58.8% possessed 16 – 20 years working experience. Phone calls and short message service (SMS) were found appropriate for agricultural information dissemination. Significant and positive relationships were established between the working experience of extension agents and their perception of mobile phone usage. The recommendation is that formal integration of mobile phone into extension activities be done to enhance wider coverage, reduce cost and risks associated with movement. Extension agents and farmers need more training on effective usage of SMS and phone calls for interaction on farm related issues. Enforcement of existing telecommunication laws could reduce network failure and also enhance effective usage.

22. Back to the basics: are traditional educational methods still effective in a high-tech world?

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Sneed, Christopher T. (author) and Franck, Karen L. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-12
Published:: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11150
Journal Title:: Journal of Extension
Journal Title Details:: 57(6)
Notes:: 7 pages., Article # 6IAW6, via online journal., Although Extension educators have harnessed the power of technology as an important vehicle for conveying research-based content, it is important that the power of traditional educational methods not be overlooked. These traditional methods remain ideas that work, have worked, and continue to work even today. In this article, we spotlight these traditional ideas by presenting a social marketing campaign that engages limited-resource audiences via themed print educational materials—posters, brochures, and bookmarks. Evaluation results indicate that the campaign has been successful in engaging the target audience and motivating them regarding the adoption of healthful behavior changes.

23. Assessing the status of social media familiarity among smallholder farmers: a case study of Thika, Kiambu Kenya

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Kimani, Anne W. (author), Nyang’anga, Hillary T. (author), and Mburu, John I. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019
Published:: Pakistan: eSci Journals Publishing
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11153
Journal Title:: International Journal of Agricultural Extension
Journal Title Details:: 7(1):13-20
Notes:: 8 pages., via online journal., Social media provides huge opportunities and incentives that could ease promotion of agricultural extension, facilitate real-time service delivery and enable wider farmer coverage. Ineffective dissemination approaches, expanding farmer population, low staffing, and aging agricultural extension agents continue to negatively affect the provision of agricultural extension services in Kenya. Despite the social media potential in agricultural communication, lack of awareness and low usage in the rural areas of developing countries have been documented. This study sought to establish the level of social media familiarity among smallholder rural farmers with the aim of exploring the possibility of usage in agricultural extension. The study was undertaken in Thika Sub-County of Kiambu County on 140 farmers through a researcher administered semi-structured questionnaire. Probability-proportional-to-size sampling method was employed to derive the sample size from existing extension farmer groups. Simple random sampling technique was further used to identify the actual respondents from each group. A low level of social media familiarity was established among the farmers with education, age and gender having significant influence. The study recommends awareness creation initiatives to promote social media familiarity with a particular focus on women who form the bulk of the farmers but with the lowest level of social media knowledge.

24. An Attempt towards structuring agricultural information using WhatsApp as query redressal social media platform

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: S., Mohan Kumar (author), Suman, Saurabh (author), Kulkarni, Umakanth P. (author), and N.H., Siddalingaswamy (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-06
Published:: Verizona Publisher
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 123 Document Number: D11161
Journal Title:: Journal of Robotics and Mechanical Engineering Research
Journal Title Details:: 3(1)
Notes:: 6 pages., via online journal., ICT has been initiated and implemented effectively by the public private partnership, government, researchers and various Institutions. Availability of wireless service, Internet and mobile communication have forced ICT to find foothold in daily routine of the Indian farmers. ICT has huge impact in agricultural development but still in natal stage. Many farmers are not availing the actual potential of ICT due to poverty, social constraint, illiteracy, language barriers and unwillingness to adopt new technology. Many Indian farmers have reported positive change in income, quality of produce and timely access to the market information by using latest mobile application. WhatsApp is the most popular and easy to use Mobile Instant Messaging service amongst the Indian farmer. It supports sharing of localized information and utilizing these services as query redressal public platform. This paper is an attempt to gather meaningful agricultural data for analysis and filtering of relevant need based information assessment. The main focus of the present work is to develop an automatic information handling and redressal of the need based agricultural information system using WhatsApp as social media platform.

25. Transition towards sustainability in agriculture and food systems: Role of information and communication technologies

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: El Bilali, Hamid (author), Allahyari, Mohammad Sadegh (author), and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria Islamic Azad University, Iran University of Gastronomic Sciences, Italy China Agricultural University
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: China: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11217
Journal Title:: Information Processing in Agriculture
Journal Title Details:: 5(4) : 456-464
Notes:: 9 pages, via online journal, Food sustainability transitions refer to transformation processes necessary to move towards sustainable food systems. Digitization is one of the most important ongoing transformation processes in global agriculture and food chains. The review paper explores the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to transition towards sustainability along the food chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption). A particular attention is devoted to precision agriculture as a food production model that integrates many ICTs. ICTs can contribute to agro-food sustainability transition by increasing resource productivity, reducing inefficiencies, decreasing management costs, and improving food chain coordination. The paper also explores some drawbacks of ICTs as well as the factors limiting their uptake in agriculture.

26. The role of self-control, hope and information in technology adoption by smallholder farmers – A moderation model

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Bukchin, Shira (author), Kerret, Dorit (author), and Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-01-18
Published:: Israel: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11219
Journal Title:: Journal of Rural Studies
Journal Title Details:: 73(2020) : 1-9
Notes:: 9 pages, via online journal, The overall willingness of smallholder farmers to adopt new green technologies remains low, in spite of the great progress made in understanding the factors that affect their decision. The present study introduces an interdisciplinary approach combining positive psychology and sustainable development studies to show that two personal resources – self-control (a learned repertoire of goal-directed skills that enable people to act upon their aims) and cognitive goal-oriented hope (the ability to follow different routes to pursue one's goal), prompt the adoption of technologies by smallholder farmers. Both personal resources facilitate achieving future goals and changing existing circumstances. A theoretical moderation model on the adoption of agricultural technologies aimed to protect soil degradation in Nepal is proposed and empirically tested. Data were collected from 268 households in the Jhapa district by a face-to-face questionnaire. A multiple regression analysis tested and confirmed the hypothesized moderation model. Following the discovery of a significant interaction, the nature of the interaction was farther explored by calculating simple slopes. Analysis results show a significant positive connection between self-control (p-value = 0.002), hope (p-value = 0.005), information (p-value < 0.001), and technology adoption. Self-control was also found to have a significant moderating effect in enhancing a positive association between receiving information and technology adoption (p-value = 0.017). In addition to its theoretical innovation and empirical contribution, the importance of this study lies in its practical implications, given that policy, education, and communication may influence hope and self-control levels.

27. The Military Families Learning Network: A Model for Extension-Based Virtual Learning Communities

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Plein, Christopher (author), Cassels, Alicia (author), and West Virginia University Auburn University
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-12
Published:: United States: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11229
Journal Title:: Journal of Extension
Journal Title Details:: 57(6)
Notes:: 9 pages, via online journal, This article provides an overview of Extension's Military Families Learning Network. The network is an example of Extension's commitment to building virtual learning networks in the support of targeted professional and lay audiences. The network uses well-established and emergent pedagogical approaches focusing on adult-centered learning while employing state-of-the-art online learning technologies. We present a four-dimensional model of learning activities to illustrate how the network offers different options for and approaches to adult-centered learning and training. The Military Families Learning Network can serve as a model for broader adoption of such entities across the Extension community.

28. Rethinking Food and Agriculture 2020-2030: The Second Domestication of Plants and Animals, the Disruption of the Cow, and the Collapse of Industrial Livestock Farming

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Tubb, Catherine (author), Seba, Tony (author), and RethinkX
Format:: Report
Publication Date:: 2019-09
Published:: United States: RethinkX
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 130 Document Number: D11288
Notes:: 76 pages., via website

29. "You call that meat?" Investigating social media conversations and influencers surrounding cultured meat

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Specht, Annie R. (author), Rumble, Joy N. (author), Buck, Emily B. (author), and Association for Communication Excellence The Ohio State University
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-02
Published:: United States: New Prairie Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 131 Document Number: D11302
Journal Title:: Journal of Applied Communications
Journal Title Details:: 104(1)
Notes:: 23 pages., via online journal, Cultured meat has yet to reach store shelves but is nonetheless a growing issue for consumers, producers, and government regulators, many of whom have taken to social media to discuss it. Using a conceptual framework of social cognitive theory and issues management, this qualitative content analysis investigated social-media discourse surrounding the topic of cultured meat in the United States by describing the content of the discussion in late 2018 and identifying individual influencers and communities of influencers engaged in the discussion. Data were collected from Twitter using listening platform Sysomos MAP. The thematic analysis revealed eight themes: legality and marketing, sustainability, acceptance, business, animal concerns, science and technology, health concerns, and timeline, and indicated that conflicting views and questions about cultured meat exist among conversation participants. Top influencers included philanthropists, government officials, journalists and writers, and animal-welfare advocates. These influencers were grouped into four distinct communities based on interactions with each other and other users. The topics identified in the analysis provide insight into ways in which communicators can enter these conversations, and influencer communities represent groups of users whose broad reach could more easily transmit pro-agriculture messages.

30. An evaluation of website usability for a cover crops resource in the southern region

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Cabrera, Emily (author), Holt, Jessica (author), and Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) University of Georgia
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-02
Published:: United States: New Prairie Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 131 Document Number: D11309
Journal Title:: Journal of Applied Communications
Journal Title Details:: 104(1)
Notes:: 14 pages., via online journal, With shifting demographics of agricultural professionals, online educational resources present opportunities for Extension and other natural resources faculty and personnel to use various tools for supporting agricultural producers in the 21st century using more modern technology. Traditionally, Agriculture and Natural Resource (ANR) Extension programming has used a variety of hands-on methods for teaching new, more sustainable farming practices, such as on-farm field days, workshops, farm visits, and demonstrations. While these traditional teaching methods are preferred among farmers, online support tools play a critical role in the overall decision-making process for farmers who are considering making changes to their current farming practices. Online educational resources, with mobile-friendly versions, can be used to assist Extension and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) agents meet the needs of their clients using more modern forms of technology, whether from the office or on-farm. This study employed two focus group discussions with Extension and NRCS agents and university faculty members to evaluate the usability of a cover crop website that could be used as a support tool for a variety of agricultural professionals. Four themes emerged from this study with reference to a simple, clean appearance; efficient browsing; process-thinking design; and mobile- friendly. This research will be used to inform the continued development of website tools to benefit farmers, producers, agents, and other stakeholders.

31. What are the factors driving the adoption of sustainable irrigation technologies in Italy?

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Pronti, A. (author), Auci, S. (author), Di Paoli, A. (author), and Mazzanti, M. (author)
Format:: Paper
Publication Date:: 2019
Published:: Italy
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 131 Document Number: D11325
Notes:: 12 pages., Online via AgEconSearch. Paper presented at the 8th Associazione Italiana di Economia Agraria e Applicata (AIEAA) conference, Pistoia, Italy, June 13-14, 2019., Analysis of principal determinants of Italian farmers' adoption of sustainable irrigation technologies, considering social, economic, productive, geographical, and climatic aspects.

32. The role of education in social media adoption of small and medium livestock-based food enterprises

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Syahlani, S. P. (author), Haryadi, F. T. (author), Abdillah, W. (author), and Widyaswara, A. S. (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019
Published:: IOP Publishing
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 138 Document Number: D11504
Journal Title:: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Journal Title Details:: 387: 1-5
Notes:: 6 pages., via online journal., Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is commonly applied to analyse contributions of determinant variables on the adoption of communications technology. However, identifying external variables that affect technology adoption need to explore. This research is aimed to identify the role of education variable in the technology adoption. The study was conducted by survey design. One hundred respondents were determined by judgmental sampling method with criterion that respondents are owners or manager of small medium enterprises that use livestock-based product such as meat, eggs and milk in Bantul Regency, Special Province of Yogyakarta. The research showed that Perceived Ease of Use affected Perceived Usefulness (p≤0.001), and both of those variables were critical factors for Attitude Toward Social Media Use (p≤0.001). The study revealed that Intention to Adopt Social Media is affected by Attitude Toward Social Media Use and Perceived Usefulness (p≤0.001). Then, the test found that education moderates relationships between Attitude Toward Social Media Use and more influential users on those with lower education backgrounds (p≤0.05). Even so, education did not moderate relationships between Perceived Usefulness and Intention to Adopt Social Media. In short, the proposed model was able slightly higher in explaining compare to the original TAM.

33. The digital divide: Implications for agribusiness and entrepreneurship. Lessons from Wales

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Bowen, Robert (author) and Morris, Wyn (author)
Format:: Online journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-12
Published:: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 148 Document Number: D11591
Journal Title:: Journal of Rural Studies
Journal Title Details:: 72:75-84
Notes:: 10 pages., via online journal., This paper investigates the impact of broadband access on agribusiness in rural Wales and the resulting implications on entrepreneurial activity. Despite attempts by Government and telecommunications providers to develop widespread broadband coverage in Wales, concerns remain in relation to an increasing digital divide between urban and rural locations. Broadband is a key enabling technology therefore connectivity is significant, not only in communication, but also in the ability for businesses to innovate and grow. Wales is a predominantly rural country with 84% of the total land area in Wales being used for agriculture (Welsh Government, 2013). The food and farming sector represents a significant part of the Welsh economy, and is dominated by small businesses. Connectivity and increased use of technology are vital for these businesses to overcome location constraints and various industrial challenges, notably Brexit. The research uses survey data from 738 farmers and 107 food SMEs in Wales, with 19 follow-up semi-structured interviews. The survey results highlight issues of technology adoption, with 19% of farmers in the survey having no access to broadband internet, with others reporting the speed of connection being a limiting factor. The consequences of poor connectivity point to limited computer skills and low levels of soft technology adoption, a lack of engagement with social media, limited scope for innovation and restricted business growth, with 55.1% of food respondents identifying poor broadband access as a barrier to internationalisation. This has led to agrifood businesses adopting a passive approach to growth opportunities. The findings suggest that rural areas remain at a disadvantage due to poor connectivity, an issue that must be tackled by the Welsh Government to readdress the balance in the economy and limit a brain drain of skilled people moving to urban areas, often outside Wales. Support for such businesses is vital, particularly given the pressures and uncertainty in the industry, as broadband access represents an important enabler for future innovation and entrepreneurial activity

34. Factors affecting adoption of smart farms: The case of Korea

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Yoon, Cheolho (author), Lim, Dongsup (author), and Park, Changhee (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020
Published:: Science Direct
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 166 Document Number: D11677
Journal Title:: Computers in Human Behavior
Journal Title Details:: 108
Notes:: 10 pages., The smart farm, a future-oriented farm operation that integrates information and communications technologies, is an emerging trend in agriculture. This study investigates the factors affecting the adoption of the smart farm in Korea and analyzes them empirically. The research model is based on Rogers' innovation diffusion theory and existing models of adoption of information technology in organizations. The model proposes that adoption of innovative technology is influenced by relative advantages, complexity, and compatibility of the technology, the innovativeness and IT knowledge characteristics of the CEOs, financial costs, human resource vulnerability and lack of skills, competitive pressure, government support and the change to the digital environment. These factors were categorized according to TOE framework, investigated, and empirically tested using survey data to determine their influence on the adoption of smart farms. The results showed that the compatibility of technology, financial costs for the organization, and the digital environment change influence the adoption of smart farms. This study suggests practical implications for the adoption of smart farm technology based on the results.

35. Stan cox: the green new deal and beyond: ending the climate emergency while we still can

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Miller, Jacob A. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-06-29
Published:: USA: Springer
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12042
Journal Title:: Agriculture and Human Values
Notes:: 2 pages, via Online Journal, Stan Cox’s The Green New Deal and Beyond argues that the realities of our climate crisis require the elimination of fossil fuels from the U.S. economy and a realignment of the unjust system that allows for their exploitation. Cox’s thesis is that the Green New Deal legislation (GND) is a good first step, but we in the U.S. must also acknowledge and adhere to the limits of economic growth and material consumption. His evidence-driven analysis builds from the IPCC report’s finding that we need to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.

36. An Alternative Healing Method for Grafted Tomato Transplants: The Effect of Light Exclusion and Substrate Temperature on Plant Survival and Growth

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Lang, Kristine M. (author), Nair, Ajay (author), and Litvin, Alexander G. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-12-01
Published:: USA: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12051
Journal Title:: Hort Technology
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 30, issue 6
Notes:: 8 pages, via Online journal, The use of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) grafting is gaining traction across the United States, but small-scale growers face the challenge of creating optimum postgrafting healing conditions. The practice of blocking light for a period of 2 to 4 days while maintaining high humidity is commonly recommended for healing grafted tomato transplants; however, research is exploring alternatives to this practice. The present study investigated a low-input healing method for grafted tomato transplants with a specific focus on light and the use of propagation heat mats to regulate substrate and healing chamber air temperatures during the 7-day healing process. We hypothesized that 4 days of light exclusion and the use of propagation heat mats would improve grafted tomato transplant survival and growth. ‘Cherokee Purple’ was used as the scion and ‘RST-04-106-T’ was used as the rootstock. The whole plot factor was heat [propagation mats set at 80 °F (heat) or no propagation mat (no heat)] and the subplot factor was light exclusion (0, 4, or 6 days of dark). The highest survival rate among treatments was 97% in 0 days of dark with no heat treatment; survival decreased to 84% in 4 and 6 days of dark with no heat treatments. The plant survival rate was 96% with 0 days of dark and heat treatment; however, the survival rates were 63% and 45% for the 4- and 6-day dark treatments, respectively. The scion stem diameter was largest for transplants grown in 0 days of dark, but there was no difference in stem diameter due to heat treatments. There were no differences among scion or rootstock biomasses due to heat or light treatments. These results demonstrate that propagation mats set at 80 °F to regulate the substrate temperature were detrimental to grafted transplant survival under extended periods of light exclusion. However, this finding creates the basis to explore lower levels of substrate temperature modification. Our work also indicates that light exclusion may not be necessary for healing grafted tomato plants regardless of root-zone temperature treatments. Future work should examine the interactions of various substrate and air temperatures under full light conditions and their effects on grafted tomato transplant survival and growth. This work contributes to the ongoing research of how to optimize low-input healing methods that may be readily adopted by small-scale tomato growers.

37. Access and use of agricultural market information by smallholder farmers: Measuring informational capabilities

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ko, Jesuk (author), Magesa, Mawazo M. (author), and Kisangiri, Michael (author)
Format:: Journal Article
Publication Date:: 2020-03-03
Published:: International: Wiley Online
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12194
Journal Title:: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries
Journal Title Details:: Volume 86, Issue 6
Notes:: 21 Pages, While farmers sell their crops, middlemen provide a linkage between them, markets and buyers. Middlemen have good knowledge of working conditions of markets and have access to agricultural market information. Due to poor access to markets and agricultural market information by smallholders, there is a feeling that middlemen benefit more while farmers sell their crops. Good access to markets and market information may help farmers bypass middlemen while selling crops and thus benefit more. Thus, it is best to improve the informational capabilities (ICs) of farmers in agricultural marketing. Thus, this research measured ICs of farmers accessing market information, through a program NINAYO, while selling their crops. The research utilized the informational, psychological, social, and economic dimensions of the empowerment framework in identifying capability indicators to formulate survey questions. Data were collected from smallholders in six regions in Tanzania. The analysis utilized measures of life satisfaction and results showed that about half of the variation in the dependent variable, satisfaction with capabilities, was explained by the model. Backward elimination analysis confirmed that life satisfaction is multidimensional. Robustness test confirmed a positive relationship between satisfaction and capabilities. Overall, results confirmed ICs are multidimensions, their improvement empowers farmers in agricultural marketing.

38. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) SPILLOVER

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Grobler, Wynand (author) and David, Oladipo Olalekan (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-12-01
Published:: International: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12207
Journal Title:: International Journal of eBusiness and eGovernment
Journal Title Details:: Issue 11(2)
Notes:: 17 pages, The positive spillover impacts of the efficiency of information and communication technology (ICT) and land accessibility as factor inputs to agricultural productivity are well documented in the literature. Furthermore, input-output efficiency as a measurement of factors contributing towards gross production is no exception in this regard. Few studies on agricultural production and ICT at the household level in South Africa show divergent empirical results. This study investigates the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) and land for farming in the context of household food production in South Africa. Household engagement in agricultural activities is proxy for agricultural production, farm land size is a proxy for land accessibility, telephone and internet use are proxies for ICT in this study. Household data of twenty-one thousand, six hundred and one (21,601) households on agricultural activities and ICTs were generated from the existing survey data of General household survey, 2015 by Statistics South Africa. Majority of the households are not engaging in agricultural activities due to no access to land for farming, but more than 80 percent of the households have access to at least one form of ICTs penetration i.e. mobile telephony. The logit regression shows that internet connection in the household have positive and significant impact on household agricultural production but land accessibility is indirectly related and significant to household food production in South Africa. Therefore land accessibility may be a barrier to agricultural activity involvement in South Africa. The study shows that the positive spillover impacts of ICT may not be possible due to lack of access to land for agriculture. Land for farming, CDMA telephony and internet are highly required for agricultural activities in order to promote food production, reduce cost of telecommunications, promoting agricultural research and development via internet accessibility.

39. Design of Digital Agricultural Extension Tools: Perspectives from Extension Agents in Nigeria

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Oyinbo, Oyakhilomen (author), Chamberlain, Jordan (author), and Maertens, Miet (author)
Format:: unknown
Publication Date:: 2020-03-20
Published:: International: Wiley Online
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12210
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Economics
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 71, No. 3
Notes:: 17 Pages., Given the marked heterogeneous conditions in smallholder agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a growing policy interest in site-specific extension advice and the use of digital extension tools to provide site-specific information. Empirical ex-ante studies on the design of digital extension tools and their use are rare. Using data from a choice experiment in Nigeria, we elicit and analyze the preferences of extension agents for major design features of ICT-enabled decision support tools (DSTs) aimed at site-specific nutrient management extension advice. We estimate different models, including mixed logit, latent class and attribute non-attendance models. We find that extension agents are generally willing to use such DSTs and prefer a DST with a more user-friendly interface that requires less time to generate results. We also find that preferences are heterogeneous: some extension agents care more about the effectiveness-related features of DSTs, such as information accuracy and level of detail, while others prioritise practical features, such as tool platform, language and interface ease-of-use. Recognising and accommodating such preference differences may facilitate the adoption of DSTs by extension agents and thus enhance the scope for such tools to impact the agricultural production decisions of farmers.

40. Use of information and communication technologies by Vietnamese smallholders: Implications for extension strategies

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Hoang, Hung Gia (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-02-18
Published:: International: SAGE Journals
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12212
Journal Title:: Information Development
Journal Title Details:: Vol.37(2)
Notes:: 9 pages., In order to facilitate the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for accessing agricultural information by smallholders, it is critical to understand their perspectives on the use of ICT. However, few empirical studies have considered how smallholders utilise ICT in Central Vietnam. This research investigates the Central Vietnamese smallholders’ views on the extent of use of ICT for accessing agricultural information. A sample size of 250 smallholders was randomly selected from a total of 687 smallholders in Trieu Phong district, Central Vietnam. A two-section questionnaire was used to gather data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The smallholders used mobile phones, TV and radio networks/broadcasts as the common ICT tools, and these were also effective ICT tools for accessing agricultural information. Lack of knowledge and skills for using applications on mobile phones were the main challenge to the smallholders’ use of ICT. A statistically significant relationship, existing between the extent of mobile phone use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 10.04, p = 0.040), gender (χ = 5.99, p = 0.014) and the type of households (χ = 6.84, p = 0.033), was found. Similarly, there was a statistically significant relationship existing between the extent of radio network/broadcast use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 9.58, p = 0.048) and gender (χ = 4.83, p = 0.028).

41. Reliability of the Agricultural Extension and Technological Services among Rice Farmers in the Rural Areas of Tanzania

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: D. Kulyakwave, Peter (author), Shiwei, Xu (author), Wen, Yu (author), Sar, Sary (author), and Muyobozi, S. (author)
Format:: unknown
Publication Date:: 2021-05-21
Published:: South Africa: African Journals Online
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12213
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Extension
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 25 No. 2 (2021)
Notes:: 14 pages., This study provided insights into the availability and use of agricultural information by small scale farmers in the Mbeya Region of Tanzania. The research used structured questionnaires to interview 240 rice farmers in the Mbeya region. The findings revealed that farmers accessed agricultural information from various agents including local government extension staff, neighbors and friends, advertisements, electronic media including the internet, television, radio, and other channels. The identified technological information application methods included by lectures, field demonstrations, exposure visits to various places, and printed production. The majority of farmers perceived to have dissatisfied (43%), strongly dissatisfied (25%), strongly satisfied (20%), satisfied (8%), and no opinions (4%) concerning accessibility to agricultural information and technological services. The majority of farmers claimed that both agricultural information and technological communication are strongly needed for agricultural performance. The study suggests that government and non-government organizations should collaborate to bridge the existing information-sharing gap between farmers and information providers.

42. AGRICULTURE EXTENSION OFFICERS’ ATTITUDE AND READINESS IN USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN INDONESIA

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Sutrisno Hadi, Purnomo (author), Ayu Intan, Sari (author), Shanti, Emawati (author), Endang Tri, Rahayu (author), and Rani Pane, Triaswati (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: unknown
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12218
Journal Title:: Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences
Journal Title Details:: Vol.100(4)
Notes:: 5 pages., This research aimed to figure out the attitude and readiness of agriculture extension officers in using the Information and Communication Technology. Data collection was done through a survey with total sample 60 respondents. Data gained were primary data from questionnaire filling by respondents who were all extension officers in Food Security and Extension Implementation Agency. Data analyses used in this research were reliability and validity analysis, Fishbein’s Attitude Model, and regression analysis which continued with F and t test. The results of Validity and Reliability Test gave a valid outcome with rcal >0,3 and reliability value of α >0,6 in all variables. Fishbein’s Attitude Model test in all variables showed an answer from neutral to very positive data. Linear Regression Test resulted in an equation Y = -6,234+ 0,211 X1 + 0,213X2 + 0,550 X3 + 0,119 X4 + 1,252X5 + 0,665X6. The value of determination coefficient (R2) was 0,816 which meant that variable variance of Information and Communication Technology acceptance could be explained by data variance of extension officers’ attitude and readiness (farmer readiness, extension officers readiness, infrastructure, management support, culture support) in values of 81,6%. In F test, Fcal was = 44,683 and was significant in p < 0,05, which meant that the effects of extension officers’ attitude and readiness to Information and Communication Technology acceptance.

43. The State and Future of Smart Agriculture: Insights from mining social media

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ofori, Martinson (author) and El-Gayar, Omar (author)
Format:: Conference paper
Publication Date:: 2019-12
Published:: United States: IEEE
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12222
Journal Title:: 2019 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data)
Notes:: 10 pages, Abstract— Smart agriculture involves the use of technology such as drones, GPS, robotics, IoT, AI, big data, and solar energy to improve farming practices. As with any disruptive innovation, however, stakeholder expectations can be misaligned from what the innovation can actually deliver. There can also be varying perspectives on what the innovation entails, related topics of interest, and impediments to large scale adoption. This study examines public perception of smart agriculture and its perceived drivers and challenges as present in social media discourse. We collected online posts from Twitter, Reddit, forums, online news and blogs between January 2010 and December 2018 for analysis. Results show that 38% of social media posts contained emotion with 52% joy, 21% anger and 12% sadness. Through topic analysis, we discovered seven key drivers and challenges for smart agriculture which included: enabling technologies, data ownership and privacy, accountability and trust, energy and infrastructure, investment, job security, and climate change.

44. Is farming a belief in northern ghana? exploring the dual-system theory for commerce, culture, religion and technology

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Tanko, Mohammed (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-11
Published:: Netherlands: Elsevier Sci Ltd.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12268
Journal Title:: Technology in Society
Journal Title Details:: V. 63
Notes:: 7 pages, Rice production encountered several challenges, especially among rural farmers in Northern Ghana. The current debate encompasses the belief of cultural norms and religious values as the right theory for the sustainability of agriculture. The belief in abstracts is prioritised to the adoption of improved rice. This paper examined the value attached to traditional rice varieties as a result of societal beliefs, and theoretically underpinned by the Dual-system hypothesis. The finding from three ethnic and religious groups through a survey indicates heterogeneity in the results but also demonstrates the factual importance of culture and religion. This paper, therefore, proposes a new way of categorising farming; as a business and a belief and that policy stream aim at small scale, rural farmers with belief peculiarities needs to adopt cultural and religious strategies to promote adoption.

45. Nebraska school gardens and the potential for science, technology, engineering, and math learning

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ingram, Erin (author) and Keshwani, Jenny (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-12
Published:: United States: Journal of Extension
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12278
Journal Title:: Journal of Extension
Journal Title Details:: v. 8, n. 6
Notes:: 23 pages, School-based growing spaces support student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning through authentic agricultural pursuits. We conducted a survey of Nebraska schools to characterize existing school-based growing spaces and to identify challenges limiting garden-based STEM learning. Our findings confirm the use of school-based growing spaces for kindergarten through 12th-grade STEM instruction, especially in the sciences. Opportunities for technology and engineering experiences are currently limited, and additional professional development support is needed to broaden garden-based STEM learning efforts. Our findings are relevant to current and future Extension efforts supporting school gardens, especially in rural agricultural communities.

46. Adoption and intensity of use of mobile money among smallholder farmers in rural Ghana

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Kofi Asravor, Richard (author), Boakye, Afia Nyarko (author), and Essuman, John (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-04-21
Published:: International: SAGE Journals
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12310
Journal Title:: Information Development
Journal Title Details:: Online First
Notes:: 10 pages., he impact of mobile money services in sub-Saharan Africa have been largely recognised. However, empirical studies are principally lacking on the factors influencing the decision to own a mobile phone (first hurdle), register with mobile money (second hurdle) and the intensity of use of mobile money services (third hurdle). This study examined the determinants of the mobile phone ownership, drivers of registration (participation) of mobile money services, and the intensity of use of mobile money services in rural Ghana by employing the triple hurdle approach. The first and second hurdle were analysed using the logit model while quasi-poisson regression was used to analyse the third hurdle. The analysis from the cross-sectional data showed that the decision to own a mobile phone was driven by household size, marital status, the farm size, access to electricity, income status and the type of occupation engaged, whereas the decision to register with mobile money was influenced by the age, educational status, marital status, household size, farm size and the type of occupation engaged in by the household head. The intensity of usage of mobile money services was influenced by the age of the household head, higher educational level, marital status of the household head, household and farm size as well as the distance of the household heads from the mobile money agent which directly influences the intensity of use of mobile money services by household heads. The study recommends that strategies that promote access to electricity and occupation in the formal sector or both farming and trading in the rural communities should be promoted. Furthermore, policy attention should focus on location, farmers and farm characteristics.

47. Time discounting and implications for Chinese farmer responses to an upward trend in precipitation

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ding, Yihong (author), Balcombe, Kelvin (author), and Robinson, Elizabeth (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-03-11
Published:: United States: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12350
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Economics
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 27, Iss. 3
Notes:: 15 pages, This paper studies Chinese grape growers’ time discounting and its implications for the adoption of technology that can reduce the negative effects of increasing precipitation. Using primary data collected in Xinjiang Province, we undertook a contingent valuation of rain covers that protect fruit from rain and estimated a discounted utility model using these data. Using a hierarchical Bayesian approach, we find that local grape growers discount the future very heavily, with a discount rate of 0.17 per year, which is almost four times higher than the Chinese market interest rate. Farmers also tend to underestimate the benefits of adopting covers, with their purchase decisions appearing to largely depend on their past actual losses rather than future anticipated losses. These findings have broader implications for policies promoting proactive adaptation in response to likely increased rainfall in the region. Targeting farmers who give lower weight to events far off in the future and understanding that many farmers may tend only to make adoption decisions that have strong short-term benefits could improve the efficacy of climate policies that target agricultural technologies.

48. IOT Solutions for Farmers on Livestock Management in Smart City: A Bibliometric Survey

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Gaikwad, Mohini M (author) and Harikrishnan, R (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-05-01
Published:: United States: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12357
Journal Title:: Library Philosophy and Practice
Journal Title Details:: Summer 2021
Notes:: 29 pages., With modernize city approach, concept of IOT – Internet of things achieving popularity and becoming major source for smart innovations. Added advantage of internet application the technology enables sensing, processing and execution automatically and remotely on finger tip. IOT makes sure an easy availability and access to the information available at any corner of the world. In growing countries like INDIA, increase in urbanization led infrastructure expansion; most of the urban cities are now expanding in nearby towns and villages. So towns and villages are merging and becoming part of nearby cities. So the farms, farmer community and their domestic animals (livestock) are surrounded by concrete and eastern life style. Purpose behind this survey is to provide a bibliographic survey on IOT managed smart solutions to the farmers on their day-to-day work, loose housing, dairy farm and managing livestock to balance quality of life style in urban society towards achieving smart city target

49. INFORMATION NEEDS AND SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF FARMERS IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Kaske, Deribe (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-10-23
Published:: United States: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12361
Journal Title:: Library Philosophy and Practice
Journal Title Details:: Fall 2020
Notes:: 19 pages., Information is an important factor in agricultural development. The study investigated farmers’ agricultural information needs and seeking behavior in the Southern Regional State of Ethiopia. A cross-sectional research design was employed and the study population included all household heads of the eight sampled villages in four administrative zones. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to obtain a sample of 320 farmers. Quantitative data were collected and research adopted descriptive statistics. The results revealed information on crop production technologies; information about diseases, pests and weather forecasts, and market information were identified as the top three most important types of agricultural information. Similarly, crop production technologies; animal husbandry technologies, and information about agricultural inputs were the information farmers seek frequently. Farmers use development agents as the first source of agricultural information. All of the respondents communicate with development agents face-to-face.

50. Farmers' Perception Analysis about the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Agriculture Extension services of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Salam, Abdus (author) and Khan, Muhammad Zafarullah (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-07-25
Published:: Pakistan: Smith and Franklin Publishers
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12381
Journal Title:: Sarhad Journal of Agriculture
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 36 Issue 3
Notes:: 7 pages., Agricultural extension as a mean of dissemination of agricultural latest technologies to the farming communities and motivating them for its adoption can be achieved through better use of communication among relevant stakeholders. The existing extension and communication strategies used in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have many limitations. The present study was thus conducted to compare and analyze the farmers’ perceptions regarding use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in agriculture extension at three selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Based on the multi-stage sampling technique, population for the current study, 3 zones from 5 were purposively selected on the basis of their different agricultural condition. Selection of sample size was made using Yamane formula. The number of respondents as per formula was confined to 188 respondents in district Mansehra, 153 respondents in district Swabi and 59 respondents from district Karak, where data were collected randomly. Five point Likert scale was used to record responses of the respondents. The results of the study clearly showed that majority of the farmers in the study area were literate (73%) and comparatively was greater in district Mansehra (77%), while least in district Swabi (64%) using ICT for agricultural purposes and observed a significant correlation between the literacy and ICT i.e. 0.77. The results also showed that 39% respondents from District Mansehra, and 33% from district Swabi were fulltime farmers, used ICT. The results also showed that regarding the effectiveness of ICT tools in crop production, printed material; TV and Mobile Phone were used in districts Mansehra, Karak and Swabi respectively. Similarly, it was also inferred that ICT is very effective tool for communication between farmers and with extension workers. Hence, ICT is the most effective and useful tool for the improvement of the overall extension delivery system, so agriculture extension department may establish a formal structure to initiate free SMS and voice message service in the easiest and understandable languages for increasing overall coverage of the extension delivery.

51. Impact Assessment of Information and Communication Technologies in Agriculture: Application of The Ambitec-TICs Method

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Pinto, Daniela Maciel (author), De Oliveira, Priscilla (author), Minitti, André Fachini (author), Mendes, Angelo Mansur (author), Vilela, Gisele Freitas (author), Castro, Gustavo Spadotti Amaral (author), Nogueira, Lauro Rodrigues (author), Bogiani, Julio Cesar (author), Rocha, José Dilcio (author), Novaes, Renan Milagres Lage (author), de Barros, Inácio (author), and Rodrigues, Geraldo Stachetti (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-08-30
Published:: Brazil: Association of Management
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12384
Journal Title:: Journal of Technology Management & Innovation
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 16 No. 2
Notes:: 12 pages., An extraordinary moment of agricultural modernization is currently underway due to innovations in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In this process, management precepts are renewed, fostering significant gains in efficiency, productivity, and sustainable use of natural resources and the environment. The growing supply of ICTs and the extension of connectivity in rural areas, with their transforming roles in productive practices and economic relations, bring about questions regarding their impacts. These technologies include precision positioning systems and large volume databases, electronic sensors of site-specific production and environmental conditions, repositories of relational data, statistical and crop forecasting software, methodologies and processes; web-based information services, among others. The assessment of impacts focused on ICTs for agriculture needs innovative approaches, due to the peculiarities of their applications, the different scales of their socioenvironmental scopes and, at the same time, the verification of effectiveness of institutional investments on research, development, and innovation (RD&I). Based on these premises, the objectives of this work are to present a ‘module of impact indicators for Information and Communication Technologies (Ambitec-TICs)’, and assess its application to six typical technology adoption cases resulting from agricultural RD&I projects. The results detail critical analyses of the contributions of the proposed module for the registration, interpretation, and communication of impacts, with recommendations for technology transfer and accountability in institutional Social Balance documentation.

52. Information and communication technology in agribusiness: A study of mobile applications in perspective of India

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Gupta, Chandan (author), Gupta, Manu (author), Joshi, Pradeep (author), and Kumar, Ajendra (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-06-15
Published:: International: Applied and Natural Science Foundation
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12385
Journal Title:: Journal of Applied & Natural Science
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 13(2)
Notes:: 9 pages, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in one of its finding in 2019 stated that about 58% Indians are dependent on agriculture and agriculture sector make about 15.96 % of India’s GDP. To get the best agriculture inputs and best harvest price is the big question for Indian farmers; thus, we can say that “Agriculture is the foundation of the Indian economy”. With the origin of Mobile Applications (m-apps) for agriculture and a huge dependency on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agribusiness, the scenario in rural India has been changing rapidly. Since India’s economy depends mainly on agriculture, there is a lot of potential for Information and Communication Technology and mobile applications for agribusiness and its marketing. With growing smartphones with m-apps penetration in rural India, the agribusiness in rural belts of India is set for extension and further digitalization to revolutionize the agriculture sector. In recent years, nearly all Indian farmers possess a mobile, and 50%are smartphones with internet connections. With Government's new legislative policy changes as the Digital India programme, mobile applications in India's rural belt cannot remain isolated. Digital India will connect rural Indians farmers worldwide through the internet and mobile applications and provide them with all necessary upliftment in agribusiness in India. This study has focused on the ICT and m-applications used in farming today and how they have changed agribusiness by providing a digital platform and with their impact on agribusiness.

53. Trends on Advanced Information and Communication Technologies for Improving Agricultural Productivities: A Bibliometric Analysis

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Armenta-Medina, Dagoberto (author), Ramirez-del Real, Tania A. (author), Villanueva-Vásquez, Daniel (author), and Mejia-Aguirre, Cristian (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: International: MDPI
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12386
Journal Title:: Agronomy
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 10 (12)
Notes:: 24 pages, In this work, an exhaustive revision is given of the literature associated with advanced information and communication technologies in agriculture within a window of 25 years using bibliometric tools enabled to detect of the main actors, structure, and dynamics in the scientific papers. The main findings are a trend of growth in the dynamics of publications associated with advanced information and communication technologies in agriculture productivity. Another assertion is that countries, like the USA, China, and Brazil, stand out in many publications due to allocating more resources to research, development, and agricultural productivity. In addition, the collaboration networks between countries are frequently in regions with closer cultural and idiomatic ties; additionally, terms’ occurrence are obtained with Louvain algorithm predominating four clusters: precision agriculture, smart agriculture, remote sensing, and climate smart agriculture. Finally, the thematic-map characterization with Callon’s density and centrality is applied in three periods. The first period of thematic analysis shows a transition in detecting the variability of a nutrient, such as nitrogen, through the help of immature georeferenced techniques, towards greater remote sensing involvement. In the transition from the second to the third stage, the maturation of technologies, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, wireless sensor networks, and the machine learning area, is observed

54. An analysis of the policies of Information and Communication Technologies for Agriculture in Mali

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Kante, Macire (author) and Ndayizigamiye, Patrick (author)
Format:: Journal article
Language:: English, French
Publication Date:: 2020-12-22
Published:: United States: University of Waterloo
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12387
Journal Title:: Journal of Community Informatics
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 16 (2020)
Notes:: 19 pages., To harness the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), developing countries need to develop national ICT policies that will serve as a framework for integrating ICTs at all levels of society. In the absence of that, different actors often engage in various actions for the same beneficiaries and in pursuit of the same objectives. That raises the need to define a national framework for the promotion and application of ICTs in the various production areas, particularly agricultural ones. It is for that reason that this study examined through qualitative methods (policy documents and semi-structured interviews) the national policy of Mali on the use of ICTs in agriculture. Data was analysed using the Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) method with the aid of NVIVO 12 software. The results showed that the country has two policy documents that articulate the country’s strategy towards the use of ICTs in the agricultural sector, that is, the Agricultural Orientation Law and the National Strategy for the Development of the Digital Economy. Further examination revealed that that these two policy documents are neither appropriate nor coherent in today's Malian landscape. This has resulted in an underutilisation of digital tools by agricultural extension officers which led to the low agricultural productivity in the country. This study recommended therefore the recasting of both documents to take into account the reported observations

55. ICT Leadership Education for Agricultural Extension in Sri Lanka: Assessing a Technology Stewardship Training Program

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Gow, Gordon (author), Dissanayeke, Uvasara (author), Jayathilake, Chandana K (author), Kumarasinghe, Isuri (author), Ariyawanshe, Kumudu (author), and Rathnayake, Sanduni (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: Barbados: The University of the West Indies, Trinidad, West Indies
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12390
Journal Title:: International Journal of Education and Development using ICT
Journal Title Details:: Vol 16 (1)
Notes:: 19 pages., This article reports on a technology stewardship training program to promote ICT leadership development with agricultural extension practitioners in Sri Lanka. Researchers used a multi-method approach with a single embedded case study. Data were collected using a pre-course survey, formal course evaluation, classroom observation, and semi-structured interviews with participants. Kirkpatrick's four-level evaluation model was used to structure analysis of the results. Findings from this study show a positive response to technology stewardship training among agricultural extension practitioners in the course, that learning objectives of the course are achievable when offered as an in-service training program, that self-confidence with ICT is improved, and that some participants applied their learning in a post-course activity. Results from the study also raise a number of considerations for future course design in order to better support digital leadership development in practice. Technology stewardship training shows promise as a form of ICT leadership education for agricultural communities of practice in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. This article contributes to a better understanding of the role of social learning among communities of practice in agricultural extension services, and in contributing to effective use of ICT for agriculture development more broadly.

56. Information Communication Technologies (Icts) Employed By Young Farmers in Access and Use of Dairy Agricultural Information in Murang’a County, Kenya

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Thuo, Marth (author), Njoroge, Rose W (author), and Wamalwa, Lucas W. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-06-28
Published:: India: Publishing India Group
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12417
Journal Title:: International Journal of Knowledge Management and Practices
Journal Title Details:: Volume 7 Issue (1)
Notes:: 6 pages., young farmers, Kenya (Africa, Eastern), mobile communication systems, communication networks, technology, dairy, access, Information Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the way information is created, stored, accessed and disseminated. It has the potential to enhance access and use of agricultural information by farmers in rural areas thereby improving their farming practices. The study was undertaken to assess how young farmers use ICT technologies in accessing and using dairy agricultural information in Murang’a County, Kenya. The study aimed at assessing the awareness by farmers on technologies available for use in accessing agricultural information and strategies used by farmers in accessing and using dairy agricultural information as a way of promoting dairy farming production. The results of the study revealed that 88% of the farmers agreed that they were aware of the use of technology in accessing agricultural information. 75% of the respondents used radio where television was rated second while mobile phones were rarely used. Majority at (80%) never used technologies such as computers, CD/DVD and social media to access and use dairy agricultural information. Three quarters (75%) preferred using other sources such as extension workers, friends, and relatives over technology. All the extension officers interviewed used technology to acquire and disseminate information. Radio was highly used, followed by internet/web services and social media. The study concluded that dairy farmers have limited access to modern technologies such as mobile phones in access and use of agricultural information. The Kenya National Library Services in collaboration with the Department of Livestock Production should set up exhibitions and information literacy programs for dairy farmers. Infrastructure should be improved in the rural areas of Murang’a County by setting up Cyber cafes within the subcounties and educate dairy farmers on the use of ICT technologies to access and use agricultural information.

57. Analysis of Village Extension Agents' Access and Use of Information and Communication Technology in Delivery of Extension Services in the Central Agricultural Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Vihi, S.K. (author), Tor, L.G. (author), Jesse, B. (author), Dalla, AA.. (author), Onuwa, G.C. (author), and Haroun, M. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-10-21
Published:: Russia: iVolga Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12427
Journal Title:: Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences
Journal Title Details:: Vol.118(10
Notes:: 11 pages, This study examined village extension agent’s access and use of information and communication technology in extension services delivery to farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. The population for the study consisted of all the village extension agents (VEAs) of the Plateau Agricultural Development Program (PADP) in the central agricultural zone of the state. Multistage sampling technique was employed in selecting the respondents for the study. Primary data were collected through the administration of questionnaires and interview techniques and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study shows that majority (77%) of the sampled village extension agents (VEAs) were males with a mean age of 43 years, Majority (87%) of the respondents were married with a mean household size of 4 persons. The study also showed that majority (80%) of the VEAs had tertiary education with a mean working experience of 13 years and average monthly income of ₦64875. The result also shows that four (4) out of the seven (7) listed ICT facilities were adjudged the ICT facilities accessible to VEAs in the study area having had mean values above the discriminating index (x̅ =2.50). They included; GSM (phone) (x̅ =3.94), radio (x̅ = 2.83), television (x̅ = 2.73) and computer (x̅ = 2.68). Based on 2.50 discriminating index, only two out of seven listed conventional ICT facilities had mean values above the discriminating index (x̅ 2.50) and thus were adjudged the ICT facilities used by VEAs. The GSM (phone) had the highest mean value of 3.62 followed by radio with mean value of 2.54. The logit regression result shows that coefficients of years of working experience and monthly income were significant and positively related to ICT use, while age and complexity in use of ICT were significant and negatively related to ICT use. Major constraints to use of ICT by VEAs includes; lack of administrative support in provision of ICT (87%), lack of in-service training on ICT use (66%), Poor salary/remuneration (64%), lack of awareness of ICT importance in extension (56%) among others. The study recommends intervention, serious synergy, and proactive response on the part of the government, non-governmental organization,s and extension organizations in ICT provision and training of VEAs on ICT use as well as stepping up campaigns on the importance of ICT use in agricultural extension delivery.

58. The Role of Social Media Applications in Palm Oil Extension Services in Malaysia

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Peng, Tan Say (author), Lyndon, Novel (author), Hashim, Khairuman (author), and Aman, Zaki (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: unknown
Published:: Malaysia: UKM Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12428
Journal Title:: Journal of Southeast Asia Social Sciences and Humanities
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 91 (3)
Notes:: 21 pages, The Malaysian palm oil industry faces many challenges, especially in agricultural technology at the plantation level because smallholders have trouble getting detailed information and the latest data on the palm oil industry issues. More efficient extension services are needed in meeting the need to increase knowledge. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the best method to accelerate agricultural technology transfer from research institutions to smallholders. Growing concerns about the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on health have prompted development agents to change the course and landscape of their delivery to social media application as a new norm socialisation agent. The study aims to examine the role of information and communication technology as a tool for developing new norms in conveying information and empowering smallholders’ knowledge. This study uses a qualitative approach through content analysis on several reports from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The study found that the use of social media platforms among Malaysians is high, thus the level of application of technology and palm oil information needs to be improved through social media applications. The government needs to develop social media applications that are friendly, easily accessible and the information presented is easy to understand. The implication of this study is that the use of information and communication technology will change the pattern of expansion of the palm oil sector in Malaysia in the future.

59. Intermediation Capabilities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Ghana’s Agricultural Extension System

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Munthali, Nyamwaya (author), Lie, Rico (author), Van Lammeren, Ron (author), Van Paassen, Annemarie (author), Leeuwis, Cees (author), and Asare, Richard (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-06-12
Published:: South Africa: University of Witwatersrand
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12435
Journal Title:: African Journal of Information and Communication
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 28 (2021)
Notes:: 37 pages., Information and communication technologies (ICTs), specifically those that are digital and interactive, present opportunities for enhanced intermediation between actors in Ghana’s agricultural extension system. To understand these opportunities, this study investigates the capabilities of ICTs in support of seven forms of intermediation in the context of agricultural extension: disseminating (information), retrieving (information), harvesting (information), matching (actors to services), networking (among actors), coordinating (actors), and co-creating (among actors). The study identifies the types of ICTs currently functioning in Ghana’s agricultural system, and applies a Delphi-inspired research design to determine the consensus and dissensus of researchers, scientists, and practitioners about the potential of these ICTs to support each of the seven intermediation capabilities. The findings reveal that experts reached consensus that interactive voice response (IVR) technologies currently have the highest potential to support disseminating, retrieving, harvesting, and matching. Meanwhile, social media messaging (SMM) technologies are currently seen as highly capable of supporting coordinating and, to a lesser extent, co-creating, but no consensus is reached on the potential of any of the technologies to support networking.

60. Information and communication technologies (ICTs): The potential for enhancing the dissemination of agricultural information and services to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Mapiye, Obvious (author), Makombe, Godswill (author), Molotsi, Annelin (author), Dzama, Kennedy (author), and Mapiye, Cletos (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-12-21
Published:: South Africa: SAGE Journals
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12436
Journal Title:: Information Development
Journal Title Details:: I-21
Notes:: 21 pages, The transformation of smallholder farming is poised to be one of the key drivers of achieving the dual objectives of food security and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Smallholder farmers account for between 60–80% of the food produced in the region but face many challenges that impede their productivity. Such challenges include a lack of timely access to appropriate agricultural information and services, which results in poor decision-making, particularly in addressing challenges and responding effectively to opportunities. In that context, the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in improving accessibility to appropriate agricultural information and services presents substantial prospects for transforming the productivity and livelihoods of the farmers. Currently, the region experiences massive penetration and propagation of mobile and web-based applications. However, there is a dearth of compelling, comprehensive reviews evaluating their importance in enhancing agricultural information and services dissemination to smallholder farmers. Therefore, the current review explores the potential of enhancing agricultural information and services dissemination to smallholder farmers through ICTs and highlights gaps in their development and deployment in SSA. Five existing mobile applications used to disseminate agricultural information and services to smallholder farmers were identified, and their advantages, limitations, and opportunities were discussed. These were Esoko, iCow, Community Knowledge Workers, WeFarm and DigiFarm. The development and deployment of user-driven mobile applications that provide curated skill-sharing platforms, encourage farmers to give feedback to extension systems in real-time and promote the participation of women and youth in agriculture are recommended. Keywords

61. Farmers’ Readiness to Adopt Social Media as Agro-Information Reception Tool During Covid-19 Pandemic in Ondo State, Nigeria

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Fasina, O. O. (author), Tehinloju, O.A. (author), and Ikuerowo, J.O. (author)
Format:: Conference paper
Publication Date:: 2022-02-24
Published:: Nigeria: AJOL
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12444
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Extension
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 26 No. 1 (2021)
Notes:: Conference paper / Journal article, This study examined farmers’ readiness to assess social media as agro-information reception tool in the study area. An interview guide was used in collecting data from 120 farmers who were randomly selected. Data collected were analysed with the aid frequency counts percentages and logit regression. The results showed that half of the respondents (50%) had primary education. About 90% were aware of whatsapp and 12.6% were aware of blogs, respectively. Education, farming experience, membership of farmers’ group and extension access were the variables that positively influence farmers’ readiness to assesssocial media as agro-information reception tool while respondents’ age negatively influence readiness to assess social media. Enlightenment programmes for farmers on the use of social media and an improved extension services to keep the farmers acquainted with the benefits of social media.

62. Influence of public agricultural extension on technology adoption by small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Worth, S. (author) and Masere, T.P. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-11
Published:: South Africa: SciELO
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12446
Journal Title:: South African Journal of Extension
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 49 No. 1 (2021)
Notes:: 18 pages, This paper presents the findings of challenges facing Zimbabwe’s extension services and how these have affected the adoption of technologies they render to small-scale farmers. This study uses a critical review of relevant literature on Zimbabwe’s primary public extension agency (AGRITEX). Additionally, 21 key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to corroborate data collected in secondary research on extension approaches currently in use, the key factors affecting technology adoption, and the technology adoption process of small-scale farmers. The study found AGRITEX’s major challenges to be poor funding, poor remuneration and incentives for extension personnel, lack of in-service training, lack of appropriate technology, as well as poor operational resources like transport to reach all farmers. Consequently, services offered to small-scale farmers were compromised, which led to poor adoption of recommended technologies. Furthermore, the study determined that key factors influencing technology adoption are related to the farmers’ circumstances, the operating environment, and the attributes of technology itself. As a lasting solution to poor technology adoption, an adaptive extension system that promotes building the capacity of extension workers and researchers, as well as embracing farmers and their indigenous knowledge, is proposed

63. Drivers and Constraints to the Adoption of Organic Leafy Vegetable Production in Nigeria: A Livelihood Approach

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Adbegboyega, J.A. (author), Olabisi, L.S. (author), Liverpool-Tassie, L.W. (author), and Delate, K. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-12-21
Published:: United States: MTDI
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12471
Journal Title:: Sustainability
Journal Title Details:: 12(1), 96
Notes:: Nigeria, the seventh most populous country in the world, is plagued by livelihood challenges such as poverty and food insecurity, which are more pervasive among farming households and rural communities. Organic farming is being promoted by some domestic non-governmental organizations as a means of addressing the problem of poverty and food insecurity among farming households and rural communities in the country. Promoters consider organic farming to be well-suited to smallholder farmers’ socio-economic conditions in Nigeria, and that it can help improve their livelihood conditions through increased agricultural productivity and farm income. However, the adoption of the technology by smallholder farmers has been underwhelming, for reasons yet to be studied. Using a livelihood framework and through a case study of farmers in Ibadan, Oyo State, this study qualitatively explores and provides insights into the factors that influence, constrain, and gender the adoption of organic farming in Nigeria. Overall, it was found that a mix of factors, which include institutional considerations, farmers’ livelihood assets and vulnerability contexts, their livelihood activities, and gender-related variables shaped adoption decision-making. The policy implications of the findings were outlined.

64. Tapping the full potential of the digital revolution for agricultural extension: an emerging innovation agenda

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Steinke, Jonathan (author), van Etten, Jacob (author), Muller, Anna (author), Ortiz-Crespo, Berta (author), van de Gevel, Jeske (author), Silvestri, Silvia (author), and Priebe, Jan (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-03-27
Published:: International: Taylor and Francis
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12480
Journal Title:: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Journal Title Details:: 5-6
Notes:: 26 pages, Agricultural extension in the Global South can benefit greatly from the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). Yet, despite two decades of promising experiences, this potential is not fully realized. Here, we review the relevant research literature to inform future investments into agricultural information services that harness the full potential of digital media. We describe a recently emerging innovation agenda that is, in part, a response to the eventual failure of many new agro-advisory initiatives. One important cause of failure has been a focus on pushing certain technologies, rather than responding to the particular communication challenges of potential users. To avoid such bias in designing new services, the new innovation agenda rests on two major foundations: strong user-centredness and problem-orientation. In our review, we first describe how user-centred design methods help in specifying both problems and (digital) solutions in agricultural extension. To inform responses to the communication challenges defined by that analysis, we then describe eight emerging aspects of using ICT for development, and how they can address common deficiencies of agricultural extension. Practical examples from the literature highlight the possibilities and limitations of these innovation directions. Beyond digital design, however, technological innovation requires enabling institutions.

65. Empowerment of Stakeholders for Scaling-Up: Digital Technologies for Agricultural Extension

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Bhattacharyya, Tapas (author), Wani, Suhas (author), and Tiwary, P. (author)
Format:: Book chapter
Publication Date:: 2021-11-18
Published:: International: Springer Link
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12482
Journal Title:: Scaling-up Solutions for Farmers
Notes:: Pages 121-147 in Scaling-up Solutions for Farmers., In most of the developing countries in Asia and Africa large yield gaps are existing between the current farmers’ yields and potential achievable yields. The necessity of meeting the farmers’ requirement to scale up research results is paramount for adequate food production. This requires empowerment of farmers by answering queries of farmers appropriately through different extension channels including state and central machineries. These are the backbone of the agricultural technology development to empower farmers as the major stakeholders and hence requires attention. Lack of awareness among farmers about good agricultural management practices compel them to follow the traditional practices. All agricultural education and research, ultimately aims at increased productivity and economic well-being of farmers. This is possible only when there is a minimum gap between laboratories and land. This gap is bridged by agricultural extension. But human capacity, the content of the information, processes of delivery and technology determine effectiveness of extension services. Non-availability of sufficient extension personnel is a major constraint. To overcome these shortcomings, e-Extension (eE) is the alternative. It is important to rejuvenate the agricultural extension system (AES) with innovative information communication technology (ICT) models for knowledge generation and dissemination. Latest digital technologies are discussed in this chapter on ICT to empower farmers to scale up for reaching the required target of food production with special reference to Indian scenario. There is an urgent need to transform neglected knowledge delivery systems by strengthening the science of delivery which has been neglected by the researchers/development worker/policy makers alike. Availability of new technologies such as information technology (IT), internet of things (IoT), audio and video using cell phones, geographical information system (GIS), simulation modelling, remote sensing (RS) open up new vistas for effective knowledge delivery for achieving the impacts on ground. This will help to cross the “Death Valley of Impacts” for achieving the zero hunger goal by adopting innovative approaches/tools and partnerships.

66. Chapter 8 - Digital extension service: a quick way to deliver agricultural information to the farmers

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Naika, Mahantesha B.N. (author), Kudari, Manjunath (author), Sree Devi, Maguluri (author), Sadhu, DhanushSwaroop (author), and Sunagar, Suma (author)
Format:: Book chapter
Publication Date:: 2021-01-20
Published:: Academic Press Ltd. (Elsevier Science Ltd.)
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12483
Notes:: Book Chapter, 37 pages in "Food Technology Disruptions" ISBN: 9780128214701, Globally, various digital platforms are efficiently explored to provide information in various sectors. In many developing countries, the majority of the main population occupation is agriculture. Traditional extension services are limited by lack of extension personnel, expertise, up-to-date information regarding market access, timeliness, information storage. Therefore, digitalization can be critical in overcoming such limitations through the utilization of various information and communication technology (ICT) tools; Decision support systems, databases, Agri-based Apps, KIOSK. These advanced approaches will not only support the extension and farming communities but also improve their skills and uplift them in contributing to an increased national GDP. This chapter covers various digital tools and their efficiency with a supporting case study on utilization and impact of digital extension services (DES) on farmer’s knowledge in terms of agricultural practices in selected villages of Belagavi district, Karnataka, India. In conclusion, digital extension services play a vital role in the dissemination of updated information for improving agricultural supply chain management.

67. How have smallholder farmers used digital extension tools? Developer and user voices from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Coggins, Sam (author), McCampbell, Mariette (author), Sharma, Akriti (author), Sharma, Rama (author), Haefele, Stephen (author), Karki, Emma (author), Hetherington, Jack (author), Smith, Jeremy (author), and Brown, Brendan (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-03-01
Published:: United States: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12486
Journal Title:: Global Food Security
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 32
Notes:: 10 pages, Digital extension tools (DETs) include phone calls, WhatsApp groups and specialised smartphone applications used for agricultural knowledge brokering. We researched processes through which DETs have (and have not) been used by farmers and other extension actors in low- and middle-income countries. We interviewed 40 DET developers across 21 countries and 101 DET users in Bihar, India. We found DET use is commonly constrained by fifteen pitfalls (unawareness of DET, inaccessible device, inaccessible electricity, inaccessible mobile network, insensitive to digital illiteracy, insensitive to illiteracy, unfamiliar language, slow to access, hard to interpret, unengaging, insensitive to user's knowledge, insensitive to priorities, insensitive to socio-economic constraints, irrelevant to farm, distrust). These pitfalls partially explain why women, less educated and less wealthy farmers often use DETs less, as well as why user-driven DETs (e.g. phone calls and chat apps) are often used more than externally-driven DETs (e.g. specialised smartphone apps). Our second key finding was that users often made - not just found - DETs useful for themselves and others. This suggests the word ‘appropriation’ conceptualises DET use more accurately and helpfully than the word ‘adoption’. Our final key finding was that developers and users advocated almost ubiquitously for involving desired users in DET provision. We synthesise these findings in a one-page framework to help funders and developers facilitate more useable, useful and positively impactful DETs. Overall, we conclude developers increase DET use by recognizing users as fellow developers – either through collaborative design or by designing adaptable DETs that create room for user innovation.

68. Rethinking technological change in smallholder agriculture

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Glover, Dominic (author), Sumberg, James (author), Ton, Giel (author), Andersson, Jens (author), and Badstue, Lone (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2019-08-22
Published:: International: SAGE Journals
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12493
Journal Title:: Outlook on Agriculture
Journal Title Details:: Vol 48, Issue 3
Notes:: The concept of technology adoption (along with its companions, diffusion and scaling) is commonly used to design development interventions, to frame impact evaluations and to inform decision-making about new investments in development-oriented agricultural research. However, adoption simplifies and mischaracterises what happens during processes of technological change. In all but the very simplest cases, it is likely to be inadequate to capture the complex reconfiguration of social and technical components of a technological practice or system. We review the insights of a large and expanding literature, from various disciplines, which has deepened understanding of technological change as an intricate and complex sociotechnical reconfiguration, situated in time and space. We explain the problems arising from the inappropriate use of adoption as a framing concept and propose an alternative conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating technological change. The new approach breaks down technology change programmes into four aspects: propositions, encounters, dispositions and responses. We begin to sketch out how this new framework could be operationalised.

69. Information and Communication Technology Use Capacity Within Extension Networks: Development and Preliminary Validation of an Empirical Scale

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Lamm, Kevan (author), Davis, Kristin (author), Sanders, Catherine (author), and Powell, Alyssa (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-08-31
Published:: United States: New Prairie Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12496
Journal Title:: Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
Journal Title Details:: 28 (4)
Notes:: 19 pages., Advancing information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become central to international agricultural and extension development efforts. ICTs are crucial in facilitating information transfer, ensuring stakeholder access to information, and increasing the decision-making capacity of smallholder farmers. The research presented here introduces an instrument developed to quantify perceptions of ICT use capacity within international extension networks. The aggregate scale was verified for content validity, response process validity, internal structure validity, and consequential validity informing its use. The instrument was administered to network members (n = 122) associated with the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with measures of correlation and reliability analyzed. Six factors were extracted and analyzed further. The resulting Perceptions of ICT Use scale and factors can be used as reliable instruments for quantifying perceptions of ICT use capacity, enhancing international extension network needs assessments, and informing policies and practices which maximize ICT capacity.

70. Training, Trust, and Technology: A Mixed-Methods Study of Latin American Extension Workers’ Experiences During COVID-19

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Lamiño Jaramillo, Pablo (author), Boren-Alpizar, Amy (author), Morales Vanegas, Sarachi (author), and Millares-Forno, Carla (author)
Format:: Journal aricle
Publication Date:: 2022-01-31
Published:: United States: New Prairie Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12497
Journal Title:: Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
Journal Title Details:: 29 (1)
Notes:: 19 pages, The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected people's lives around the world, including agricultural extension workers. To date, few studies have been conducted to understand the adaptation of extension services in Latin American countries during the pandemic. This mixed-methods study explored Latin-American extension professionals’ preparation to implement knowledge-sharing activities and sought to understand extension professionals' responsiveness to COVID-19. The results revealed significant differences in extension responsiveness, between field extension workers and in-office extension workers. Delving into this difference revealed that field extension professionals perceived lower responsiveness because they were not able to continue their pre-pandemic, face-to-face activities in the field with farmers; on the other hand, office extension workers were able to complete and respond to their annual program objectives by increasing institutional partnerships by virtual means. Resilience was found in the two phases of this study. Extension professionals were viewed by farmers as a reliable resource for addressing COVID-19 challenges. Extension professionals began using new communications technologies to train farmers, even though they were not trained in these technologies themselves. It will be important to begin formally incorporating the use of new technology, and alternative communication strategies with communities during crises, as part of preparation for field technicians.

71. Going digital in agriculture: how radio and SMS can scale-up smallholder participation in legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies in Tanzania

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Silvestri, Silvia (author), Richard, Musebe (author), Edward, Baars (author), Dharmesh, Ganatra (author), and Dannie, Romney (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2020-04-14
Published:: International: Taylor & Francis
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12505
Journal Title:: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Journal Title Details:: 19
Notes:: 11 pages., In 2016, a study was conducted in Tanzania to assess the impact of radio and SMS in scaling-up smallholder participation in legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) practices and technologies. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: (i) does participation in the campaign enhance farmers’ knowledge of legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies? (ii) what is the impact of the campaign on the adoption of legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies?; (iii) does exposure to multiple ICT-enabled channels result in larger gains (in terms of knowledge and adoption) than exposure to only one channel? (iv) is it more cost-effective to use radio or SMS alone or use them in combination? The results show that both awareness and adoption are boosted if SMS supports radio campaigns. However, radio alone is the most cost-effective approach. Each dollar spent on the radio campaign results in 2.1 farmers that have adopted at least one new practice, compared with 0.5 farmers for SMS and 0.4 farmers for radio and SMS combined. Other factors were also important in facilitating uptake of legume-based SAI practices, such as gender, age, education and land size, but were not statistically significant when rated against the communication channels used.

72. The comparison between cyber extension and traditional interaction in the farmers environment during pandemic

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Rizkiansyah, M. (author), Ariestyani, A. (author), and Yunus, U. (author)
Format:: Conference paper with abstract
Publication Date:: 2022-03-01
Published:: Netherlands: IOP Publishing
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12513
Journal Title Details:: 2022 Iop Sci. Conference
Notes:: 9 pages, Data from the Indonesian Seed and Farmers Technology Association data shows that 22 percent of Indonesian farmers have used smartphones to obtain agricultural information. But many farmers still struggle to get information especially in the pandemic era. This research is to find out how the comparison of information delivery patterns between traditional media and cyber media on farmers in Bangil. Indonesia. This research theory uses the theory of cyber extensions. This research method by, observe online media, interviewing several farmers in Bangil and supported by survey data to 85 farmers in Bangil. The results showed that although cyber media began to enter as one of the sources of information for farmers, only a few were dependent on online, while the rest still relied on information from extension methods. Counselling still needed as a connection between farmers and Internet.

73. Agricultural Extension Services amidst COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria: Policy Options

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Olayiwola Issa, Fadlullah (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-02-24
Published:: International: AJOL
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12515
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Extension
Journal Title Details:: 26 (1)
Notes:: 9 pages., The paper explored the policy options targeted at preventing extreme hunger after surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 15 key informants across five purposively selected Local Government Areas in Kaduna and Ogun States for this study. Checklist (administered through recorded telephone calls) was used to elicit responses (qualitative data) on the impacts of COVID-19 on the food system. This paper concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted on the food system thus challenging the AES to employ more innovative and pragmatic approaches to reach the farmers. Major impacts of COVID-19 on food system were disruptions in agricultural production, limitation of field visit by extension personnel and distortion of technology delivery system. Major recommendations include: in response to the stay-at-home order in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Agricultural extension services (AES) should explore virtual means to reach the clientele. To this end, farm operations and new techniques should be packaged into short clips and shared via various platforms. Also, legislative means to consider AEAS as essential services should be sought; and extensionists should be trained and provided with personal protection equipment (PPE) to enable them reach farmers. Such field officers should be insured and provided with adequate tangible mobility.

74. Context Specificity and Time Dependency in Classifying Sub-Saharan Africa Dairy Cattle Farmers for Targeted Extension Farm Advice: The Case of Uganda

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ahikiriza, Elizabeth (author), Wesana, Joshua (author), Gellynk, Xavier (author), Van Huylenbroeck, Guido (author), and Lawyers, Ludwig (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-07-29
Published:: Switzerland: MDPI
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12516
Journal Title:: Agriculture
Journal Title Details:: 11 (9)
Notes:: 6 pages, Despite the huge potential for milk production, interventions to improve productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are barely based on specified farm classifications. This study aimed to develop robust and context-specific farm typologies to guide content of extension farm advice/services in Uganda. From a sample of 482 dairy farmers, we collected data on farmer socio-demographics, farm management practices, ownership of farm tools and facilities, willingness to pay for extension services, milk production, and marketing. Farm typologies were obtained based on principal component and cluster analyses. Thereby, of the three dairy production systems that emerged, small-scale, largely subsistence yet extensive and low productive farms were more prominent (82.6%). Farms that were classified as large-scale, less commercialized yet extensive with modest productive systems were more than the medium-scale commercial farms with intensive and highly productive systems. However, the later were considered to potentially transform dairy farming in Uganda. It was also predicted that the validity of our farm classification may persist until half of the farms have moved between clusters. The study gives new insights on dairy production systems in Uganda, which can be used to organize more targeted research on farmers’ extension needs for facilitating delivery of relevant and effective extension services and designing appropriate extension policies

75. Building Africa’s first “e-Extension Platform” for smallholder farmers

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Gap Report Initiative (author)
Format:: Blog posting
Publication Date:: 2021-02-24
Published:: United States: Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12519
Notes:: 4 pages., Sasakawa Africa Association shares their approach to strengthening the resilience of food systems in Africa through innovative approaches using information and communication technologies. he Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) was established in 1986 by Ryoichi Sasakawa, the first chairman of the Nippon Foundation; Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and father of the Green Revolution; and former US President, Jimmy Carter; in response to the famine in the Horn of Africa in the 1980s. Since then, SAA has strengthened agricultural extension services in 16 countries in Africa. Currently, we have offices in Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda, where we focus on field activities and human resource development at universities and other educational institutions. We also implement human resource development projects in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.

76. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Spielman, David J. (author), Lecoutere, Els (author), Makhija, V.K. (author), and Van Campenhout, Bjorn (author)
Format:: journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-06-02
Published:: United States: Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12536
Journal Title:: Annual Review of Resource Economics
Journal Title Details:: Vol 13
Notes:: 27 pages, With new possibilities offered by information and communications technology (ICT), an abundance of products, services, and projects has emerged with the promise of revitalizing agricultural extension in developing countries. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that not all ICT-enabled extension approaches are equally effective in improving adoption, productivity, income, or welfare outcomes. In this review, we explore various conceptual and methodological threads in the literature on ICT-enabled extension in developing countries. We examine the role of multiple impact pathways, highlighting how ICTs influence behaviors and preferences,gender and intrahousehold dynamics, spillovers, and public worker incentives. We also explore the opportunities presented by ICT-enabled extension for increasing the methodological rigor with which extension outcomes are identified. These conceptual and methodological insights—coupled with empirical evidence from prior studies—offer direction for several lines of policy-relevant research on ICT-enabled extension.

77. Towards a Revolutionized Agricultural Extension System for the Sustainability of Smallholder Livestock Production in Developing Countries: The Potential Role of ICTs

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Mapiye, Obvious (author), Makombe, Godswill (author), Molotsi, Annelin (author), Dmaza, Kennedy (author), and Mapiye, Cletos (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2021-04-02
Published:: International: MDPI
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12537
Journal Title:: Sustainability
Journal Title Details:: 13 (11)
Notes:: 17 pages, The creation of commercialization opportunities for smallholder farmers has taken primacy on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, most of the smallholders are less productive than commercial farmers and continue to lag in commercialization. Apart from the various multifaceted challenges which smallholder farmers face, limited access to extension services stands as the underlying constraint to their sustainability. Across Africa and Asia, public extension is envisioned as a fundamental part of the process of transforming smallholder farmers because it is their major source of agricultural information. Extension continues to be deployed using different approaches which are evolving. For many decades, various authors have reported the importance of the approaches that effectively revitalize extension systems and have attempted to fit them into various typologies. However, there is a widespread concern over the inefficiency of these extension approaches in driving the sustainability of smallholder farming agenda. Further, most of the approaches that attempted to revolutionize extension have been developed and brought into the field in rapid succession, but with little or no impact at the farmer level. This paper explores the theory and application of agricultural extension approaches and argues the potential of transforming them using digital technologies. The adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the internet which are envisaged to revolutionize existing extension systems and contribute towards the sustainability of smallholder farming systems is recommended

78. Adoption and perception of farm management information systems by future Swiss farm managers – An online study

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ammamm, Jeanine (author), Walter, Achim (author), and Benni, Nadja (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-01-10
Published:: United States: Elsevier
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12567
Journal Title:: Journal of Rural Studies
Journal Title Details:: 70
Notes:: 8 pages, The use of digital technologies in agriculture offers various benefits, such as site-specific application, better monitoring, and physical relief. The handling of these technologies requires a specific skill set. Therefore, the question arises of when and how farm managers learn about digital technologies. Aiming to analyse the current situation, the present research investigated the role that digital technologies play in vocational training for future farm managers. Taking the example of farm management information systems (FMIS), the present study also analysed various predictors of adoption, including the effect of training. To investigate these research questions, an online survey among teachers and students of the farm management vocational programme across Switzerland was conducted in the spring of 2021. In total, 150 individuals participated, 41 of whom were teachers. Participants answered questions about the learning content in the farm management programme and their perception of digital technologies in general. Students further reported whether they already had a farm they would be managing in the future and how they perceived FMIS. The results indicate that both teachers and students are convinced that digital technologies play an important role in agriculture and will gain more importance in the future. A substantial part of 43% of the students who participated indicated that they had learned neither about digital technologies during their basic agricultural training nor the subsequent farm management programme. In terms of FMIS, 51% of the student sample indicated that they had never heard about FMIS during their agricultural training. While having learned about FMIS was not a significant predictor for adoption, gender, perceived ease of use, and intention to use more digital technologies in the future significantly predicted the adoption of FMIS. The paper concludes that, to support the adoption of digital technologies and FMIS specifically, training for future farm managers should focus on how to operate an FMIS to increase the perceived ease of use of this technology.

79. The Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers on the Use of Mobile Technology: A Naturalistic Inquiry in Zimbabwe

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Format:: Book chapter
Publication Date:: 2022-03-12
Published:: International: Springer Link
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12572
Journal Title:: Future of Information Communication Conference
Notes:: 14 pages, This research is an inquiry into the (under)utilisation of mobile phones by smallholder farmers in their agricultural activities in Zimbabwe. Through a naturalistic enquiry, the research established that agricultural extension officers are vital in the adoption and use of mobile phones for agricultural purposes. Those extension officers who were not skilled in productively using mobile phone technology had technophobia, which was the primary reason they did not use the technology in their interactions with farmers. Yet, a sizeable number of farmers used their mobile phones to receive information from agricultural extension officers, officials, other farmers, and market vendors. Interviewed farmers perceived the mobile phone as a tool for education in agricultural matters. However, very few used their phones effectively for agricultural purposes. The research identified two main inhibitors to the acceptance and use of mobile phones by farmers: a lack of the necessary digital skills, and lacking information to use mobile phones. Other inhibiting factors included semi-literacy, old age, insufficient infrastructure, socioeconomic status, excessive cost, and lack of support from telecommunications companies and other service providers. This research contributes a novel perspective to the body of knowledge regarding mobile technology adoption for agricultural activity in marginalised communities.

80. Good farm practices and improved processing technology of enset for sustainable hunger solution in Ethiopia

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Kudama, G. (author), Tolera, T. (author), and Gebeyehu, L. (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-02-01
Published:: International: Springer Link
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12574
Journal Title:: Innovation and Entrepeneurship
Journal Title Details:: 11
Notes:: 20 pages., Given the multi-benefits, enset cultivation has been continuously underutilized in Ethiopia. We assess best practices, processing technologies, environmental maintenance, multi-benefits of enset and its potency in hunger reduction in Ethiopia by reviewing evidence on good farm practices, improved technologies, sustainability, hunger reduction, inputs cost, and yields advantage of enset. The review results identify those best practices that optimize enset yield, technologies that facilitate extension services, processing and food qualities of enset. Moreover, we find that enset is a first-rated climate-smart crop, superior hunger solution because of its apparent capability to endure long periods (more than 5 years) of drought, highest yield, energy food supply, and costs advantages. In contrast, its long-period maturity, cultural perceptions, and little development policy attention given to enset limit its expansion. Therefore, exploring and creating universal access mechanism of early maturing and high-yielding varieties, processing technologies and mobile-based advices, involving best practices of enset in regular agricultural extension services, changing social perceptions optimize enset yield and production thereby it contributes environmental sustainability and cuts hunger challenges.

81. Adoption of improved agricultural practices: Learning from off-season vegetable production in Nepal

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ghimire, Raju (author), Suvedi, Marari (author), and Kaplowitz, Michael (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-09-01
Published:: USA: New Prairie Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12682
Journal Title:: Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 29, Iss. 3
Notes:: 18 pages, This study examines factors that appear to contribute to farmers’ adoption and discontinuation of poly house technology for off-season vegetable production. We collected cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 151 households in Kaski district, Nepal during October 2018. The data are analyzed using Heckman’s two stage sample selection model. The study reveals that the family members report being engaged in nonfarm sector that there is an increased probability of discontinuation of poly house technology. Farmers may be diverting their labor towards nonfarm activities that result in higher returns to labor and different risks. At the same time, the results indicate that farmers who did not receive training on vegetable production were more likely to discontinue poly house technology. It was also found that increasing farmers’ engagement with marketing activities increased the likelihood of farmers to continue poly house technology and increase household income. The provision of continued technical support (e.g., training), input supply (e.g., seeds, fertilizers) and market information are essential to sustain the adopted technologies. The study sheds light on the sustainability of technology adoption by underpinning the importance of extension services for longer-term adoption. We believe that the combined effect of various technologies would be associated with sustained adoption of the improved off-season technologies. This provides a new direction to operationalize farmer-oriented policies in agricultural extension and helps in devising programs for sustained adoption of technology.

82. Exploring digitalization and sustainable practices in African agribusinesses and food supply chains: a literature review

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Abban,Rita (author) and Abebe, Gumataw Kifle (author)
Format:: Research
Publication Date:: 2022-08-01
Published:: Germany: CENTMA Research
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12700
Journal Title:: International Journal on Food System Dynamics
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 13, N.4
Notes:: 5pgs, The Covid-19 pandemic, global trends, and technological advancements lead to the perception that digitalization is about the most sustainable means of growing Africa’s agribusiness and food supply chains. Many global agribusinesses have successfully integrated digital technologies to enhance operational efficiencies and business relations with their upstream and downstream actors. However, evidence is scant on the uptake of digital technologies among small and medium agribusiness firms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Against this backdrop, this review paper identifies research gaps regarding the adoption and implication of digitalization in building sustainable food systems for African economies. Our preliminary finds show some sustainable practices in the SSA food supply chains by adopting specific technologies related to production, grain storage, food waste management, and warehouse management but very low adoption of food processing technologies and digital marketing platforms. Most importantly, the application of the Internet of Things, Big data, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and/or Business Analytics is very rare. Most of the digitalization process tends to be mobile-based.

83. Factors influencing adoption of irrigation technologies among smallholder farmers in Machakos County, Kenya

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Muluki, Kithome Mary (author), Rasugu, Mogaka Hezron (author), Njeri, Mugwe Jayne (author), and Nyarindo, Isaboke Hezron (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-07-20
Published:: Nigeria: Agricultural Extension Society of Nigeria
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12756
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Extension
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 26, N.3
Notes:: 16 pages, The study examined the factors that drive decisions to adopt and use irrigation technologies among smallholder farmers in Machakos County, Kenya. Data were collected from a sample of 300 smallholder farmers. Cross-sectional survey design, a multistage sampling procedure and random sampling method were employed. Percentages, means and econometric analysis were used in data analysis. Results showed that, 31.7% of the respondents practiced irrigation. Sex of household head, education, farm size, off-farm income, credit accessed and access to extension services positively influenced adoption of irrigation technologies. Adoption intensity was positively influenced by gender, off-farm income, farming experience, primary occupation and extension services. As a result, it is suggested that while formulating development strategies and programs for smallholder farmers, agricultural extension organizations should give priority to these factors.

84. Socioeconomic factors influencing uptake of regenerative agriculture technologies in the drylands of Embu County, Kenya

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Otara, Elvin (author), Rasugu, Hezron Mogaka (author), Ndirangu, Samuel (author), and Mugwe, Jayne Njeri (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2023-01-30
Published:: Nigeria: Agricultural Extension Society of Nigeria
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12795
Journal Title:: Journal of Agricultural Extension
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 27, N.1
Notes:: 12 pages, This study evaluated socioeconomic factors influencing the uptake of regenerative agriculture technologies in the dry lands of Embu County. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 400 farm households. Multivariate Probit model (MVP) and percentage were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicate that several socioeconomic factors including farming experience, farm size, main occupation, off-farm activities, age, gender, marital status and education level influenced the uptake of various regenerative agriculture technologies. Government and other inventors should take these factors into consideration while making decisions and formulating policies to support the dissemination and uptake of agricultural innovations.

85. Unlocking the potential of smallholder dairy farm: Evidence from the central highland of Ethiopia

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Feyissa, Abraham Abera (author), Senbeta, Feyera (author), Tolera, Adugna (author), and Guta, Dawit Diriba (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-12-01
Published:: Netherlands: Elsevier B.V.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12799
Journal Title:: Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 11
Notes:: 10 pages, Sustainable livestock farming practices have the potential to improve productivity and high income, reduce greenhouse gases, and improve household food security. Despite previous efforts to disseminate these technologies, the rate of adoption has remained very low in Ethiopia. In this study, we investigate the determinants of adoption and the impact of improved dairy farming practices (IDFP), which include improved breed, improved feed, and improved feeding conditions, on household food security in the central highland of Ethiopia.

86. Nanotechnology - big impact: How nanotechnology is changing the future of agriculture?

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Saritha, Golla Nagaraju Gari (author), Anju, Thattantavide (author), and Kumar, Ajay (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2022-11-19
Published:: Netherlands: Elsevier B.V.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12807
Journal Title:: Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
Journal Title Details:: Vol. 10
Notes:: 19 pages, The global climate change and rapid population increase are raising challenges for food security, and it demands efficient crop improvement methods that ensure superior quality and quantity of the crops. The advancements in nanotechnology can be explored to enhance sustainable crop improvement. Recently, nanotechnology has made massive revolutions in solving various problems faced by the human population, including the agriculture, environment and food sectors. In agriculture, nanotechnology has implications on every stage of farming, including seed germination, growth, harvest, processing, storage and transport of agricultural products. Nano fertilisers, nano herbicides, nano-fungicides, nano biosensors, nanoscale genetic carriers, nano-bioremediating agents and nanocomposites for packing are the novel applications of nanotechnology in the crop improvement area. Nanotechnology ensures the site-specific delivery of the nutrients in the plant's target region, which minimises the loss and increases efficiency. The reduced size of the nanomaterials offers a broader surface area for pesticides and fertilisers, drastically escalating disease and pest control in crops as they promise to overcome the shortcomings caused by traditional pesticide application. The advancement in nanotechnology is rapidly contributing to the digitalization of agriculture also. For example, nanotechnology widens the horizons of high-tech agricultural farms with the aid of biosensors. The synthesis of nano enzymes also revolutionized the stress-tolerant mechanism of the plants by acting as an efficient antioxidant enzyme, and it has been widely used against salinity tolerance recently. The contribution of nanotechnology in effective transfer of genetic material in gene editing and genetic engineering techniques has also significantly contributed towards crop improvement. Nanobioremediation and nanophotocatalysis methods can also remove toxic substances from the environment. It is clear that, nanotechnology driven agri-food sector is expected to bloom in the near future. This review article summarizes the potential benefits of nanotechnology in agriculture and related fields, including the environment and food industry. Although nanotechnology has contributed a lot to the betterment of the world in various ways, they also face several limitations. Despite being a frontier of scientific advancement in the modern era, the negative impacts caused by nanotechnology cannot be sidelined. Therefore, this review also discusses the limitations of nanotechnology in the last section.

87. Watching Grass Grow...From Space

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Beck, Lena (author)
Format:: Article
Publication Date:: 2023-07-31
Published:: USA: modern farmer
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12925
Notes:: 7 pages

88. Where do smallholder farmers get their information? an exploration of the sources of agricultural information in northwest Cambodia

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Nickens, Presley (author), Ader, David (author), Enriquez, Jean Pierre (author), Bates, Ricky (author), Gill, Tom (author), Huot, Sovanneary (author), Hok, Lyda (author), and Pao, Srean (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2023-08-29
Published:: USA: New Prairie Press
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12943
Journal Title:: Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
Journal Title Details:: V.30, Iss.2
Notes:: 15 pages, A significant emphasis on scaling up food security efforts is needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) by 2030. Scaling up sustainable intensification efforts for Cambodian smallholder farmers is key since they face greater exposure to the uncertainties of climate change, globalizing markets, and rural-to-urban migration. One way to increase the effectiveness of efforts and the scaling up of sustainable intensification technologies is through improving access to information about production and marketing technologies. This study aimed to identify sources of information about sustainable technologies available to smallholders and barriers that may be preventing adoption. Information was gathered from a household survey to document the sources of agricultural information for smallholders in Northwest Cambodia. This research suggests Cambodian smallholders are receiving agricultural extension services, however, the overall quality and effectiveness of these messages are unknown, since NGOs with competing foci are the primary provider of extension information. Smallholders face significant barriers that prevent the adoption of sustainable technologies and participation in markets, such as low price for goods, poor product quality, lack of time, and concerns for safety. Future endeavors to strengthen the price of goods and alleviate market-related challenges would likely result in increased smallholder income and food availability.

89. FSIS launches new data tool: recall and public health alert API

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Food Safety and Inspection Service (author)
Format:: News release
Publication Date:: 2023-09-07
Published:: USA: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12947
Notes:: 4 pages

90. Sustainable smart agriculture farming for cotton crop: a fuzzy logic rule based methodology

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Bin, Li (author), Shahzad, Muhammad (author), Khan, Hira (author), Bashir, Muhammad Mehran (author), Ullah, Arif (author), and Siddique, Muhammad (author)
Format:: Journal article
Publication Date:: 2023-09-18
Published:: Switzerland: MDPI
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12959
Journal Title:: Sustainability
Journal Title Details:: V.15, Iss.18
Notes:: 20 pages, Sustainable agriculture is a pivotal driver of a nation’s economic growth, especially considering the challenge of providing food for the world’s expanding population. Agriculture remains a cornerstone of many nations’ economies, so the need for intelligent, sustainable farming practices has never been greater. Agricultural industries worldwide require sophisticated systems that empower farmers to manage their crops efficiently, reduce water wastage, and optimize yield quality. Yearly, substantial crop losses occur due to unpredictable environmental changes, with improper irrigation practices being a leading cause. In this paper, we introduce an innovative irrigation time control system for smart farming. This system leverages fuzzy logic to regulate the timing of irrigation in cotton crop fields, effectively curbing water wastage while ensuring that crops receive neither too little nor too much water. Additionally, our system addresses a common agricultural challenge: whitefly infestations. Users can adjust climatic parameters, such as temperature and humidity, through our system, which minimizes both whitefly populations and water consumption. We have developed a portable measurement technology that includes air humidity sensors, temperature sensors, and rain sensors. These sensors interface with an Arduino platform, allowing real-time climate data collection. This collected climate data is then sent to the fuzzy logic control system, which dynamically adjusts irrigation timing in response to changing environmental conditions. Our system incorporates an algorithm that generates highly effective (IF-THEN) fuzzy logic rules, significantly improving irrigation efficiency by reducing overall irrigation duration. By automating the irrigation process and precisely delivering the right amount of water, our system eliminates the need for human intervention, rendering the agricultural system more dependable in achieving successful crop yields. Water supply commences when the environmental conditions reach specific thresholds and halts when the requisite climate conditions are met, maintaining an optimal environment for crop growth.

91. Exploring the potential of precision livestock farming technologies to help address farm animal welfare

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Schillings, Juliette (author), Bennett, Richard (author), and Rose, David Christian (author)
Format:: Journal Article
Publication Date:: 2021-05-13
Published:: Switzerland: Frontiers Media S.A.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12962
Journal Title:: Frontiers in Animal Science
Journal Title Details:: V.2
Notes:: 17 pages, The rise in the demand for animal products due to demographic and dietary changes has exacerbated difficulties in addressing societal concerns related to the environment, human health, and animal welfare. As a response to this challenge, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies are being developed to monitor animal health and welfare parameters in a continuous and automated way, offering the opportunity to improve productivity and detect health issues at an early stage. However, ethical concerns have been raised regarding their potential to facilitate the management of production systems that are potentially harmful to animal welfare, or to impact the human-animal relationship and farmers' duty of care. Using the Five Domains Model (FDM) as a framework, the aim is to explore the potential of PLF to help address animal welfare and to discuss potential welfare benefits and risks of using such technology. A variety of technologies are identified and classified according to their type [sensors, bolus, image or sound based, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)], their development stage, the species they apply to, and their potential impact on welfare. While PLF technologies have promising potential to reduce the occurrence of diseases and injuries in livestock farming systems, their current ability to help promote positive welfare states remains limited, as technologies with such potential generally remain at earlier development stages. This is likely due to the lack of evidence related to the validity of positive welfare indicators as well as challenges in technology adoption and development. Finally, the extent to which welfare can be improved will also strongly depend on whether management practices will be adapted to minimize negative consequences and maximize benefits to welfare.

92. Harvesting shellfish? get the app

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Beck, Lena (author)
Format:: Online article
Publication Date:: 2023-09-28
Published:: USA: Modern Farmer
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12971
Notes:: 10 pages, Toxins, pollution and invisible boundary lines are obstacles to harvesting bivalves such as clams and oysters. A new cohort of cellphone and web apps promises to help people farm and harvest shellfish more responsibly.

93. Lessons learned: Mike LePorte

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: LePorte, Mike (author)
Format:: Online article
Publication Date:: 2022-01
Published:: USA: National Association for Farm Broadcasters, Platte City, Missouri
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13001
Notes:: 2 pages

94. The top 20 agrifoodtech headlines of 2021

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Ellis, Jack (author)
Format:: News article
Publication Date:: 2021-12-31
Published:: USA: AgFunder Network Partners
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13004
Notes:: 5 pages

95. Embracing sustainability

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Henderson, Greg (author)
Format:: Magazine article
Publication Date:: 2022-01
Published:: USA: Drovers CattleNetwork
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13010
Notes:: 2 pages, article located on page 12 of digital edition.

96. Rural broadband will be a game-changer

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Wareham, Jared (author)
Format:: Magazine article
Publication Date:: 2022-01-01
Published:: USA: Drovers CattleNetwork
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13011
Notes:: 1 page, article located on page 40 of digital edition.

97. The packer's sustainability survey key grower insights

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Farm Journal (author)
Format:: PowerPoint
Publication Date:: 2021-09-01
Published:: USA: The Packer
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13015
Notes:: 25 pages

98. Emeritus member loves tractors

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Nash, Erin (author)
Format:: Blog
Publication Date:: 2021-08-08
Published:: USA: National Association for Farm Broadcasters, Platte City, Missouri
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13026
Notes:: 2 pages

99. Testing benefits all

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Henderson, Greg (author)
Format:: Magazine article
Publication Date:: 2021-04
Published:: USA: Drovers CattleNetwork
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13047
Notes:: 1 page

100. Up your GoPro game: GoPro tips

Collection:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
Contributers:: Cole, Jamie (author)
Format:: Online article
Publication Date:: 2020-06-11
Published:: USA: AAEA - The Agricultural Communicators Network, LaGrange, GA.
Location:: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13054
Notes:: 3 pages

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