Farmer’s Perception Paradigm: Public and Private Extension Services in Balochistan, Pakistan

Abstract

Present research sought to compares the public and private sector’s extension services regarding teaching methods, competency level and recommendation of agronomic practices as perceived by farmers in five purposively selected districts of Balochistan. A sample of 375 farmers was taken by using the systematic sampling technique. The hypotheses were tested in order to know the differences in the perception of the respondents regarding various constructs. Farmers gave high preferences to private (usually composed of organizations that are privately owned and not part of the government) extension as compared to public (usually composed of organizations that are owned and operated by the government i.e. federal, provincial, state) extension regarding teaching methods, competency level and disseminating of agronomic practices by using paired t-test. Public extension preferred to arrange exhibition whereas private extension conduct farm visits regularly was highest mean score. Both public and private extension had positive attitude toward their clients. Public extension advice for utilization of pesticides while private extension suggestions for irrigation applications. The study recommended that public extension field staff should be in contact with farmers regularly. Private extension services should use holistic approach. It was also recommended that the in-service trainings should be arranged in order to increase the working efficiency, competency level and capacity building of Extension Field Staff.

Keywords: Agriculture; Balochistan Province; Extension Field Staff; Farmers; Pakistan.