Activities of the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) during the 1987-1988 fiscal year are described in this annual report. Meetings of SRDC task forces and their members are listed with brief descriptions of specific activities. Regional conferences, meetings, and workshops sponsored and co-sponsored by the SRDC are described. Other…

To determine what might be done to improve "Insect Alerts," which is a newsletter that carries "information on insect biology, abundance, activity and interpretation of control need," put out through the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service 26 weeks a year, a survey was conducted. A mail questionnaire was sent to all 120 county extension…

The user-oriented and utilization-focused evaluation design of the two-year Caribbean Agricultural Extension Project, funded by Aid to International Development, is reviewed. The evaluation scope, stakeholders, evaluation team credibility, official approval of evaluation, and confidence in the evaluation process are addressed, within a…

This research examined the effects of government and the university organizational models and of performing regulatory functions on American and Canadian agricultural extension workers' role perception and role performance. (Author/SSH)

A comparison made of personal and impersonal Extension contacts made by alienated farmers revealed that farmers with high alienation scores, as measured by the Srole Scale, avoided personal contacts with Extension personnel. Alienation was not a factor in the use of impersonal contacts. (DM)

Extension Services are now reaching out to help the low income farmer. Raising feeder pigs is one way in which the farmer can be helped to boost their standard of living. (MR)

The effects of farm size on farmers' participation in agricultural development programs initiated by the government in Rivers State (Nigeria) were studied. Results for 300 farmers with varying holdings indicated no effect of farm size on participation, suggesting that extension work could advance without regard to farm size. (SLD)

An Australian rural extension center used a training approach based on adult learning principles and action learning. Action learning was applied daily in residential courses, weekly in development of work-based learning projects, and on a subject basis over 3-4 months. (SK)

If farmers are to meet the new challenges facing agriculture (environment, rural development, etc.), appropriate knowledge has to be produced. But observations in six EU countries (France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) show that unexpected problems arise when technical support for agriculture is linked to market regulation,…

The objective of this paper is to describe and analyse the role that study groups might play in improving the entrepreneurial competencies of farmers. The most important competencies are described. Emphasis is placed on group learning processes and participatory approaches. Theories of adult learning and extension paradigms in relation to our…

The intervention of the United States government in agriculture in the 20th century is an explainable response to basic characteristics of agriculture: unpredictability, immobile resources, technological changes and disproportionate supply and demand factors. The concentration of large benefits among relatively few producers and diffusion of costs…

While the extension concept is historically linked to rural populations through the original land grant college movement, the population requiring assistance has now broadened and shifted to an essentially urban one. Several alternative functions for extension programs in urban areas are outlined which will require a new resource and clientele…

This collection of bibliographies funded by the state cooperative extension service lists books and articles on various aspects of rural librarianship. Topics include community development and community analysis, school-public library cooperation, administration of the small and medium-sized library, library networking and interlibrary…

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…