Kadiyala, Suneetha (author), Morgan, Emily H. (author), Cyriac, Shruthi (author), Margolies, Amy (author), Roopnaraine, Terry (author), and Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH), London, United Kingdom
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
St. Johns Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
Independent consultant, Brasilia, DF, Brazil
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-10-13
Published:
India: Public Library of Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 164 Document Number: D08245
Jayasinghe, J.A.S.S. (author), Hewagamage, K.P. (author), and Department of Information Technology, CINEC Campus, IT Park, Malabe, Sri Lanka
University of Colombo School of Computing, 35, Reid Avenue, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
Sri Lanka: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 162 Document Number: D08141
Notes:
article number 7829901, pp. 72-79, 16th International Conference on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions, ICTer 2016; Jetwing BlueNegombo; Sri Lanka; 1 September 2016 through 3 September 2016; Category numberCFP1686L-ART; Code 126111
12 pages., Article #: 5FEA1, via online journal., Extension engaged rural Idaho community stakeholders to assess local resources and readiness to address obesogenic contexts through use of the Extension tool HEAL MAPPS. Through participatory photomapping, focus group involvement, and a community readiness conversation, residents identified environmental resources and local efforts as supports for and barriers to healthful eating and active living. Findings indicated that the community was "vaguely aware" that rural obesity risk is a socioenvironmentally determined issue. Extension professionals using HEAL MAPPS effectively promoted new and shared knowledge of weight health resources among community members, enabled rural residents to have a voice in addressing the community context, and empowered community actions.
20 pages, via online journal, Purpose: This paper examines the factors affecting farmers’ participation in extension programs and adoption of improved seed varieties in the hills of rural Nepal.
Methodology/approach: Cross-sectional farm-level data were collected during July and August 2014. A sample of 198 farm households was selected for interviewing by using a multistage, random sampling technique. We employed a logistic regression model, frequency counts, and percentages to analyze the data.
Findings: Adoption decisions were mainly affected by extension-related variables – training, membership in a farmers’ group, and off-farm employment. Extension participation was found to be influenced by socioeconomic variables – age, education, household size, and distance to the extension office. Our findings reveal that distance to the extension office and off-farm employment limited participation in extension activities and adoption, respectively, and education, household size, and group membership stimulated participation in extension programs.
Practical implications: Recognition of the determinants of farmers’ participation in extension services and innovation adoption ensures that targeted extension approaches are used to address these factors in various stages of planning, delivering, and evaluating extension programs.
Theoretical implications: Innovation adoption follows a systematic decision-making process. Although personal characteristics are important, widespread use of new technology requires a conducive social and institutional context. Because contexts vary by country or region, extension services providers should create institutions favorable for innovation adoption within a social system.
Originality/value: This research is original and highly valuable to identify the factors associated with extension participation and innovation adoption in the rural hilly region of Nepal. This also provides a new direction to operationalize farmer-oriented policies of agricultural extension and so can be helpful for agricultural policy-makers in devising programs of extension services.
16 pages., via online journal., This study was conducted in Ethiopia to determine the use of mobile phones in agriculture. The study included 320 household heads who owned mobile phones. Data were collected using an interview schedule. The results revealed that the majority (90.6%) of household heads made phone calls for agricultural purposes. Over three quarters (85.9%) of the household heads received phone calls related to agriculture. Short message service (SMS) was poorly used. It is concluded that mobile phones are playing an important role as an informational medium. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture in Ethiopia needs to develop a mobile-based agricultural information dissemination system to enhance information delivery to rural farming households.
22 pages, This paper presents direct evidence on the impact of a specific extension program that is aimed at promoting the adoption of varieties resistant to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN), specifically the Iowa State University SCN-Resistant Soybean Variety Trials. We use two data sources: experimental data from these variety trials and a rich proprietary dataset on farmers’ seed purchases. Combining these data, we estimate the value of soybean cyst nematode-resistant variety availability, and the associated variety trials that provide information on their performance to farmers and seed companies. Given the scope and diffusion of this extension program, the focus of the analysis is on Iowa and northern Illinois over the period 2011–2016. Farmers’ seed choices are modeled in a discrete choice framework, specifically a one-level nested logit model. Using the estimated demand model, we find farmers’ marginal willingness to pay for soybean cyst nematode-resistant varieties, and for related extension information provided by the Iowa State University SCN-Resistant Soybean Variety Trials program, to be large. These results are confirmed by counterfactual analyses showing that, over the six-year period and region of the study, the total ex post welfare change associated with the existence of, and information about, SCN-resistant seeds is about $478 million. About one-third of this surplus is captured by seed suppliers, and two-thirds accrues to farmers.
USA: Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08944
Notes:
Page 2 in Lucinda Crile, Findings from studies of bulletins, news stories, and circular letters. Extension Service Circular 488. Revision of Extension Service Circular 461, which it supersedes. May 1953. 24 pages. Brief description of an agricultural extension study at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. N.D. 8 pages.
