IN-SERVICE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF AGRICULTURAL OFFICERS FOR ADAPTATION OF REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE IN BALOCHISTAN-PAKISTAN

The study was carried out in Balochistan, Pakistan in 2006 to asses the knowledge level of agricultural officers for usage of remote sensing and other spatial technologies and to determine their educational needs for precision agriculture through remote sensing. The use of remote sensing and other spatial technologies is limited in agriculture and natural resources. The relationships among different factors those were directly related to the knowledge level of the agricultural officers were examined. Initially, a group of 280 respondents was randomly selected from 1,028 agricultural officers based on the table provided by Krejcie and Morgan (1970). The analysis showed that average job experience was 11 years. The regression analysis indicated that training, information sources, and experience were the main predictors in the model and explained 79.7% of variance in the dependent variable of competence. The training opportunities and the information sources play a significant role in the enhancement of competencies of agricultural officers in remote sensing.