ABSTRACT

In Pakistan, agricultural extension has long been the subject of contentious debate. Recent criticisms contend that T and V are biased towards larger farmers and ignore the bulk of the farming community. According to contact farmers, cotton pests pose a severe problem with over 90 per cent of them reporting an incidence of one or more cotton pests. Non-contact farmers evidence a varied pattern in their source of crop information with 15 per cent seeking information from the Department of Agriculture and 8 per cent from Ciba. The literature on agricultural extension generally agrees that the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of farmers have a bearing on their behaviour, attitudes, and interaction with others, which in turn affect their access to agricultural information. The significant differences in education between contact and non-contact farmers suggest that education is an important consideration for extension agencies, particularly in the case of Ciba, in the selection of contact farmers.