There has been a dramatic shift in how people engage with agriculture over the past 50 years in the United States, leading to little interaction between consumers and the farm. Despite extension initiatives to communicate with urban consumers about agriculture, the disconnect between consumers and agricultural producers continues to grow. Research…

Greater commercialization of agricultural systems and increasing trade liberalization dictate the need for better capacity on the part of the agriculture workforce in the 21st century. Global changes in the roles of the public and private sectors and the dramatic advancements in technology have also strongly affected agricultural workforce…

Pioneer survey of 180 farmers and 75 extension workers of Nigeria indicated radio, newsletters, and posters as rich sources of information for rural farmers; extension workers often did not realize the free use of mass media. Decentralization of media preparation and the mobilizing effect of mass media need future accomplishment. (EA)

A brief account is given of current evaluative and research activity by Cooperative Extension personnel as they try to assess the role of mass media in environmental education and a growing range of other areas. Attention is given to principles of mass media rural extension, as well as to basic communication theory, the overall usefulness of mass…

The major objective of this study was to determine if an index to indicate the work load of field staff personnel could be developed. The data were collected by the county directors on the basis of information included in the state and federal reports covering the period July 1, 1966 to December 31, 1966. A factor of 450 was used to convert total…

The main objective of the program was to obtain qualitative data on the value of Radio Farm Forums (RFF), to both the farmers and the extension service, in terms of facilitating two-way communication between the two parties. The concept of RFF is to provide agricultural information through integrated use of mass media and interpersonal…

This paper focuses on intensified information transfer activities in rural areas of Nigeria: community development work, agricultural extension service, mass media (newspapers, television, radio, problems of communication), and the role of the library (reinforcing messages, repackaging information, acquiring specialized materials, coordinating…

Communication planning in developing countries is discussed in individual articles on theory, knowledge production and utilization, planning at the regional level, software, and rural development. A nutrition education project and three experiments in developing educational materials with feedback from villagers in Africa are described in the…

Ways in which a teaching and research program can help train agricultural extension staff in information and communication are presented. Teaching provides the resources of materials, techniques, and teachers themselves. Research provides results concerning the analysis of communication problems, audience information, the efficiency and…

In 1968, the Rural Civil Defense Education Program, conducted by the Cooperative Extension Service under contract with the Office of Civil Defense, was faced with discontinuance of funds; in some cases, the Rural Civil Defense (RCD) leader was absorbed into the regular budgets and in others the work was incorporated into the regular ongoing…

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) it presents some empirical findings of the relative importance of both "economic" and "communication" variables in the diffusion of an innovation (dwarf wheats) in an unirrigated region of Pakistan which is densely populated by smallholders. The sample of farmers reported are…

This study sought to determine the stage (awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, or adoption) reached by homemakers in adopting the water blanching of vegetables for freezing; to identify information sources (mass media, agencies, experts, informal personal contacts, and organizations); and to assess the relationship of certain personal, social,…

This study investigated communication patterns, procedures, and background characteristics associated with effectiveness in village level workers (VLWs) in two districts of Gujarat, India. Questionnaire interviews were held with 222 VLWs who had induced farmers to adopt one or more farm practices. An appraisal form was used to measure the…

Personal interviews were conducted in July, 1967, with 315 farm operators in rural Brazil where the local extension service had been in operation for more than four years. Patron-dependence (PD) was described as the subscription to a value system, according to the individual's position in the status structure, which produces dependency at…