AGRICULTURE EXTENSION CURRICULA IN AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITIES OF PAKISTAN: PERSPECTIVES OF AGRICULTURE EXTENSION PERSONNEL

This study was conducted during, 2009 to determined the views of Agriculture extension personnel about the existing agricultural extension curricula in the agricultural universities of Pakistan. The universe of the study was the employed personnel of Agriculture Extension Departments in the three Provinces i.e. Punjab, Sindh NWFP, of Pakistan. There were a total of 746 employed extension personnel, out of which 40% were selected for the study from each province. Thus, the sample size reached to 229, but due to less responses of mail questionnaire data were collected from 227 extension personnel. The study revealed that the curriculum was effective and helpful for agricultural extension personnel in developing professional competencies, action competencies, participatory extension methods, supervision and administration, and understanding various aspects of agriculture extension. The curriculum content and structure with respect to scope and topics, technical merit, and relevance was generally good, while the curriculum content and structure with respect to adaptability was fair. The study also stated that the curriculum in extension education did not help extension personnel to operate modern machines, equipment and implements, and to describe the maintenance procedure of farm machinery. This can be avoided by including such materials in the extension curriculum that could help extension personnel to operate modern machines, equipment and to describe the maintenance procedure of farm machinery