Social Media Application in Agriculture Extension Programming for Small Scale Rural Farmers: Is Knowledge Impeding the Lack of Adoption?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge level of farmers on basic computer literacy, social media use, and to explore which social and demographic factors affected their knowledge capacity. The study had a final sample of 176 participants from the northern, southern and central regions of Trinidad and Tobago. A survey instrument comprising of 14 multiple-choice questions with one accurate response was developed to decrease bias of farmers randomly selecting the accurate response. The questions addressed knowledge on basic computer and social media literacy. Analysis was conducted using one-way ANOVA with posthoc testing. Results indicated that there were significant differences in farmers’ performance in the knowledge test based on characteristics such as age, education, and household use of social media and the internet. Based on the findings, minimal training in computer and social media literacy did not impede the farmers’ use of the computer or social media. These discoveries highlight the potential of extension programs using the internet and social media applications to improve communication efficiency among agricultural stakeholders within farming communities. Keywords: agriculture, computer literacy, Extension, knowledge, social media

Analysis of Socioeconomics and Occupational Dimensions of Shrimp Farmers of Tamil Nadu

“…If the attributed source of a piece of information is a credible person or organization, then, according to conventional wisdom, that information is probably reliable [60]. Extension programmers should consider training programs with social media and internet applications for accessing and sharing agricultural information [61]. There is a need to develop an e-extension module that would cater to the information needs of the shrimp farmers.…”

Nigerian Agricultural Posts on Facebook and Instagram within the West African Agricultural Messaging Framework

“…The various studies approached social media use in agriculture from several perspectives. These include social media profiles of farmers (Sandeep, Prashanth, Sreenivasulu & Madhavilata, 2020), obstacles and recommendations from the farming community for the efficient dissemination of agricultural information (Sandeep, Prashanth, Sreenivasulu and Madavilata, 2022), potential usage of social media in the agricultural and extension fields (Mamgain, Joshi, & Chauhan, 2020), how well-informed farmers were about using social media (Moonsammy & Moonsammy, 2020), and social media use and messages type (Casey, Meikle, Kerr, and Stevens, 2016), and similar others. In the Nigerian context, a few studies have been conducted on social media usage for agricultural promotion.…”