Abstract

Covid-19 pandemic introduced a paradigm shift in extension service delivery different from conventional methods, which are inadequate to cater for the needs of farmers during a pandemic. Therefore, this study examined the determinants of perception of extension workers on technology delivery through cyber extension mode. A well-structured interview schedule was used to select 208 respondents using three-stage sampling procedure. Descriptive statistics, Product Moment Correlation, and linear regression were used in data analyses. The results revealed that average age of extension worker was 43.50 years. Majority (78.8%) were male, 57.7% were married while 94.2% had tertiary education. The perception of 57.2% extension workers was positive. E-mail and news/ discussion groups (78.8%) were the most utilized cyber extension service delivery modes while radio and social media ranked the highest among sources of information. Regression analysis revealed that education (0.137), computer literacy (0.057) and religion (0.223) significantly influenced the perception of use of cyber extension delivery mode. Electricity (r=0.429), mobile data (r=0.195) and laptops (r= -0.151) significantly promoted perception of cyber extension utilization. Therefore, government should provide adequate infrastructure and facilities for extension agents to ensure effective delivery of services to farmers and safety during pandemic.

Key Words: Perception, Cyber extension, Pandemic, Delivery mode