List of Articles

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  1 - Communication Behaviour of Farmers with the Agricultural Extension Agents Using Cell Phone: A Case of Bangladesh
  Mohammad Rahman Mohammed Uddin Md. Khan
  The cell phone is one of the potential Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in agricultural development especially in developing countries like Bangladesh. Thus, this paper deals with the farmers’ communication with the agricultural extension agents using More

  The cell phone is one of the potential Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in agricultural development especially in developing countries like Bangladesh. Thus, this paper deals with the farmers’ communication with the agricultural extension agents using mobile phone. The study was conducted in Mymensingh District in Bangladesh. Data were collected from a sample of 110 farmers while both descriptive and inferential analyses were used. The majority (53.64 percent) of the farmers had low cell phone contact while a good number (44.54 percent) of farmers had no cell phone contact, 1.82 percent had medium contact and no farmers had high cell phone contact with agricultural extension agents. Education, farm size, annual family income, extension contact, knowledge on ICT and cell phone use frequency correlated positively while only ‘age’ is correlated negatively to their cell phone contact with extension agents. Household size and organizational participation did not show any significant relationship. Small numbers of farmers were receiving information on seed, fertilizer, culture practices, pest control and market related through cell phone. Farmers’ communication preferences through cell phone comparatively were Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer (SAAO), Trained Farmers (TF) and Seed and Fertilizer Dealers. Lack of awareness on receiving information through cell phone, apathy to getting agricultural information through cell phone, poor knowledge about cell phone operation were the major problems of farmers’ communication with the agricultural extension agents using mobile phone. Respective authorities should encourage and train both farmers and extension agents to use mobile phone as easy, low cost and popular communication medium. Manuscript profile
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  2 - Factors Affecting Tendency towards Organic Production (Case Study: Greenhouse Producers of Tabriz Township, Iran)
  Leila Bahrami Nokandeh Javad Mahmoodi Karamjavan
  The Purpose of this survey was to research the major factors affecting the tendency of greenhouse producers towards organic production in Tabriz County. The statistical research population involves all greenhouse owners in Tabriz county (N=70). The necessary data were c More

  The Purpose of this survey was to research the major factors affecting the tendency of greenhouse producers towards organic production in Tabriz County. The statistical research population involves all greenhouse owners in Tabriz county (N=70). The necessary data were collected using questionnaires, after that the validity and reliability of questionnaire was approved by the academic members of the scientific board, and its validity was justified through alpha Cronbach (0.74<α<0.83). The results of this study indicated that the participant greenhouse owners showed positive attitude towards organic agriculture, and revealed high tendency towards producing organic greenhouse products. Moreover, the results of stepwise multiple regression indicated that, among the all investigated factors, the eight factors namely “Being notified over the negative outcomes of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides”, “contact with agricultural promoters and experts”, “age of greenhouse owners”, “participation in the organic related educational-promotional sessions”, “Education”, “Attitude towards organic agriculture”, “Acquaintance with organic agriculture” and “the experience in the greenhouse production” can explain around 61% of the changes in the variance of the tendency of greenhouse producers for organic production. Manuscript profile
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  3 - Smallholder Farmers’ Participation in Agricultural Training and Demonstration in Ethiopia: Implications for Inclusive Targeting by Agricultural Extension Services
  Muluken Wordofa Maria Sassi
  Small farms and smallholder farming systems play crucial roles in agricultural development in many developing countries. From the various rural development programs designed to support such farming systems, agricultural extension services are of at most importance. Howe More

  Small farms and smallholder farming systems play crucial roles in agricultural development in many developing countries. From the various rural development programs designed to support such farming systems, agricultural extension services are of at most importance. However, the benefit that farmers obtain from these services and the resulting impact depends, to a great extent, by their direct and indirect participation in the services. In this paper, we examined the predictors of participation in agricultural training and demonstration in Haramaya district of eastern Ethiopia. By collecting data from 180 rural households, and employing the Poisson regression, we found that several factors explain farmers’ differential participation in agricultural training and demonstration. In particular, financial capital (farm income, credit), physical capital (value of livestock, value of household asset), and access to services (e.g., veterinary, experience with extension) were significant predictors of participation in agricultural training. Concerning demonstration, human capital (age), physical capital (asset, land), financial capital (farm income, off-farm employment), social capital (networks), and access to services had a significant effect. Based on the findings, some implications for inclusive targeting by agricultural extension programs were put forward. Manuscript profile
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  4 - Resolving Methods of Marital Discords and Conflicts of Rural Women – Field Study in Menia Governorate, Egypt
  Elham Abdou Mohammed Aly
  This study was performed to identify resolving methods of marital discords and conflicts among rural women in different dimension fields, as well to study the relationship among a number of independent variables and the resolving methods of these marital discords and co More

  This study was performed to identify resolving methods of marital discords and conflicts among rural women in different dimension fields, as well to study the relationship among a number of independent variables and the resolving methods of these marital discords and conflicts among rural women. Rural women in Menia city, Minia governorate, Egypt were selected during this study. The study sample included housewives who were married and permanent residents in the village. Random sample of 187 house wives were selected for this purpose. Data were collected by using schedule. The study found positive correlation between variables of age, marriage period, monthly family income, media exposure of respondents and resolving methods of marital discords and conflicts. Whereas, negative correlation was found between variable of family size of respondent and resolving methods of marital discords and conflicts. The study also found that there were significant differences between the respondents in resolving methods of marital discords and conflicts when they are classified according to the family type, intervention of parents and relatives, employment status, and contribution to family income. Manuscript profile
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  5 - Factors Associated with Women Farmers’ Level of Control in Farmer-Groups in Kwara State, Nigeria
  Kemi Omotesho Gbolagade Adesiji Adeniyi Akinrinde Oyindamola Aluko
  Womenfarmers’ low level of access to productive resources has hindered the realization of their full potential in agriculture. While membership of farmer-groups has been recognised as an avenue for farmers to harness their resources, women farmers often suffer dis More

  Womenfarmers’ low level of access to productive resources has hindered the realization of their full potential in agriculture. While membership of farmer-groups has been recognised as an avenue for farmers to harness their resources, women farmers often suffer discrimination in such groups as socio-cultural values encourage male dominance in most rural communities. The specific objectives of the study were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of women farmers who were members of farmers’ groups, identify the benefits derived from their membership and examine the level of control of women in the farmers- groups. A two-stage random sampling technique was used to select 142 respondents across the 315 registered crop-based farmers’ group in Kwara State. Data were obtained by the use of a structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation were used to analyse data collected. The result reveal that women farmers in the study area were middle-aged (Mean age=49.6years), poorly schooled (majority at primary level), with about 22years of farming experience on the average. The most important benefit derived from membership of farmer- groups was improved access to agricultural information (M.S=3.4). The level of control of women in farmer- groups was low (Mean score=2.21) and significantly influenced by age, annual income, level of education and farm size at p Manuscript profile
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  6 - Opportunities for Facebook to Improve Knowledge Transfer to Farmers and Enhance Agricultural Extension
  Padraig Wims Aine Galvin
  The aim of this paper was to report an action research that examined the potential of social media as a tool for knowledge transfer in agricultural extension. The research focused on developing group Facebook pages that were designed for adult farmers. A total of 49 par More

  The aim of this paper was to report an action research that examined the potential of social media as a tool for knowledge transfer in agricultural extension. The research focused on developing group Facebook pages that were designed for adult farmers. A total of 49 participants who were already members of four separate discussion groups were instructed on the practical aspects of using Facebook. Their participation in the Facebook pages was monitored for the duration of the experiment (from February 2013 to January 2014) by examining the frequency with which they logged into their accounts and the nature of their contributions. The participants’ level of uptake of social media was measured and their experience with using social media was evaluated by administering a questionnaire to all 49 participants. The majority of the participants had a positive experience when using social media for knowledge transfer purposes. The research found no association between age and social media usage; however, computer skills were significantly and positively associated with social media usage. Internet access was also associated with usage – those with wireless broadband internet connections in their family homes had the highest usage levels. The research presented in this paper illustrates that social media can be an effective tool for knowledge transfer in agricultural extension. Manuscript profile