ADVANCEMENT OF ICT IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PRACTICE (Reality of Integration in Nigerian Public Extension Services)

Abstract

ICT in agriculture has greatly made agricultural extension services more responsive to the needs of rural farmers not only in the developed but also in developing countries. A desk review of ICT usage in extension service delivery in some of the developing countries showed revolutionary applications of the technology for the development of specialised agro-based information hubs, namely, aAUQA) Lifeline; e-Sagu (e-cultivation); VERCON; AppLab; AFRRIand video integration; for fast-tracking extension service delivery to rural farmers. Similarly, the integration of ICT platforms such as HelloTractor, FarmCrowdy, Agrikore, ProbitFarms, e-wallet, Releaf.NG, Compare-The-Market, in the Nigerian agricultural system for the provision of agro-based information and support services for improved productivity. However, the ICT-based support services in the Nigerian context largely served the modern farmers or the Agripreneurs who have what it takes patronise the services of the ICT-based agro-service providers largely because of the ICT-Tech services are provided by private agro-agencies with the primary purpose of profit-making. Patronage of the ICT-based agro-services by the rural farmers, however, remains daunting as the farmers lacked resources such as android phones and internet services to patronise most of the ICT-based agro-services, with exception of e-wallet service which is run by the Federal Government of Nigeria and made compatible with the simple mobile phones. Consequently, the need for a strong partnership between the private ICT-based agro-supporting agencies and the public extension agencies is emphasised for enhanced and prompt responsive extension services to rural farmers.