International Journal of Agricultural Science Research and Technology in Extension and Education Systems
Volume:5 Issue: 1, Mar 2015

The study examined the utilization of information and communication technologies by agricultural extension workers in Niger State, Nigeria. To achieve the study objective, 206 respondents were proportionately and randomly selected from the three agricultural zones in the State through multi-stage sampling technique. Validated questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.81 was used to collect data and data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Result of the study revealed that the respondents acquired one form of formal education or the other ranging from National Diploma to Master’s Degree. Radio was the most frequently utilized ICT by the respondents with 76.7% response rate, while internet facility was the major source of extension information for the respondents. The result of regression analysis further indicated that educational level, place of residence and ICT training had significant influence on the use of ICTs by the respondents. Major challenges to ICTs utilization by the respondents were poor electricity supply and non-availability of ICT facilities in the rural areas as reported by 62.6% and 44.2% of the respondents, respectively. Therefore, it was suggested that young graduates with ICT training should be recruited as extension workers while capacity building training on ICT should be organized for existing extension staff. It was also recommended that internet centres should be established at the village levels to bring internet services closer to rural agricultural extension workers.

The study describes and evaluates inter-organizational communication and relationships involving rural development management of community lands within specific perimetros florestais in Portugal. The research design is an exploratory research study approach that collected information with a mail questionnaire, interviews and information gleaned from community land association meetings and an international seminar.  The design reflects a multi-disciplinary approach to the collection and analysis of information. The seminar and meetings allowed community leaders and other agents with responsibility and concerns for these rural community territories to discuss and identify management issues and problems. The findings describe the inter-organizational concerns and arrangements in the management and governance of these rural community territories and their natural resources. The findings suggest that a facilitation process can improve the organizational management and communication with local users and other organizations in the sphere of interest.  The facilitation process involves local actors and stakeholders to improve their management and communication skills and capacity to construct governmental policies for these rural territories. These local actors need to improve their social skills and abilities to construct governmental policies for these rural territories. A rural extension service can play an important role in the facilitation process for the construction of rural development and governance policies.

The performance of women agribusiness cooperatives in Oyo State, Nigeria was assessed in this study. The study employed a multi-stage sampling technique to select 6 women cooperative groups (aggregating to 175 individuals); 36 individual women; and 4 institutions across 6 LGAs in two agricultural zones of the State. Findings show that majority (55.6%) of the respondents belong to processing organization and 86.1% participate in community development activities. Various benefits were indicated by the respondents as being gained from cooperative membership. Such benefits include access to credit (51.1%), access to group assets (34%), and financial assistance by the group (14.9%). A considerable number (52.8%) of the respondents did not receive any training. Majority (63.9%, 58.3%, and 55.6%) of the respondents indicated the need for training in cassava value addition, marketing strategies, and agribusiness management respectively. Drudgery (100%), inadequate capital (97.2%), and low return on investment (88.9%) were rated highest among the constraints militating the performance of the cooperatives. The major problems inhibiting women participation in agribusiness cooperatives identified in the study should be ameliorated using appropriate policy options. Government should engender commitment through appropriate legislative appropriation and budget. Also, Government should ensure that regular training and appropriate gender-sensitive technologies are provided for women agricultural activities through relevant research and extension agencies.

The purpose of this research was analyzing knowledge of women with household jobs agriculture toward innovation management in Masjed Soliman Township, Khouzestan Province, Iran. The population of this study included women with household jobs agriculture in Masjed Soliman Township. The total number of members was 100 people. Due to the low number of population, census methods were used to collect data. Questionnaire reliability was estimated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha and it was appropriate for this study. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). To reach the research objectives, appropriate statistical procedures for description were used. Data analysis was carried out through data description and data inferential analysis. The results of research showed the correlation between level of education, creativity, social participation, attitude toward innovation management, income and knowledge toward innovation management was significant. Therefore, we can conclude that woman with high level of education, creativity, social participation, attitude toward innovation management, income had high knowledge toward innovation management. The result of regression analysis by stepwise method indicated level of education, creativity, social participation, attitude toward innovation management and income may well explain for 64.6% changes (R2 = 0.646) in knowledge of women with household jobs agriculture about innovation management.

The study assessed the post-harvest management information needs of yam farmers in Kogi State. Interview schedules were used to collect data from 189 yam farmers who were randomly selected from the four agricultural zones of the State (Zone A, B, C and D) by using multistage random sampling techniques. The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics and binary logit regression. Result shows that majority of the yam farmers highly sought for information on storage (52.91%) and markets/market prices (50.79%). Logit regression analysis shows that educational level and extension contacts at 1% and income and age at 5% were found to have had significant effect on the farmers’ access to improved post-harvest management information on yam. It is recommended that improving the educational background of yam farmers through adult educational system, ensuring access of yam farmers to needed information on improved post-harvest management technologies, and the preservation and propagation of some effective indigenous post-harvest management of yam would go a long way to boost their participation in post-harvest activities for better value addition to harvested yam.

This study was conducted in Delta State Nigeria to establish a nexus between rural-urban migration and child labour. Random sampling was applied to select rural settlements and this study covers 450 sample farming households. The results show that rural-urban migration influence child labour (P <0.05). They also show that rural-urban mitigation positively influences child involvement in household farm work and farm wage work (P <0.05). It indicated that rural-urban migration prevents children from consistent attendance to school as it negatively related with schooling of these children (P<10). It is recommended that infrastructural development of rural areas be embarked upon, basic education be made compulsory and parents should be educated on how to schedule the children’s farm work and schooling to avoid conflict; and extension agents should raise awareness of young adults on the benefit of engaging in agricultural practice.

The management of agricultural education faces on-going challenges to deliver current and effective materials in an approach that takes advantage of developments in education technology. In this article the use of blended learning was compared with the traditional approach for the instruction of theoretical materials in agricultural education. This study used a pre-test, post-test experimental design with agricultural college students. All students were taught using either a traditional or blended methodology. They were subsequently assessed to determine their level of knowledge. Two key findings from this study were highlighted: Firstly, regardless of their age profile all learners achieved significantly better exam results following blended teaching for theoretical material. Secondly, academically weaker students performed significantly better following the blended method of delivery. Key implications arising from this research indicate that the use of the blended method of delivery can increase students acquisition of knowledge for learners of all ages; blended learning can bring text heavy materials to life and makes them more interactive and less mundane; the learning experience and learning outcomes for academically weaker students are improved through the blended learning environment.

The purpose of this research was analysis of contents of extension and education in agricultural cooperatives in the Lorestan province, Iran. The population of study consisted of 832 members of agricultural cooperative in Lorestan province, Iran in which 260 people were selected as a sample size, using Krejcie and Morgan table. The results indicate that more than 66.92 percent of the agricultural cooperative members had Diploma and lower level education, while only 4.23 percent of them educated in MSc level. In order to assess the attitude of farmers regarding contents of cooperatives agricultural education, seven statements were designed and asked from members to show their opinions. In this study, for analyzing attitude of farmers, the Likert scale was used. The ratings on the Likert scale were from one to five ranks (1. Strongly Disagree, 2. Disagree, 3. No opinion, 4. Agree, 5. Strongly agree). Based on the results, 32.31 percent of farmers were strongly agreed to desirability contents of education in agricultural cooperatives. The results of research showed the correlation between level of education, idea of farmers about cooperative practices, social participation, income, crop yield and attitude of farmers regarding contents of education in agricultural cooperatives was significant. The result of regression analysis by stepwise method indicated level of education, idea of farmers about cooperative practices, social participation, income, crop yield may well explain for 62.8% changes (R2 = 0.628) in attitude of farmers regarding contents of education in agricultural cooperatives.