Biological yields through agricultural extension activities and services: A case study from Al-Baha region - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Khodran Hamdan Al-Zahrani; Mirza Barjees Baig; Mark Russell; Ahmed Hasan Herab; Abduaziz Thabet Mohammed Dabiah; Khalid Abdullah Al-Zahrani

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.02.009

Biological yields through agricultural extension activities and services: A case study from Al-Baha region - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 May;28(5):2789-2794. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.02.009. Epub 2021 Feb 19.

Authors

Khodran Hamdan Al-Zahrani¹, Mirza Barjees Baig^{1

2}, Mark Russell³, Ahmed Hasan Herab^{1

4}, Abduaziz Thabet Mohammed Dabiah¹, Khalid Abdullah Al-Zahrani¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Society, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
² Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water & Desert Research, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
³ Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication, Purdue University, Lilly Hall of Life Sciences, Room 3-229, 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2053, USA.
⁴ Agricultural Research and Extension Authority, Yemen.

Abstract

Purpose: This research determines the extent to which farmers benefit from agricultural extension activities and services through realizing higher biological crop yields in the Al-Baha region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the nature of the relationship between the personal, economic and social characteristics of farmers and the degree to which they benefit from agricultural extension activities and services are studied.

Methodology: A simple random sample representing the community of 315 farmers was drawn. Data were collected through a personal interview with a pre-tested questionnaire to satisfy the objectives of the study. Data are subjected to analyses and are interpreted in terms of percentages, arithmetic averages, and standard deviations in addition to the simple Pearson correlation coefficients.

Results: The results show that most of the respondents depend on personal experience, friends, family and neighbors, merchants and sellers of agricultural production supplies as sources of agricultural information for enhanced crop yields. Multiple regression analysis reveals that both the educational status and the agricultural information sources are important factors that increase farmers benefit from extension activities. Farmers receive most benefits from the extension activities and services from bringing in foreign workers, conducting field trips to farms, and identifying problems faced by farmers.

Research limitations/implications: The outcome of this questionnaire limits generalization of the findings for other parts of the Kingdom due to geographical and natural resources variations.

Practical implications: The personal and socio-economic characteristics of the surveyed population provide the extension service with insight into their composition - a basis to formulate workable extension programs. For the extension planners of the area, this effort provides a baseline study and may assist with targeting the appropriate farmers and catering the right solutions to the problems. Such a study will help devise meaningful extension programs and save time and resources.

Originality/value: Little previous research on the usefulness of the Extension Service has been conducted in the region.

Conclusions: Effective, well-planned extension programs targeting the educated and mature farmers provided more benefits and helped them obtain higher crop yields.

Keywords: Al-Baha region; Biological yields; Extension education; Innovative farming.