21 pgs., CTs (Communications technologies) have revolutionized agricultural information services at every level in the agricultural sector, thus impacting rural development and catalysing poverty alleviation strategies. This has largely been the case with small-scale farmers in rural areas in developing countries where mobile technologies have penetrated more than most other ICT tools. However, in some of the farming environments, mobile phone use is largely driven by agricultural extension workers. This paper seeks to examine the way mobile phones are used for information access in situations where agricultural extension workers are a critical intermediary in the agricultural information services. Interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected farmers who were part of the Dzindi irrigation scheme. The findings were that from the variety of information available to the farmers the most important source was the extension officer. The extension officer and the radio were indicated to be the most reliable independent sources of information. The other sources, such as the radio, family members, and friends, suppliers of chemicals, books and magazines, were only considered reliable if the information could be verified or vouched for by the extension officer. Increasing the information handling skills of extension officers, training of farmers to use smart features of their phones and promoting the usual face-to-face communication use of conventional methods, which is what usually gives rise to the mediation of mobile phones, were recommended.
21 pages, Multiple dynamics jointly determine who we befriend, however, researchers have failed to systematically assess which processes matter most under different circumstances. Here I draw on observations around how the demands of paddy rice cultivation shape social interaction to demonstrate that the relative importance of reciprocity, transitivity and generalised exchange to who rice producers choose as friends varies with the amount of agricultural land under their control. In doing so, I use unique data on farm size and friendship amongst 4713 rice-growing smallholders in 162 rural villages in Jiangxi, China along with a new technique for measuring the relative importance of effects in Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models. In line with the micro-level component of the recently advanced “theory of network ecology”, results suggest that features of an individual’s proximal environment can powerfully moderate the relative expression of network-formation mechanisms such that for some individuals, a dynamic may be expected to hold substantial sway over the process of choosing social contacts and, for others, no sway at all.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11097
Notes:
Online from ACES News, University of Illinois. 2 pages., Findings of a survey among farmers in Wisconsin suggested that respondents were open to receiving agricultural health and safety information from any source. Preferred methods of delivery: magazines and newspapers, face-to-face communication. Least preferred: social media, the internet and phone support lines.
Copp, James H. (author), Sill, Maurice L. (author), Brown, Emory J. (author), and Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA; Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA; Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Format:
Journal article abstract
Publication Date:
1958-06
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 4 Document Number: B00429
Anderson, M.A. (author), Cairns, L.E. (author), Heady, E.O. (author), and Baum, E.L. (author)
Format:
Research summary
Publication Date:
1956
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 1 Document Number: B00090
Notes:
AgComm Teaching. Review of Extension Research 1946/47-1956, Extension Service Circular 506, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, Iowa State College, Ames. Special Report 16. 36 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08634
Notes:
Located in Review of Extension Studies, volumes for 1946-1956, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., Summary of research report. Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, Columbia. Bulletin 668. 20 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08640
Notes:
Located in Review of Extension Studies, volumes for 1946-1956, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., Summary of research report. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Lexington. Prog. Rpt. 40. 18 pages.
Lionberger, Herbert F. (author) and Hassinger, Edward Wesley (author)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1954
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 43 Document Number: B05212
Notes:
AGRICOLA CAT 91261005. Review of Extension Research 1946/47-1956, Extension Service Circular 506, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., Columbia, MO : University of Missouri, College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1954. 11 p. (Bulletin 633)
