Irish Farmers' Use of Icts and Their Preferences for Engagement with Extension (original) (raw)
Related papers
2013
EAS have been defined as “the dissemination of expert agriculture knowledge and practices” (Toyama, 2011). EAS communications originate from many sources – government, universities, NGOs, private sector companies. According to Bell, Payne and Bohn (2011), the functions of extension are to: link farmers to markets raise general awareness of opportunities provide technical information, demonstrate or train diagnose problems and recommend solutions respond to follow-up questions raised by clients provide mass advisories facilitate access to credit and inputs assist with business planning, and conduct surveys, monitoring and evaluation, and enumerations. Options and Strategies for Information and Communication Technologies within Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services
2010
The U.S. farming industry is evolving quickly. It is therefore important that state Extension services be prepared to evolve as well. This study uses data collected in a 2007 survey of Ohio farmers to evaluate likelihood and frequency of use of various services offered by Extension as well as overall satisfaction with Extension services. Results indicate that tailoring of topics and communication methods to type of farm and/or farmer informational needs could improve the use of Extension resources. This implies that targeting of information products and methods may improve the performance of Extension education programs and customer satisfaction.
The Challenges of Utilizing Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Agriculture Extension
International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2015
The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in agriculture and rural development has surged in the past decade. Growing attention has focused on the contributions of these technologies to agriculture and rural development. ICT includes computers and communication technology along with associated software. The activities of generating, processing, transmitting, disseminating, sorting, archiving and retrieving information constitute the information industry. Innovation in ICT to an increase agriculture production and helps farmer’s in decision making in growth of their crops. ICTs have the potential to reach many farmers with timely and accessible content. But the content that the ICTs deliver has more relevance if it is localized and context specific, as this improves the value and action ability of the information, which can have important impacts on farm management. In this paper covered challenges of utilizing ICT in agriculture extension, as ICT took initiate man...
Information and communication technology tools used by agricultural extension functionaries
Indian Journal of Economics and Development, 2018
Objective: To analyse the extent of utilization of Information and Communication Technology tools (ICTs) by agricultural extension functionaries. Methods and statistical analysis: Eighty agricultural officers and assistant agricultural officers from 43 Raitha Samparka Kendras (RSKs) in four Southern districts of Karnataka were interviewed during 2016-2017. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the information on the extent of utilization of ICT tools by the respondents for seeking and dissemination of agricultural information. The collected data was analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and multiple regression analysis. Ex-post-facto research method was employed in the study. Findings: Majority of the agricultural extension functionaries (70.00%) were belonging to medium to high category of extent of utilization of ICT tools. All the agricultural extension functionaries were ‘Very frequently ‘using smart phone, while a majority of the agricultural extension functionaries were using ‘Very frequently’ landline phone (88.75%), desktop computer (68.75%) and laptops (57.50%). The software/apps used ‘Very frequently’ by majority of the extension functionaries were SMS (98.75%), WhatsApp (65.00%) and Ms Word (65.00%). A larger number of agricultural extension functionaries were ‘Very frequently’ using Google Chrome (43.75%) and Yahoo (40.00%) search engines for seeking and disseminating agricultural information to the farming community. All the 14 personal, socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristic of agricultural extension functionaries selected for the study have contributed to the tune of 74.50 per cent of variation in the extent of utilization of ICT tools.
Assessment of the frequency of ICT tools usage by Agricultural Extension agents
2008
In recent times, information and communication technology (ICT) has become relevant in the Nigerian agricultural sector. The extension service requires ICT for effective information delivery. This study examines the frequency of ICT tools usage by agricultural extension agents in Imo State, Nigeria. Data for the study was collected from 57 randomly selected extension agents. Data analysis was by the use of frequency, percentages, mean and t-test. Findings of the study revealed that only mobile phone and computer were frequently used by respondents. The overall mean of 0.89 suggests that ICT tools were not frequently used for extension services and this has grave implications for agricultural development. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: there should be adequate provision of computers for all the extension agents. Adequate provision should be made for the maintenance of the ICT facilities and systems. That provision should be made in provid...
2019
Extension methodologies for communicating technologies to farmers have evolved over the past 200 years from so-called traditional methodologies to more advanced and technology-based methodologies that enable extension staff to reach many people within the shortest possible time in a more effective and efficient way. Though traditional methods are still relevant and effective, current trends require the use of more innovative and cost-effective methodologies. This paper examined the perceptions of farmers on the use of ICTs in Extension Service delivery in the Northern Region of Ghana. Ninety farmers were randomly sampled from 6 communities in 6 districts in the region. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire. A 5-point Likert scale was used to determine farmers’ perceived effects of ICT on extension delivery. Data were analysed using means, standard deviations, t-test, frequencies and percentages. The most widely used ICTs by farmers are radio, mobile phone and telev...
Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 2018
The present study was conducted during 2016-17 to assess the knowledge of agriculture extension functionaries regarding Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. Eighty Agriculture officers and Assistant Agriculture officers were interviewed from 43 Raitha Samparka Kendras in four Southern districts of Karnataka state of India. Data was collected from the agriculture extension functionaries during the bimonthly meetings held in the District Agricultural Training Centres (DATCs) of the respective districts. The collected data was scored, tabulated and analysed using frequency, percentage, standard deviation, chi-square test and multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that three-fourth (75.00%) of the agriculture extension functionaries were having high and medium level of overall knowledge regarding ICT tools. It was also found that 72.80 percent of the variation in the knowledge of agriculture extension functionaries regarding ICT tools was explained by the 14 personal, socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristics of agriculture extension functionaries.
Role of Information and communication technology (ICT) in agriculture and extension
Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 2017
Information and communication technology (ICT) aids provide up-to-date information on the market prices of commodities, inputs and consumer trends which ultimately can improve a farmer's negotiating position and their livelihood. Major aspect of ICT is that accurate information should reach the farmers at the right time to make more sustainable use of on-farm resources. Now the question arises that how this information can be disseminated to such a diverse group of the farming community. ICT is going to play greater role in agricultural extension as well as private sector agribusiness, market information and market intelligence. Here this paper review the role of ICT not only in providing greater awareness and knowledge in agriculture technology and information but also in terms of farmer’s attitudes towards trying to adopt new technologies.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
Agriculture can serve as an important engine for economic growth in developing countries. Yet yields in developing countries have lagged far behind those in developed countries for decades. One potential mechanism for increasing yields and hence agricultural production is the use of improved technologies, such as fertilizers, improved seeds and cropping techniques and others. Traditional public-sector programs have attempted to overcome barriers to technological adoption by using agricultural extension services at the village or farm level. Yet despite decades of experience with a variety of extension programs and new technologies, adoption rates still remain relatively low in most developing countries. The rapid spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) in developing countries over the past decade offers a unique opportunity to transfer knowledge and facilitate technological adoption via ICT-based agricultural extension programs. Numerous studies (Aker 2010, Nwachukwu 2013, Anyanwu 2013), on the effective communication and adoption of agricultural and other technologies have attempted to identify the determinants of technology adoption and potential barriers to it. While the specific determinants of technology adoption depend upon the setting and the technology type, there are some common factors that have been identified both in the theoretical and empirical literature. These include education levels, wealth, tastes, risk preferences, complementary inputs (land, labor and credit) and access to information and learning – either learning by doing or learning from others. Of these, the role of information and social networks has received particular attention.