ROLE OF ICT FOR ENHANCED EXTENSION SERVICE DELIVERY: THE CASE OF VIDEO MEDIATED EXTENSION FOR INTENSITY OF ADOPTION OF WHEAT UREA SIDE DRESSING PACKAGE IN DEMBECHA DISTRICT, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Video-mediated extension is among the ICT based approaches employed recently to support agricultural extension and advisory services towards the promotion of improved technologies and practices. Despite a growing interest and expectations from this approach to address the major limitations of the conventional extension system, there is limited rigorous empirical evidence on its effectiveness in agricultural extension and advisory services. The purpose of the study was to assess the contribution of video mediated extension and advisory service for wheat urea side dressing package in Dembecha District. The study employed stratified random sampling technique on the targeted farmers group with purposive inclusion of women. From major wheat producing target population 6 kebeles were randomly selected, three from each Digital Green (here after called Viewers) and Non-Digital (here after called none-Viewers). From the two growers 240 wheat grower households were considered as sample. Pre-tested and validated semi-structured questionnaire administered, FGD and interview schedule used to collect data from the sampled households. Descriptive statistics used to summarize data, show relations with variables of interest. Chi-square, t and f-tests used for data analysis to see if there was any statistically significant difference between the mean of the respective groups with respect to variables. An econometric - Tobit model was used to determine factors influencing the intensity of technology adoption of wheat urea side dressing. The study indicated that the adoption index score, computed based on components of recommended practices, of viewers and non-viewers found under high and medium adopters were 85% and 10.3% respectively. There was statistically significant difference between viewers and none –viewers ahead of urea side dressing (application) time. In conclusion, video was not a standalone solution; it needs skilled and experienced EAs on the subject matter. Thus, it is possible to recommend capacity building trainings for Video Production and Video Dissemination teams, supplied with quality audio-visual materials and equipment, establish maintenance service centres, align with the conventional extension system performance monitoring schedule on regular bases. The overall, findings indicates that video-mediated extension enhances technology adoption and improves the effectiveness of the extension system and recommend to complement with conventional extension system.