Application of Internet Communications in Agricultural Extension Delivery System Among Farmers in Abuja, Nigeria

This study examined the application of internet communication in agricultural extension delivery system in Abuja, Nigeria. One hundred and sixty-five (165) respondents were selected. Primary data were used, and collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Respondents’ ages were 40.44±10.20, the years of professional experience was lower (9.05±6.59 years) and more respondents (53.7%) had exposure on ICT through in-house training. The highest educational qualification was Bachelor’s degree (48.8%). The respondents had a high usage of email (

The devices, services, and applications that make up internet communication technologies are used to create, manage, distribute, and transmit information (FAO, 2017). Depending on the situation, conventional methods which include print media, landline telephone lines, telegraphs, audio and video cassettes, films, and slides can also be used to meet the requirements of internet communication. Many individuals around the world have found the traditional methods of internet communication to be helpful, particularly those who live in rural areas where the most recent advancements in information technology have yet to be fully reached (Aker, Ghosh and Burrell, 2016; Haruna, Sennuga, Bamidele, Omolayo, Osho-Lagunju, Preyor and Barnabas, 2023). It is important to remember that modern communication methods using cutting-edge information tools have enormous potential to provide information services that must be completely realized. The term "internet communication" refers to the fusion of technological innovation or revolution, which advances information or knowledge and, as a result, results in automatic change in a variety of spheres of life, including platforms for business, entertainment, health, politics, economics, leisure, and social interaction (Okeke, Nwalieji and Uzuegbunam, 2015, Dokubo, Sennuga, Bamidele, Omolayo, Osho-Lagunju, and Barnabas, 2023).  In general, there has been a growing understanding that these technologies have a significant capacity to raise people's socioeconomic status through the provision of employment, health care, and other economic opportunities as well as improvement of networking, participation, and advocacy within societies. Internet-based tools for communication have the potential to enhance citizen-government engagement and promote accountability and openness in government (Achukwu, Sennuga, Bamidele, Alabuja, Osho-Lagunju and Barnabas, 2023).

One technology that can improve communication between and within agricultural research institutions, Extension Agents (EAs), and farmers is the Internet. Internet is a form of technology used for collecting, analyzing, storing, retrieving, distributing, and implementing data and information via microelectronics, optics, telecommunications, and computers, according to the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (CTA, 2003) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO, 1998). Farmers (end users) will have considerably greater exposure to new agricultural technologies and information than ever before.  According to Adeyemi, Sennuga, Alabuja, and Osho-Lagunju (2023), they observed that Internet is capable of bringing new information services to rural areas. A fundamental necessity for the sustainable growth of farming systems is being able to access such new sources of information. By enabling extension workers to collect, store, retrieve, and transmit an extensive variety of information needed by farmers, the Internet can be of tremendous assistance. Van den Ban and Hawkins (1998) claimed that while the cost of maintaining an adequate number of extension agents has fallen significantly globally, it is steadily rising in many nations. As a result, using the Internet for information transmission is more cost-effective.

Agricultural extension services include knowledge sharing, decision-making advice and education, helping farmers define their own objectives and options, and promoting favourable agricultural advances (Xiaolan and Shaheen, 2016). The flow of pertinent information to farmers is necessary for the delivery of extension services to farmers to be effective. If extension agents are to effectively disseminate knowledge to all of the farmers in Nigeria, it will be nearly impossible given the disadvantageous ratio between them and the farmers. The use of internet communication tools is an option of reaching out to farmers without having to maintain face-to-face interaction.  Extension workers and residents of rural communities have information demands that are not currently satisfied, according to a growing body of research (Tiwari, Tiwari, and Sharma, 2015; Ekele, Sennuga, Bamidele, Alabuja, and Osho-Lagunju, 2023).  Extension professionals are struggling to figure out the best way to use internet communication technologies to enhance rural livelihoods in the face of these difficulties. In many nations where the web has offered a medium to sufficiently access agricultural information, the utilization of internet communication technologies in agricultural extension and rural development has considerably risen (Syiem and Saravanan, 2015). 

Internet Communication Technologies are an umbrella word that includes both computer and telecommunications technology, according to Ovwigho, Ifie, Ajobo and Akor (2009). Internet communication technologies, in broad terms, relate to an ever-expanding collection of tools used to manage data and facilitate communication, as defined by Omotesho, Ogunlade, and Muhammad (2012). Emails, social media sites, software for gathering, storing, processing, transmitting, and presenting data in any format (such as voice, data, text, and image), YouTube, SMS message boards, video conferencing, web conferencing, podcasts, online forums, interactive voice response, etc.  The lack of agricultural information exchange between all parties involved in the agricultural sector, which is frequently caused by limited access to current and relevant information sources as well as poor documentation, storage, and retrieval techniques, has been considered to be among the major obstacles to agricultural development in Nigeria and other African countries (Agwu and Uchemba, 2004). Also contributing to low agricultural output performance is farmers' lack of exposure to agricultural information and avenues of communication (Maisule, Sennuga, Bamidele, Alabuja, and Osho-Lagunju, 2023). Through specific extension activities including the teaching-learning process, data processing and storage, research, and publication, the internet communication technologies address the distribution and retrieving of information (Adeyemi et al., 2023). Internet communication technologies for agricultural extension possess the potential of energizing data collection, processing, and transmission, leading to a faster spread of high-quality information to more farmers through an upstream and interactive channel of communication (Ayeni, Sennuga, Bamidele, Alabuja and Osho-Lagunju, 2023). 

The provision of extension services in Nigeria has faced two significant obstacles: first, the economic crisis has encouraged residents without a background in agriculture to enter the agricultural sector, which has increased demand for the country's few extension agents. The second issue is the government's inability to raise enough money to support the number of extension agents needed to meet farmer needs. The few extensions agents' ability to provide the farmers with efficient and effective service is constrained by these two difficulties.  According to Yekinni (2011), the use of internet communication technologies can be used to boost the efforts of the few extension agents in order to attain the development objective.  Adeyemi et al., (2023) investigated how using the Internet affected the work done by agricultural research institutes. His research found little evidence of online communication for agricultural extension. Internet access can nevertheless improve information sharing between research institutions, extension professionals, and farmers despite this.

Internet communication use in agricultural extension systems is now far from satisfactory. Keeping in mind the previously mentioned factors, the following goals were set for the study: 

• describe the socio-economic characteristics of the extension personnel in the study area.
• identify the frequently used internet communication technologies by extension workers in the study area;
• examine the perceptions of the practitioners as regard the relevance of internet communication technologies in their delivery activities.
• assess the constraints that limit their access and use of internet communication technologies in their extension duties.

The Internet communication and its opportunities for extension

Given that promoting internet communication is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Obioma 2006). Its applications are essential for agricultural extension. In order to fully participate in and be productive members of a world which has already been and will continue to be altered by technology, extension personnel and farmers are prepared through internet communication (Ayeni et al., 2023). The communication capacity of the internet is expanding quickly, and usage is also growing and changing. Internet communication is a very significant component of today's society and is causing waves in practically every area of human endeavour, especially in the area of education, which includes agricultural extension. There is an increase in the number of teachers, students, and people from all walks of life who are ICT compliant (extension workers, workers, farmers, and rural families, respectively). Due to the paradigm shift in agricultural extension from a linear information flow pattern to a pluralistic information flow with new actors emerging such as NGOs, international and national research institutes, universities, and donor agencies, the potentials of internet communication to increase agricultural extension in developing countries' effectiveness appear unassailable. 

According to Omotayo (2005), agricultural extension programmes in the majority of developing nations lack funding and have produced mixed results. A lot of the extension information has been discovered to be old-fashioned, insignificant, and useful to the needs of small farmers, leaving them with little knowledge or resources to increase their productivity. With the right information, small-scale producers can even have a competitive edge over larger operations. Internet communication aids in the extension system's reorientation towards the entire agricultural growth of small production systems. Strategic planning can be utilized to offer members the lowest cost input, better storage facilities, enhanced transportation linkages, and collective bargaining with buyers when expertise is harnessed by powerful organizations of small producers. In Nigeria, the agricultural extension system is crucial to efforts to grow the sector. Throughout the history of extension efforts, a variety of distribution techniques have been employed, including the conventional ministry-based system, the commodity-based system, the university extension system, and the present integrated agricultural development strategy. He added that the integrated approach, which is coordinated through the project coordinating unit (PCU), uses the training and visits (T & V) delivery system, the system being assessed to be effective and adequate and both being limited by the withdrawal of the counterpart funding from the global bank. 

In addition, Omotayo (2005) noted that the government's involvement directly in the provision of agricultural services has decreased in many developing nations. This presents a challenge for agricultural extension services to continue to be relevant and effective in providing farmers with a range of information that is readily available, pertinent, reasonable, and trustworthy. Several potentials are reflected in an alternate information source that is not a technology-driven, donor-promoted information service:

• To improve life style of rural populace and reduce rural poverty through information dissemination.
• To contribute to poverty alleviation, food security, job creation and informed decision. 
• Ensure access to expert knowledge and information which are current and update.
• For faster and more efficient delivery of information.
• To bring about relevant and adaptable content. Ø Fosters empowerment of men, women and youth.
• Increases rate of adoption of innovations by late adopters and laggards of agricultural innovations. 
• Spreading knowledge and information about good agricultural practices. 
• Wider dissemination to people who are unreached or underserved and a deeper geographical penetration of rural areas. 

The following are potential uses for internet communication in agriculture extension, according to Arokoyo (2005).

• Enhance farmers ability to collate demands
• Collaborative learning.
• Exchange of time sensitive information e.g., market prices, disease outbreaks e.t.c. 
• Makes extension systems and structure efficient. 
• Engage farmers in accessing own needs and solution. 
• Exploring alternative production technologies. 
• Search, select and compile information for individual client. 
• Community learning. 
• Facilitate access to market and credits. 

All of these advancements would help Nigeria attain the elusive sustained food security. There are certain fundamental problems or limitations with internet communication in agricultural extension, despite all these and many more potentials.  According to Omotayo (2005), the most notable benefit of combining internet communication with agricultural extension is that it has improved areas where extension services have not been successful in reaching farmers because researchers now collaborate with extension and research findings are transmitted more effectively to extension agents for further transmission to farmers.

• Adoption and poor impact of new technologies in rural areas caused as a result of lack of appropriate information. 
• Faster and easier access to records, vast store of information. 
• Provided opportunity for distant education and training thus overcoming the problems of location.

Additionally, research by Nyarko and Kozari (2021) on internet communication among Ghanaian agricultural extension agents has been examined. The survey was conducted across Ghana's four regions. Via the application of questionnaires, primary data were employed to collect information from the respondents. We chose 165 field workers who primarily worked with government parastatals using simple random sampling. Percentages, means, frequency counts, and chi-squared were both the inferential and descriptive statistics used. The findings showed that 80.0% of extension workers were men and 19.6% were women. The majority of extension workers were in the 31–40 age range, and the greatest degree of education attained by respondents was a diploma (42.5%). Additionally, the findings showed that respondents spent between 7 and 14 hours each week using internet communication tools. 90.2% of extension workers were found to have not received any internet communication training inside their organisation in the previous three years. Poor network connectivity (4.350.79) and insufficient training opportunities (4.120.89) were the main factors influencing extension workers' use of internet communication technologies. The study came to the conclusion that extension workers were more likely to use internet communication technologies to acquire information for themselves than for reaching out to their intended beneficiaries with agricultural messages. The gap that this study did not fill was mostly demonstrated by the fact that various online communication media, which include television, radio, and compact disc, weren't chosen for the study since they were deemed more appropriate for their clienteles.

The adoption of online communication tools by Nigerian agricultural extension workers has difficulties, according to a study by Cynthia and Nwabugwu (2016), which was additionally investigated in Anambra State served as the site of this study. 69 extension workers from the study area's Agricultural Development Programme (ASADEP) were chosen using the stratified sample technique utilizing quantitative research techniques and carefully crafted questionnaires. There were employed descriptive statistics including frequency counts, percentages, and means.  The void that this study left was its inability to clearly demonstrate the respondents' level of attitudinal disposition towards using internet communication tools and the links between the independent factors chosen for the study and the dependent variable for their extension work. These had given academics, governments at the local and international levels, and respected stakeholders in the agricultural knowledge and information system concrete study findings that they can use for future studies (Sati, Sennuga, Bamidele, Alabuja, and Osho-Lagunju, 2023).

A different study (Islam, Haque, Afrad, Abdullah and Hoque, 2017) on the use of internet communication technologies in Bangladeshi agricultural extension services was also examined. The investigation was conducted in Bangladesh's Manikganj district's five Upazilla. 110 sub-assistant agricultural officers were chosen using a proportional random selection technique. The key area where this study fell short was in estimating the extent to which extension workers used internet communication technology. By getting an indicator of how it is utilized from different kinds of extension practitioners, my present research managed to further concretize the frequency and length of use of internet communication technologies. This certainly aided in accurately capturing the respondents' full scope of use of various communication devices.

Theoretical framework 

This study employs the Structuration hypothesis, which is thought to be important to explaining the variables in this investigation. Orlikowski (1992) is the authors of this idea. This theory demonstrated how technology does not exist as an artefact, but rather looks at how people utilize technological devices in their daily practices and enact frameworks that define how they emerge and use that technology in a particular context. Applying this theory to the current study, it can be seen that extension practitioners from the different actors in the Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) system use internet communication to provide extension services to their target audience. Each participant has the capacity to create reliable structures, providing them with a distinct projection, identity, and form that will automatically distinguish each actor's mode of operation for an effective outcome of their extension. For instance, British American Tobacco (BAT), Farmers' Development Union (FADU), Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have all successfully created their own niches and extension outreach activities via the use of one or more technologies, and have proven able to have a permanent or spanning effect on their target beneficiaries.

Conceptual framework

The dependent variable in this study is the use of internet communication, while the independent variables are the socioeconomic traits of different types of extension practitioners, attitudes towards internet communication use, the range of internet communication tools available to practitioners, and restrictions regarding the utilization and availability of internet communication equipment in their work. The roles performed by the independent and intervening variables in conceptualizing and capturing the dependent variable were conceptualized and captured in the analysis of the usage of internet communication for extended service delivery among extension practitioners in southwest Nigeria. Figure 1 demonstrates how responders' professional traits will affect how they delivery extensions. For instance, when extension practitioners' years of professional experience rise, they will be better able to apply extension tactics that can significantly boost the effectiveness of their extended activity.  The constraints that extension agents have when offering their services are one of the issues that prevent them from using internet communication tools to the fullest extent possible and delivering great extended services includes low financial resources, a lack of necessary infrastructures, and inadequate power supply.

The study area

This research was carried out in Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, which is one of the country's northern central states. It is situated between the latitudes of 8025 and 8025 north of the equator and the longitudes of 6045 and 7045 east of Greenwich. According to the 2006 census, the Federal Capital Territory has an approximate surface area of 8,000km2, an elevation of around 536 metres above sea level, and a population of 776,298 people. It is surrounded on all sides by four states: Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, and Kaduna. Abuja is divided into six district councils: Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Kwali, and Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).  It has a tropical southern forest climate with the abundance of the northern Guinea Savannah Grassland and Middle Belt. The National Capital has good land for agriculture thanks to the climate. The range of the yearly total precipitation is 1100mm to 1600mm. Having a typical temperature of 290 degrees Celsius, the dry season lasts from October to April and the wet season from April to October. The region's high altitude and undulating topography have a moderating effect on the weather.

Population and sample selection 

Extension agents in Abuja, Nigeria, are the study's target population. 165 extension agents from the six Area Councils were needed as a total sample size for the study, which used simple random sampling. 

Methods of data collection and analysis 

This study relied on primary data that was gathered through the use of an organized survey created to gather data in order to meet the study's goals. Descriptive statistics including frequency counts, percentages, averages, and Likert-type scales were used to analyze the acquired data. The surveys were examined for validity and reliability. To ensure that the necessary data was measured within the context of the study's aims, the subject matter validity of the instrument used for data collection was evaluated.

Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents 

According to Table 1's analysis of the socioeconomic traits of the extension agents in the research region, men made up the majority (79.0%), while women made up just 21.0%. This supports (Oladele, 2015) conclusion regarding restrictions displayed during extension delivery based on the client-service provider relationship.  The results also showed that the majority of respondents (41.90%) fell within the 33–42 age bracket, while the lowest percentage of respondents (8.9%) fell within the 53–62 age bracket. The extension agents' distribution, which is represented in Table 4.1, showed that their average age was 39.91 +/- 8.33 years. This shows that young individuals that are physically active and fall into the productive age range are the majority in farming. This result is consistent with Listiana, Efendi, Mutolib, and Rahmat's (2019) research, which discovered that the average age of extension workers who worked with state administrations in Lampung Province was nearly 40 years old. This demonstrates that the bulk of extension specialists working for various government-owned organizations are young and vibrant. 

Additionally, more people (76.6%) were married compared to 23.4% who were single. This supports the research by Benjamin, Onu, Jungur, Ndaghu, and Giroh (2016) and Yakubu, Abubakar, Atala, Muhammed, and Abdullahi (2013), which found that clients typically have a favourable attitude towards married extension providers. This suggests that getting married is likely more prioritized among agricultural extension providers regardless of the organization they are a part of, as they tend to gain the clients' trust and respect while doing their extension obligations.

The results of the educational attainment test showed that the majority of the workforce (40.3%) had an HND or higher. It has been noted that this level of education would likely predominate among educational requirements for entry-level work in public extension service organizations. This data is consistent with that of Olaolu, Agwu, Ivande, and Olaolu (2018) who stressed that the majority of public extension staff held HNDs or first-degree degrees as their highest level of education. This may also have a significant impact on the extension staff's technological preferences and utilization.  The results of the number of years of professional experience indicate that 66.9 percent fell within the range of 1 to 10 years, and 0.8percent  fell within the range of 31 to 40 years. The average number of years in the workforce is 10.29 8.24. This shows that the majority of the respondents were still in their prime working years, positioning them to be more ICT-inclined to help them fulfil their agricultural tasks. The results also support those of Agha, Ghangas, and Chahal (2018), who found that the majority of extension agents had at least 10 years of professional experience. 

According to the data on experiences with internet communication tools’ training, the respondents were exposed to in-house training for 38.7% of the technologies, and degree programmes for internet communication technologies for 7.3% of the respondents. This demonstrates that the respondents' percentage of in-house training on ICT use inside the organizations was not very noteworthy. When performing their extension obligations, the extension practitioners' ability to disseminate information may be impacted by this. This conclusion implies that the respondents' limited exposure to in-house training may be caused by the limited internet communication tools that are currently in use for their extension activities inside public extension organizations. This supports the project report from (DLEC, 2017) that highlighted how most government-based organizations lack technology competence with reference to staff ICT training.

Table 1:Summary of Socio-economic characteristics of respondents (n = 165).

Source: Field work (2023).

Utilization of internet communication tools in relation to frequency of use

Applying a weighted mean score, Table 2 shows how internet communication tools are used in the following order: Email (4.79), social media (3.47), SMS messaging (3.39), and YouTube videos (3.27) all rank higher than this. This demonstrates that those polled regularly use emails for information dissemination and information gathering. The social media networks come after this. The respondents' frequent usage of social media and emails may be due to the tools' accessibility and availability for disseminating information to their clienteles. This data is consistent with Gumah, Obeng, and Mustapha's (2016) assertion that social media and email are the most popular communication channels for extension staff. This conclusion implies that social media and email are useful and dynamic internet tools for extension practitioners' participation in extension operations. This result is also consistent with the report of Islam et al. (2017), who discovered that the majority of agricultural extension workers fell into the category of low technical tool usage. This shows that the majority of extension professionals in this study region are not as effective at using other online communication tools in their extended tasks as they are at using email and social media platforms.

Table 2:Distribution of Respondents according to Frequency of Use of Internet Communication Technologies (n =165).

Source: Field work (2023)

* Where always = about 25 days in a month, sometimes = about 17 days in a month, rarely = about 10 days in a month and never represents not at all

Perceptions to the use of internet communication tools for extension activities 

As shown in Table 3, over 57.6% of the respondents strongly agreed that useful information can be obtained through the use of emails, and 35.2% agreed as well. Additionally, 52.7% of respondents strongly agreed that using internet communication tools to deliver extensions helps strengthen links between research and extensions, while 33.9% of respondents did agree that using internet communication technologies to deliver extensions strengthens links between research and extensions. In addition, 35.8% of those polled did agree that extension delivery using internet communication technologies helps in raising general awareness of opportunities available to farmers. In total, 52.7% of participants strongly agreed that extension delivery using internet communication tools helps in raising general awareness of opportunities available to farmers. Additionally, 40.0% of extension professionals and 46.7% of extension practitioners strongly agreed that internet communication technologies could improve the effectiveness of agricultural extension message delivery to farmers. This finding suggests that extension agents have a favourable attitude towards using internet communication tools, which can undoubtedly improve the respondent's effective extended delivery activities. According to Ajayi, Alabi, and Akinsola (2013), this suggests that extension workers' improved impression of technology use may have arisen as a result of their increased familiarity with communication tools. Meanwhile, 43.0% of the respondents concurred that using online communication technologies to conduct extension services aids in making it easier for farmers to get loans and inputs. This suggests that the respondents' use of online communication technologies will serve as a catalyst for increasing the capacity of their varied extension operations to disseminate information.

Source: Field work (2023).

Constraints to access and use of internet communication tools

The survey respondents' use of internet communication technology in their extension duties is most frequently hampered, per Table 4's data, by interrupted power supply (x=1.83), a lack of financial resources (x=1.64), and expensive hardware (x=1.45). Other challenges include a lack of facilities (x=1.47), an absence of internet connectivity (x=1.45), and appropriate infrastructure (x=1.50). Power outages were cited as the biggest obstacle stopping respondents from using internet communication tools to increase service delivery. It has been highlighted that most extension organizations rely solely on the government's power supply and lack a secondary or backup power source. Their ability to access and utilize their communication tools for their extended commitments is severely hampered by this. This result is in line with Cynthia and Nwabugwu's (2016) research, which identified unreliable power supply as one of the main obstacles to using these internet communication tools. The distribution in Table 4 also demonstrates that extension agents' access to these tools is hampered by extension organizations' incapacity to finance investments in cutting-edge, high-performing internet communication infrastructures and tools. This means that the organizations' ability to utilize these facilities for their extended activity will be constrained because the government and extension agencies' financial support for doing so is insufficient. This finding is consistent with Cynthia and Nwabugwu's (2016) study, which found that one of the biggest barriers to adopting these internet communication tools was an unstable power supply. The distribution in Table 4 also shows that access to these resources is hampered for extension agents due to the extension organizations' inability to finance investments in state-of-the-art, excellent internet communication infrastructures and tools. This suggests that the government's and extension agencies' limited financial assistance for providing the groups with cutting-edge internet communication tools will limit their ability to use these resources for their expanding activities.

Source: Field work (2023).

The main conclusions from this study have been condensed into a thoughtful conclusion, as is displayed here: 

1. The most significant years of the extension practitioners' professional experience predispose them to being more inclined towards using online communication tools for their extension job. Despite the lack of extension personnel in their various organizations, this makes them highly relevant in successfully and quickly spreading agricultural knowledge. Comparatively to respondents from public organizations, extension practitioners' exposure to internet communication training—especially in-house training—was a major factor in their ability to use these tools effectively. Their extension organizations will immediately benefit from more frequent trainings on using internet communication tools as a result of improved utilization of these tools for their extension activity. 
2. Less online communication tools were employed by extension professionals. Due to limited financial means for putting up industry-standard ICT facilities by their extension organizations, the majority of extension practitioners from organizations utilized internet communication tools less. 
3. ICT tools that extension practitioners had access to and were available in their extension organizations had a significant impact on how ICT tools were used across the different organizations. Comparatively fewer online communication tools were available and accessible to extension practitioners from public organizations than to those from non-public organizations. This severely restricts their ability to give valuable extensions to their clienteles via online communication technologies. 
4. Interrupted power supplies were the main barrier preventing extension practitioners from using internet communication tools, while respondents' lack of financial resources prevented them from using these technologies for their extended work. It was based on these findings that the following recommendations are made:
5. Through proper fiscal allocation, the government should make internet communication tools easily accessible and affordable, especially for agricultural extension.
6. The issue of providing extension workers with universal access, connection, and the necessary infrastructure at the national, state, and local levels must be implemented and maintained for sustainability.
7. By encouraging the respondents to utilize each tool for longer periods of time, the respondents' use of internet communication tools should be considerably promoted and increased among extension practitioners of the various organizations. This can be done by making sure that respondents have a high level of availability and accessibility to these technologies, with particular emphasis on extension practitioners from the public organizations. In order to better inspire extension practitioners to use these tools more frequently while carrying out their extension commitments, this might be accomplished by raising staff emoluments at the end of the month and also increasing field allowance packages for staff.
8. By ensuring that respective agricultural extension service organizations conduct greater or more frequent internal trainings on the advantages of utilizing internet communication tools in relation to their extended activity, the perception of extension practitioners can be significantly improved. Additionally, technology experts might be hired to train extension practitioners in particular on how to use a variety of online communication technologies in relation to their dissemination operations.
9. Having recognized the financial barrier to the use of internet communication tools, the government should consider providing financial help to the extension agents with regard to the usage of internet communication equipment.
10. For farmers to receive timely internet information communication and agricultural ideas, there ought to be a reliable source of electricity.