Opinion Towards Agricultural Extension of Farmers in the Agricultural Technology Protection Center in Suphan Buri Province

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) study the basic demographic characteristic of farmers, type of services, and perception of information, 2) study the opinion towards agricultural extension of farmers, and 3) compare opinions toward agricultural extension of farmers classified by basic demographic, types of services, and perception of information of farmers. The sample size was 312 farmers in Suphan Buri province who came to receive services from the Agricultural Technology Promotion Center (Plant Protection). Data gathered with the questionnaire asked for farmers’ opinion on the agricultural extension was statistically described and hypothesis tested. The results showed that most farmers were male (58.65%), 41–50 years old (33.00%), graduated from high school or vocational certificate (23.72%), had four household members, had agricultural area less than 16 rai (34.62%), and owned land (58.65%). Most farmers requested bio–products (79.71%), and perceived information from people media through neighbors (36.13%), the activity media through the agricultural knowledge training from the government sectors (41.43%), and mass media through documents and the received agricultural advice (42.71%). Farmers agreed with all aspects of agricultural extension at a high level (4.06 score). However, age and membership of different groups or organizations of farmers resulted in statistical differences in overall opinions on all aspects (P < 0.05).