Agricultural extension is a general term meaning the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of extension now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organized for rural people by professionals from different disciplines, including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business studies.
Extension practitioners can be found throughout the world, usually working for government agencies. They are represented by several professional organizations (such as APEN), networks (such as AGREN) and extension journals (such as Journal of Extension).
Agricultural extension agencies in developing countries have received large amounts of support from international development organizations such as the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of the United Nations.
Read more about Agricultural Extension: Extension Terminology, Communication Processes Within Extension Systems, Four Paradigms of Agricultural Extension, Extension Methods
Famous quotes containing the word extension:
“We are now a nation of people in daily contact with strangers. Thanks to mass transportation, school administrators and teachers often live many miles from the neighborhood schoolhouse. They are no longer in daily informal contact with parents, ministers, and other institution leaders . . . [and are] no longer a natural extension of parental authority.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)