Awareness of Agricultural Technology Center's Role and Function in Urban and Rural Complex City - Focusing on Comparison of Awareness between Agriculturalist and Nonagriculturalist -

Abstract

Agricultural Technology Center is an education center to provide agriculturalists with information and technology related with agriculture. As domestic and international environment of agriculture and rural area is changing, functions and roles of Agricultural Technology Center are evolving according to stream of times. In 1995, a new urban and rural complex city was created for symbiotic relationship between city and rural area, As a result, user group of Agricultural Technology Center expanded to nonagriculturalists. Though the change of agricultural extension service is necessary to perform extended functions of rural area and to satisfy needs of new group of users, it is difficult to find enough studies on new functions and roles of Agricultural Technology Center to manage the service change. Therefore, this study is aimed to suggest new functions and roles of Agricultural Technology Center according to stream of times. This study were surveyed through questionnaire targeting users of Namyangju Agricultural Technology Center to compare user group awareness of Agricultural Technology Center in urban and rural complex city. According to this study result, while main purpose of agriculturalists' visiting at Agricultural Technology Center was participating in education programs related with agriculture. In contrast, nonagriculturalists usually visited the center for agricultural understanding, leisure activities, and children education, participating in field work programs. From the survey result of required functions of the center, it was revealed that nonagriculturalists expected urban agriculture, research for living improvement in rural area, adjustment education for returning farmer, and function of farming promotion, comparing agriculturalists. It is verified that this difference of user group awareness reflects the necessity that Agricultural Technology Center should change services and accept increasing use of nonagriculturalists with new functions and roles.