10 pages., via online journal., Purpose: Agricultural extension graduates do not get jobs and farmers are not getting agricultural
extension services, and therefore, both the farmers and agricultural graduates do not receive benefi ts.
The study assessed the interest of agricultural extension students in providing private extension services
to farmers, examined their perception towards private extension services and identifi ed extension skills
possessed by the students.
Research Method: The study comprised all the fi nal year students in the Universities in Osun State. A
two – stage sampling procedure was used to select the respondents. One university was selected from
each category of federal, state and private. A total of 68 respondents were selected and interviewed.
Data collected were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings: The results show that the mean age, mean years of formal education of the respondents
were 23.75 ± 2.02 and 17.40 ± 1.16, respectively. About half (51.5%) of the respondents had positive
perception towards the private extension service while 57 percent had high interest in providing private
extension services. Majority of them possessed teaching skills (97.1%), innovation dissemination
skills (95.5%) and communication skills (88.2%). Also, sources of agricultural information available
(χ2=22.448), types of sponsors (χ2=6.102) and marital status (χ2=16.535) had a signifi cant association
with respondents’ interest in providing private agricultural extension services.
Research Limitation: The study focuses on the interest of agricultural extension graduates to provide
private extension services; however, these graduates may have an interest in other areas that have not
been investigated.
Original Value: The study provides an insight to show the interest and capability of agricultural students
to be engaged in private extension services as a livelihood
9 pages., Article # 1RIB10, Via online journal., Millennials have different investing knowledge and behaviors than generations in the past. Moreover, as compared to baby boomers, millennials have more debt and less wealth to invest. We used current literature and information collected from Extension educators to explore the values, investing behaviors, learning styles, and loyalty attitudes of millennials. We also examined and evaluated investment resources that had been created or adapted by four Extension faculty members across the nation. A proposed framework with suggestions for future research is provided.
9 pages., via online journal., This study assessed the effectiveness of extension communication methods used in disseminating information to farmers in Ogbomoso Agricultural zone of Oyo State. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents. Data were analysed using frequency, percentage, standard deviation, mean, median and mode statistics. The findings show that the extension communication methods used for farmers were farm visit (89.2%) and home visit (78.5%), contact farmers (73.3%) and method demonstration (51.7%). Contact farmers, farm visits and home visit were the most frequently used communication strategies by extension agencies while farm visit (x=1.57) was the most preferred extension method to receive information and technologies and respondents perceived the extension communication methods used to be moderately effective. The study recommends that extension officers should consider the use of communication methods preferred by the farmers to communicate information to them.
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.
20 pages., via online journal., During the last 10 years, different initiatives have been implemented to provide mobile-based extension services for the agricultural sector in Egypt. The current study compared the quality of agricultural extension messages between public and private providers. A simple random sample of 120 farmers was selected representing 7% of the total farmers registered in the databases of Ministry of Agriculture (public services) and Shoura company (private services). Farmers assessed a sample of 10 messages delivered by both providers in terms of six indicators namely (1) access, (2) utilization, (3) timeliness, (4) trust, (5) satisfaction, and (6) sharing information with other farmers. The findings revealed the lack of access to messages by the farmers in the two services. However, more than 50% had utilized the majority of messages (in case of access). The study also showed significant differences between perception of farmers to quality attributes in public and private services (Access 6.77, 0.01; Utilization 8.44, 0.004; Timeliness 8.55, 0.002; Satisfaction 8.88, 0.001; information sharing 7.62, 0.009) except for trust (1.11, 0.4). Findings provide practical implications to support mobile-based extension services to enable sharing information and link farmers with other actors in the agricultural value chain.
