Effectiveness of online agricultural technology transfer during covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The study entitled “Effectiveness of online agricultural technology transfer during COVID-19 pandemic” was undertaken during 2021-2022. The objectives were the assessment of the effectiveness of online agricultural technology transfer for the farmers during COVID-19 pandemic, to appraise the methods adopted by extension personnel for online agricultural technology transfer, exploration of constraints in availability, accessibility and utilization of online platforms for agricultural technology transfer and delineation of a blended learning package for effective online agricultural technology transfer for farmers. The study was conducted in Kerala among the farmers who had undergone online trainings and extension personnel who organized online trainings. A total of 150 respondents comprising of 100 farmers and 50 extension personnel, were randomly selected for the study. The effectiveness of online agricultural technology transfer was the dependent variable and ten socio economic and psychological variables selected through review of literature and judges rating were the independent variables. On analysis it was found that majority of the respondents (51%) surveyed belonged to the middle age category, and 51 per cent were with educational qualification of secondary school. Majority of respondents (49%) were having medium level of innovativeness and social participation. About 49 per cent of the respondents exhibited medium level of information source utilization pattern, while 45 per cent of the farmers belonged to the medium category of information seeking behaviour. Majority of the respondents had high extension agency contact (44%) which is promising in technology transfer and adoption. Nearly half of the respondents had medium level of mass media exposure and social media participation. Majority of respondents (62%) undergone 2-4 number of trainings. The results revealed that the perceived effectiveness of online trainings fall under medium category (51%) followed by high (25%) and remaining in the low category (24%). The results of Karl Pearson correlation analysis revealed that independent variables namely, age, education, social participation, information source utilization, information seeking behaviour, extension agency contact, mass media exposure and social media participation showed significant correlation to the effectiveness. Innovativeness had no significant association with effectiveness. From the results of chi square analysis, education and trainings undergone showed significant relationship at 0.05 level. The regression analysis revealed that age had negative and significant relationship with the dependent variable. The important constraints faced by the farmer respondents were poor internet connectivity, expensive internet packs and high cost of digital devices. The major constraints faced by extension official during organizing and implementing online training programs were poor internet connectivity, poor infrastructure facilities and limited availability of devices. More than 62 percent of the farmers and extension personnel used mobile phones for online agricultural technology transfer. Among the digital platforms, Google meet and Zoom were mostly preferred by both farmers and extension personnel. WhatsApp was the mostly used digital application by the respondents. Among different modes of learning, traditional class room learning was found to be the most preferred platform by 40 per cent of farmers, followed by blended learning (35%). Similarly, the most preferred teaching platform for the Extension personnel was traditional class room learning (46%), followed by blended learning (42%). Online learning was the least preferred platform by both farmers and extension personnel. Based on the results of the study, review of related studies and expert discussion, a blended learning package was delineated for improving the effectiveness of online agricultural technology transfer for farmers.