Introduction To Agricultural Extension PDF

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE A. General Overview of Agricultural Extension The term “Extension” is not very much understood. The many different aspects that go with the practice of Extension lend the term to varying i...

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE A. General Overview of Agricultural Extension The term “Extension” is not very much understood. The many different aspects that go with the practice of Extension lend the term to varying interpretations and connotations. Citing earlier works from Swanson and Claar (1984), Roling (1988), and Lauzon (1997), Calalo (2009) articulated that agricultural extension is difficult to define precisely because it is organized in different ways to accomplish a wide variety of objectives and that differences in terminology and purpose are likewise sources of confusion with respect to the concept of “extension” including the way extension is being practiced. B. Fundamentals of Extension Agricultural Extension is a common activity in most countries of the world, and it is often a basic component in programs and projects formulated to bring about change in rural communities. Education - is a lifelong process of learning. It is continuing process of bringing desirable changes in the behavior of human being which involves a variety of methods and sources. This starts from earliest infancy through adulthood. The desirable changes in the behavior of the people include increased knowledge, new skills or better attitudes. Three Modes of Education: 1. Informal education - a life-long process by which every person acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from daily experiences and exposure to the environment - at home, at work, at play, from the examples of family and friends, from travel, reading newspapers and books or by listening to the radio or viewing films or televisions. 2. Formal education – refers to the highly institutionalized, chronologically graded and hierarchically structured “education system” starting from the primary school and reaching the university education. The basic education, post-secondary (elementary and high school), post-secondary and tertiary education belong to formal education. 3. Non-Formal education - refers to any organized, systematic educational activity carried on outside the framework of the formal system to provide selected types of learning to particular subgroups in the population. Extension – means to extend, to spread or to disseminate useful information and ideas to rural people outside the regularly organized schools and classrooms. - It may also be defined as a system of rural education which endeavors to make available to rural people who cannot attend school, a type of service to improve the living conditions of the farmers, homemakers, and rural people by teaching them to adopt better and improved methods in their farming pursuits. - Non-formal system of education in which the rural people learn by doing. - Conceptually, the role of extension is to bridge the gap between the research system and the client system. Differences between Formal Education and Extension Education: Formal education Extension education 1. The teacher starts with 1. The teacher (extension worker) theory and works up to starts with practicals and practical may take up theory later on 2. Students study subjects 2. Farmers study problems 3. Students must adapt them- 3. It has no fixed curriculum selves to the fixed curriculum or course of study and the offered farmers help to formulate curriculum. 4. Authority rests with the 4. Authority rests with the teacher farmers 5. Class attendance is 5. Participation is voluntary compulsory 6. The teacher has more or less 6. The teacher has a large and homogenous audience heterogeneous audience 7. It is rigid 7. It is flexible 8. It has all pre-planned 8. It has freedom to develop programs pre-decided programs locally and they are based on the needs and expressed desires of the people C. Challenges for Agricultural Extension Practice Agricultural Extension - a service or system which assist farm people, through educational procedures in 1) improving farming methods and techniques; 2) increasing production efficiency and income; and 3) lifting social and educational standards of rural people. Goal of Agricultural Extension: Generally, the goal of the extension process is to enable people to use these skills, knowledge, and information to improve their quality of life. Role of Agricultural Extension in Rural and Agricultural Development 1. Agricultural extension plays an indispensable role in achieving agricultural and rural development by way of knowledge dissemination, technology promotion, and capacity building activities for farmers and their families. 2. Agricultural extension is key to the promotion and advancement of the sustainable management of agriculture’s resource base through its communication and educational interventions. 3. Agricultural extension is both a pre-requisite for, and an accelerating factor for agricultural development since changes in social systems, like farming communities, are initiated by the invention or creation of new ideas or innovations, and their eventual introduction and dissemination to farming communities, in order to promote and facilitate their adoption and integration into the farmers’ schemes of operations.