Communication exposure of sub-assistant agriculture officers (SAAOs) towards e-agriculture in Khulna district of Bangladesh

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of communication exposure of the Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers towards e-agriculture in Khulna district of Bangladesh. Study was conducted in the five selected upazilas of Khulna city viz., Rupsa, Dighalia, Phultala, Dumuria and Batiaghata which consist of 108 agricultural blocks. A sample of 100 Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers (SAAOs) was selected from these blocks. Data were collected following a structured pretested interview schedule. Findings revealed that most 60% of the SAAOs had low communication exposures to e-agriculture. Correlation analysis indicates that age, income and service experience had negative significant relationship with communication exposures of SAAOs to e-Agriculture. Training exposure and knowledge on e-agriculture had positive significant relationship with their communication exposures towards e-agriculture. The enter method of regression analysis revealed that knowledge on e-agriculture, training exposure and monthly income described 77.5 percent variation in the communication exposure of SAAOs. The estimates indicated that knowledge on e-Agriculture had strongest (β=0.479) contribution to the variance of communication exposure to e-Agriculture. On the other hand, monthly income had contributed to the variance of communication exposure of SAAOs towards e-Agriculture in negative direction (β=-0.156). Mobile phone was the highest preferred device in using e-Agricultural media by the SAAOs. “Unfamiliarity of extension workers with e-agriculture application” was the main personal constraint and “lack of training on e-agriculture” was the main organizational constraint which might have led to low communication exposure of SAAOs towards e-agriculture.