Agricultural Communication

This study assessed the use of radio for agricultural technology dissemination among farmers in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The research objectives were to examine farmers' awareness of agricultural radio programmes and the benefits they derive from agricultural radio programmes. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 382 respondents, selected using multistage sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that 94.6% of the respondents were aware of agricultural radio programmes; that 96.7% of them benefited from the radio programmes in terms of modern farming techniques; 96.3% of them were of the view that agricultural radio educates them on agricultural policies and helped to develop cordial relationship between them and nomads. A majority of the respondents (90.1%) were also of the opinion that the market information they received through the radio programmes benefited them. Low frequency of broadcast of agricultural programmes was the major constraints to accessing such programmes. The study concluded that famers have benefited in various ways on the use of radio in acessing agricultural information. It thus recommended, among others, that radio should be utilized more by extension service providers, as it is widely used by farmers.

Most of the time, farmers are blamed for poor adoption of improved agricultural innovations on the ground that they are conservative rather than considering the effectiveness of extension teaching methods used in extension services The study assessed agricultural extension personnel effectiveness in dissemination of agricultural innovation. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were employed for the selection of 108 respondents, structured questionnaire was used. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics like frequency, percentage and paired sample t – test was used to test the hypothesis. The result revealed that the respondents had contacted extension agent at least 3 times (88.9%) in a year. The result also revealed that majority (87.0%) of the farmers in the study area considered family/friend while 76.6% considered extension agents as the most effective source of information on innovation. The result further showed that Bulletin/handbook/magazine (92.6%) and the use of real object/specimen (92.6%) were the frequently used instructional materials by extension agents, also that group contact (79.6%) and farm and home visit (63.0%) are the major means extension agents use in communicating with the respondents. The hypothesis test showed significance differences in the output of the respondents before and after contact with EAs with t value of 14.659 at 1% level of probability (Pr(/T/>/t/ = 0.00). It was concluded that there was significant differences (P<0.01) in the farm output of the respondents as a result of contact with extension agents indicating extension agents are effective in the dissemination of innovation. Based on these findings, it was recommended that others innovation disseminating tool such as internet should be encouraged. Also, projector should employed as to give more visual presentation of innovation and EAs should be empowered with financial support in order to utilize mobile phones in conversing with farmers.
Keywords: Extension Personnel, Effectiveness, Dissemination, Innovation, Information.

A B S T R A C T This study is a qualitative survey of the effectiveness of communication between agricultural extension personnel and smallholder farmers in the Gweru district of Zimbabwe. Extension communication, particularly, has a large bearing on the sustainability of agricultural developments projects. The apparent lack of information, education and training during the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) of Zimbabwe contributed to low agricultural production and productivity which could consequently lead to continuing food insecurity in the country. The findings indicate a discrepancy between work experience and qualifications of the extension workers which could imply a lack in the quality of knowledge, information and skills imparted to the resettled farmers. Further findings indicate a lack of stakeholder analysis in designing agricultural communication projects and an absence of a multi-media communication approach to enhance adoption of agricultural innovations. The study concludes that agricultural extension is not adequate due to multiple resource constraints. The findings imply that agricultural communication should be integrative. A model of smallholder agriculture sta-keholder mobilization has been developed to encourage effective agricultural communication and productivity therein.

The study was carried out to provide insights into the extent to which radio porgrammes can be uitlised for agricultural development with focus on Agbe Afokosoro programme on Ogun State broadcasting Corporation (OGBC 1). The study attempted to examine factors responsible for conceptualisation of the programme, the extent to which the programme was package to educate farmers on agricultural issues.

Communication does not only promote the benefits of good agricultural practices but it also keeps the policy makers informed about the imminent hardship and compels them to take strong measures and initiatives to support agriculture in these area. With the growth and development of agricultural communication, there has been a shift from traditional method of communication to technology led communication or ICT. The government of India has also given special emphasis to ICT and agriculture through various schemes and programmes. Apart from govt.’s initiatives thousands of civil society organizations have also contributed to strengthen the ICT and agricultural development in the form of community radio centres, e-suchana kendra (e- information centres) etc. However, there is a felt need to understand how these ICT initiatives performing at different levels of society and contributing for the development of agriculture. The major objective of this paper is to understand the performance of ICTs at different parts of the country and come out with strategic analysis to strengthen these initiatives. In this paper, 26 ICTC initiatives viz. mobile phone, telephone, call centre, kiosk, Internet, and community radio from different part of the country were studied. The primary data was collected with extensive field visits and by interacting with different stakeholders of ICT initiatives. The views of the beneficiary farmers were taken using qualitative and quantitative methods. Thus, it is based on a pan India study of the agriculture communication innovations. It also recommends the steps to strengthen different facets of agriculture communication – technology, content, process, and the communication utilization support. Problems like lack of feedback and understanding of language are prominently highlighted.

The acceptance and usage in Information Communication Technology (ICT) is crucial for the advancement of agricultural industry in Malaysia. Agriculture has been the backbone of our economy and government is constantly promoting the concept of k-farmers through various efforts. Therefore, this research aims to see the perception and attitude of agricultural community towards internet usage. in all, only 148 out of 406 respondents involved in this study, have experienced in using internet. It can be considered low especially among older generation. However, most of the respondents are positive towards internet. Almost 60% own a computer set and have internet connection or might have internet connection in the future. Problems like cost, lack of knowledge and time constraint are several factors that affected internet usage. The skill is good for those who using internet especially in using online application such as web search. A lot of information regarding new agricultural development and other related agricultural information can be easily access. Some suggestion has been propose for this research. For instance, local agricultural office can provides internet class for the farmers as well as their family. The knowledge is transferred not only to the farmers but the family as well so that they also aware how internet can be use for agriculture. The result of this study can give the overview of internet usage among agricultural community and serve as additional information for agricultural organization and government to further promoting the concept of 'k-farmer'.

Photographs have the potency to enhance farmers' understanding of news items in the print media. This, therefore, presupposes that news items on innovations in agriculture should be representative and strategically placed in the newspapers. Past studies have focused on coverage of agricultural news with little attention to whether such stories were accompanied by photographs that tell the story. This study therefore focused on content analysis of agricultural columns with and without photographs in selected Nigerian Daily Newspapers. Two Nigeria's newspapers (New Nigeria and the Guardian) were purposively selected based on geographical location, large circulation, prominence and blend of agricultural news and activities. A total of 144 news items with and without photographs were analysed using frequency and percentages for frequency, space allotment, prominence and representativeness of the photographs. Results show that most of the stories (90.3%) were accompanied with photographs with the Guardian allotting more space to photographs in general (7,902.75sqcm) compared to New Nigeria (4,190.33sqcm). However, while the Guardian had more space for agricultural produce and products (6,094.34sqcm) compared to New Nigeria's 2,143.52sqcm, New Nigeria had more space (1,092.72sqcm) for agricultural equipment than the Guardian's 820.58sqcm. Most of the photographs (62.5%) were not representative of the story lines and none was strategically placed (100.0%) in the Newspapers. It is recommended that editors should ensure that photographs for agricultural news items are representative of the content of the story lines as well as placed in strategic location as space allows in their newspapers.