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Outcomes of Agricultural Extension Contact in Bangladesh

Dr. Abu Zafar Mahmudul Haq
Assistant Professor and Head Department
Department of Business Administration, City University, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Extension services make significant contributions to farmers by helping raise agricultural income. For successful introduction of agricultural extension contacts in the country, socio-economic factors such as farmers' education, age, number of adult family members, and ratio of agricultural income to total income should be taken into consideration.

Keywords: Socio-economic, Agricultural income, Extension services

Location: Gazipur district, Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-08-2001

End Date: 00-09-2001

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Income generation

Objectives:

Objective of the study was to determine the extension services make significant contributions to farmers by helping raise agricultural income.

Methodology:

In order to apply the above mentioned formula, a field survey was conducted, between August and September 2001, in the Gazipur district, located 30 kilometers North-East of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. This area is an average farming village in the central and northern area of the country regarding productivity, farm size and production conditions. Two areas of Gazipur (Sadar and Sreepur subdistricts) out of five sub districts were surveyed. A total of fifty farms were investigated through pre- structured questionnaires. Following is a brief explanation of the survey families. The average age is 43.1 years, the number of years of schooling 5.5 years, the farm area owned is 1.4 ha, the family size is 7.2 and the adult family members 2.2. As for the contact frequency with extension agents, the average is 0.8 times per year and only 18 families were contacted out of the surveyed families (36 percent). The contacts were particularly few with families whose heads have low education levels; families that had no contact at all formed the majority, as can be seen. It can be inferred therefore that extension agents had less contact with families with lower education levels. Many previous studies used the productivity index, representing the amount of production per unit of farmland, that is, the value-added production, found by deducting production costs from gross income. By using that index, it is possible to convert specific quantities of products into given amounts of money to be added up; this approach provides considerable analytical benefits. In this study, the same index has been used. As to the survey area, because livestock farming and fisheries represent a remarkably small portion of the total amount of production, the focus is on the index of crop production, namely grains, fruits and vegetables. Concerning home consumption, the amount was determined by applying the farm price to the actual quantities consumed. As is commonly used in analyzing production functions, chemical fertilizers, farm buildings, irrigation facilities and family and hired labour should be considered as important investment functions (Evenson and Mwabu 2001, Moock 1976, Owens et al.2003). In this research, the analysis was based on the converted amounts of each type of investment. As regards family labor costs, the estimation was based on the costs applied to hired labor.

Source of Information: JOURNAL OF BANGLADESH STUDIES Volume, 14.2 (2012), (ISSN 1529-0905)

Article Link (Online Journal): http://www.bdiusa.org/journal-issues/volume-14-2-2012/0bufhxfwmtkxwnrqtjg2qxzrbgm

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The results of the study can be summarized as follows: First, from the estimated results of the production function, it was clarified that the greater the frequency of contacts between extension agents and farmers, the higher the level of productivity. Thus, extension services have positive effects in improving farm income. Second, by examining the factors determining the contacts between extension agents and farmers, a positive correlation was found with education level, the share of the agricultural income from the total farm income, and the number of adults in the farm household. On the other hand, the head of the farm household’s age is inversely proportional to the frequency of contacts with the extension agents. Thus, agricultural extension services do not work well enough for elder farmers, especially those with low education levels.

Considering the overall estimation, it has been ascertained that agricultural extension services positively contribute to increasing farmers’ income to some extent, but there is a need to develop the system further and strengthen links to elder farmers with low education levels.

Knowledge Management: Journal