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.
14 pages, via online journal, Water quality is a complex issue and residential fertilizer can be one of the many contributors to poor water quality. Working with residential audiences to help them understand and reduce their impacts on water quality is an important task among many agricultural education and Extension professionals. In order to effectively work with residential audiences, we must first understand what influences their intent to engage in fertilizer best management practices. In this research, we paired the Diffusion of Innovations and Elaboration Likelihood Model to examine the influence of perceptions of an innovation’s characteristics, personal involvement with water, and communication on intent to engage in fertilizer best management practices. The communication was presented to experimental groups as a 35-second video about fertilizer best management practices. Data were collected via a survey instrument and were analyzed using inferential procedures. Four of the five characteristics of innovations significantly influenced intent to engage in fertilizer best management practices among the control group. However, all five characteristics were significant among the entire sample but the influence was less compared to the control group. Involvement increased intent while the video treatments had little effect. The results of the research support existing findings, but also offer areas of new discovery as well as insights for practice and additional study. Future research should examine the repetition of communication as well as different dimensions of involvement.
7 pages., A survey was conducted to identify management information sources and communication channels used by commercially oriented smallholder beef cattle producers (n = 62) in Limpopo province, South Africa. A total of 62 commercially oriented smallholder farmers under the Limpopo Industrial Development Corporation-Nguni cattle project were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data on farmers’ demographic and farm characteristics, sources of information and communication channels used. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to evaluate factors that influenced farmers’ choices of information sources and communications channels used. Findings show that government extension (53% of the respondents) and other farmers (30%) were the major sources of management information for the farmers. Based on the logistic regression results, the decision to choose government extension as the main source of information was mainly influenced by respondents’ gender (p = 0.001) and access to training (p = 0.023). Communication was mainly through farm-to-farm visits (56%) and the use of mobile phones (30%). Based on the current findings, the infusion of modern information communication technologies such as mobile phone-based innovations with the existing government extension service could further strengthen the capacity of farmers to share information among themselves as well as providing feedback to extension agents. Furthermore, it is essential to take cognizance of farmers’ socio-economic factors when identifying and characterizing their management information sources and communication strategies.
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Extension Service, Division of (author) and International Training Division, Office of International Cooperation and Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Format:
Manual
Publication Date:
unknown
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: Byrnes1 Document Number: C12135
Notes:
Francis C. Byrnes Collection, 24 p., Sections of this manual involve the research environment, research program development and research operations (including public relations and dissemination of research results).
Anderson, Kathleen P. (author), Pulec, Kate E. (author), Skelly, Christine D. (author), Wright, Ashley D. (author), Greene, Elizabeth A. (author), and University of Nebraska
Michigan State University
University of Arizona
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2020-02
Published:
United States: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 132 Document Number: D11361
9 pages., via online journal, Our multistate group of state horse specialists produced and evaluated impacts from six webinars and online short courses (webinar plus additional content) addressing current industry issues: pasture-associated laminitis, equine herpesvirus-1, disaster preparedness, sales fraud, rescues/rehoming, and manure management. We identified no differences in perceived knowledge gained from webinars or short courses; however, results suggest that participation in short courses versus live webinars may be more useful for making positive management decisions. Short course participants also reported greater potential for cost savings as a result of completing the education. On the basis of the study, we offer recommendations for developing effective online Extension education programs.
4 pages, This article introduces the Regional Conservation Partnership Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. The program encourages partnerships among Extension professionals, conservation agency representatives, and farmers that focus on addressing natural resources concerns through the development and implementation of regional watershed plans. These plans assist farmers in practicing sustainable crop and animal production methods. Extension professionals will find the program useful as a tool for building collaborations at watershed and regional scales to promote agricultural production practices that enhance natural resources conservation.
