ABSTRACT
The study assessed extension workers’ application of extension principles in service delivery to farmers in Edo State, Nigeria. The study described the personal characteristics of Agricultural Extension workers, identified the frequency and effectiveness of the functions performed, the extent and effectiveness of the application of extension principles, the constraints to effective application of Agricultural Extension principles by the extension workers and the skills required for applying extension principles for effective service delivery. Fifty extension workers available in the three Agricultural Development Programme zones in the State which constituted the respondents. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data which were analyzed using frequency distribution tables, percentages, mean scores and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PMC).
The result shows that a majority of the agricultural extension workers in the State were males (64%). It revealed that majority of the respondents (78.0%) were in the age group of below 31 to 40 years. And also majority of the respondents (96%) were married. More (44.0%) of the respondents were HND holders. Over half (64%) of the respondents had background training in Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology. About fifty percent (50%) of the respondents had work experience of 21years and above. More of the respondents (52%) had monthly salary of N60,000 to N101,000. Conduct of demonstration (=4.00) had higher mean, indicating the function is highly performed. The use of agricultural journals (=2.44) and Farm and home visit (=2.44) indicates that although these functions are frequently carried out by the extension workers, they are not effective performing them with the farmers. Extension principles highly applied include assisting farmers to discover their problems (=3.10), extension programmes should begin with farmers felt need (=2.96), state the purpose of the subject matter during extension programmes (=2.96) and constantly evaluating the progress of the extension work (=2.96). Listening skill (Speaking skill (4.00), Communication setting (4.00) and Community inter-personal interaction (4.00) were some of the skills the respondents require for more effective application of the extension principles. Constraints to effectiveness identified include poor funding of the ADP (=4.00), Mostly faced with leadership issues (), Low salary range (x ̅=4.00 ), Poor motivation by the ADP ( ), Farmers’ illiteracy or poor educational background (), Problem due to scattered farmland ( ), Problems due to culture and belief of the farmers (), Farmers do not cooperate to share problems (3.78), Transportation problems due to unavailability of vehicle and bad road (3.88 ), Shortage of time to reach farmers properly (3.82), Language barrier (2.66), Gender based constraints ( ), Government intervention on community development ( ), Non-cooperation with other rural development bodies ( ).
There were significant differences between the perceived effectiveness in the application of agricultural extension principles in service delivery and the age (r=0.398) and educational status (r= -0.293) of the respondents. The older and the less educated workers tended to effectively apply extension principles more. Capacity building in extension principles should be carried out for younger Extension workers. Constraints encountered in the application of the extension principles especially funding and cooperation of farmers and rural dwellers should be resolved to enhance a more effective service delivery to farmers of the state.
