Factors Relating Expectation towards Agricultural Extension Workers of Farmers in Sansai District, Chiang Mai

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to investigate: 1) socio-economic attributes of farmers; 2) farmer expectation towards agricultural extension workers; 3) relationships among various factors and farmer expectation; and 4) problems obstacles and suggestions in the operation with agricultural extension workers and agricultural extensions agencies in Sansai district, Chiang Mai. The sample group of the study were 350 farmers in Sansai district. A set of questionnaires was used for data collection and analyzed by using descriptive statistics i.e. frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Besides, multiple regression analysis was employed in this study.

            Form research finding, it was found that majority of the respondents were male, 53 years old on average, married, and elementary school graduates or lower. They had 4 family members on average and two of them were household workforce. The respondents had 6 rai of land holding and 155,659.90 Baht of household yearly incomes. The perceived news through various media 25 times per month on average and contacted agricultural extension workers once a month. The respondents joined the community traditional activities 5 times per year, agricultural activities 3 times per months, and agricultural training twice a year on overage. The respondents 22 years of farming experience and they had a high level of expectation towards agricultural extension workers. The findings showed that there were statistically significant relationships between the respondent socio-economic attributes and their expectation towards agricultural extension workers.

            Regarding problems and obstacles were the respondents did not know channels to contact agricultural extension workers; agricultural extension workers did not continually monitor work performance of the respondents and agricultural extension workers did not explore needs of the respondents before the initiation of various project. The suggestions were agricultural extension workers should have public relations through various media; concurred agencies or public relations workers should always monitor or visit the respondents and concerned agencies or agricultural workers should assess needs of farmers before holding development activities.