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This agricultural development methods paper presents the Virtual Reality Facilitation, Application, Reflection, and Measurement (VRFARM) framework, an approach for integrating and evaluating Virtual Reality (VR) in agricultural education to enhance agricultural literacy. The VRFARM framework is adapted from Biggs' three key components-- - presage, process, and product. It draws upon the principles of student and teacher characteristics, teaching environments, instructional methods, and reflective and measurement-based evaluations. The framework proposes a mixed-methods approach for evaluation, examining qualitative and quantitative data from teachers and students engaged with VR in the classroom. VR, when appropriately integrated using the VRFARM framework, is designed to improve students' agricultural literacy, engagement, and awareness. Major recommendations include using the VRFARM framework to implement and evaluate professional development programs for educators on VR use and agricultural literacy, along with fostering further research exploring the long-term impacts, diversity of educational settings and geographical locations, and inclusivity of VR in agricultural classrooms. This study establishes the VRFARM framework as a practical and research-based framework for educators, evaluators, and researchers, marking a significant step towards more innovative and effective VR agricultural education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical investigation of the theoretical and literature-based constructs related to the adoption of precision agriculture (PA) practices by young farmers. For this research, primary and secondary data are used. The sample includes 220 young farmers. Among the results of this research, farmers are aware of the positive effects of technology systems in agriculture. Also, young farmers seem to be familiar with precision agriculture and have already adopted some of its methods, but the high cost of investment prevents farmers from adopting such technology. Innovative technologies and production methods can help young farmers to be competitive in the worldwide market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite agriculture being the largest employer of young people, South Africa faces a youth unemployment crisis. The youth are increasingly disinterested in agriculture and often view it as a last resort in the absence of alternative employment opportunities. This paper explores strategies to change these negative perceptions and attract young people to agriculture. Drawing on twenty-two studies conducted over the past decade, national grade 12 statistics, University enrolments, yearbook reviews, and twenty job advertisements, I identify five key areas for intervention. First, the youth interested in agripreneurship need support to access financial and physical resources. They also need training offered jointly by tertiary institutions and the government. Second, agricultural education in primary and secondary schools will likely attract and retain youths to agriculture. Third, we need to reform the education system at all levels to ensure holistic student development opportunities, including the technical and soft skills required by agricultural sector employers. Fourth, our marketing strategies need reform; collaboration with the media is necessary to increase awareness and change youths' perceptions about agriculture and agricultural careers. Five, we need to strengthen the role of agricultural associations to bridge the gap between the agricultural sector and secondary and tertiary education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing public interest in understanding the origins and production methods of dairy products, driven by concerns related to environmental impact, local sourcing, and ethics, highlights an important trend. Nevertheless, a knowledge-trust gap persists between consumers and the dairy industry. Addressing this gap, in this paper, we developed an immersive virtual farm simulation to provide realistic on-farm experiences to the public. Within the virtual farm, users can explore various sites where dairy cows are raised and gain insights into dairy production processes using a head-mounted display (HMD). This simulation was demonstrated at local libraries, involving 48 public participants. We collected and analyzed participants' feedback on various aspects, including usability and their overall perceptions, to assess the simulation's effectiveness as an agricultural education tool. We investigated the impact of the virtual experience on participants' perceived knowledge gain and their awareness of the dairy industry. The results indicate that our dairy farm simulation was positively received as an effective tool for public education. Emphasizing the potential of virtual reality (VR) simulations in agricultural education and the industry, we discuss our key findings and future plans. [Display omitted] • Development process to build a realistic immersive simulation of a dairy farm for public education purposes. • Findings on the usability and user perception of the immersive experience for education purposes. • The system is an effective and useful tool for learning and the provision of information about the dairy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environment and natural resources were crucial to the existence of abiotic and biotic organisms, which included human beings. As the environment degraded, one of the key solutions was the next generation's perception, understanding, and attitude toward environmental laws. Thus, the paper studied the knowledge and attitude of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture students toward environmental laws in the Philippines. The study was conducted through a structured survey questionnaire and interview. The study revealed that students of the Bachelor of Science in Agriculture of the DEBESMSCAT-Cawayan Campus had poor knowledge and awareness of environmental laws. However, their attitude towards environmental law enforcement was considered essential. Additionally, students believed that the government was not effective in enforcing environmental laws in the country, their level of confidence in the government towards environmental law was low, and they perceived that most people were not aware of environmental laws. Lastly, community clean-up drives, tree planting, conservation of electricity, and everyone's responsibility were pro-environmental behaviors of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture students. Therefore, strict implementation and molding of agriculture students in their subjects were necessary to strengthen their attitude toward environmental laws. It was also vital to enhance their leadership skills to influence the community as they had positive behavior in the implementation of environmental laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary trends defining the paths toward sustainable development in rural areas of Bulgaria underscore the significant influence of human resources., and the priorities are oriented towards stimulation of the vocational training and science based skills, obtained through appropriate education and specialized training, and leading to success in the development and management of the local economy. The tendency, related to the problem is highlighted as the shortage of adequately educated and skilled entrepreneurs capable of harnessing technological advantages in agricultural production and implementing innovative technologies. The goal of our study is related to investigation and summarization of basic tendencies in this aspect, within Bulgarian agricultural enterprises, the emphasis lies on the crucial connection between theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, particularly highlighting the importance of educating and training agricultural producers. The education and practical application of scientific knowledge by those engaged in agriculture are vital components for achieving success and ensuring the sustainability of economic endeavours at the local level. By promoting education and training for individuals involved in agricultural activities in the agrarian sector, the agriculture guarantees its sustainable and efficient development, which without doubt reflects on the increase of the sustainability of the rural territories, as a whole. The results of the study formulate guidelines, conclusions and recommendations related to recognition of the need of ensuring the proper education and training of agricultural producers, especially in the realm of environmentally friendly practices and innovative technologies. In conclusion, the synthesized research findings provide insight into the tendencies in basic strategic documents supporting knowledge, as well as data for the educational status in the Bulgarian agrarian sector regarding the potential and significance of the human factor. Future guidelines for the study in the sphere of human resources are outlined in the modern agriculture and the Bulgarian rural territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moldova traditionally relies on the agricultural sector, rural population representing one third of labor force. The agricultural education and research system in Moldova is characterized by the aging of the teaching and research staff, the reduction of the number of students below the critical level, unattractiveness of science and education for the young generation, the weak connection between education, science and production, but also the inefficiency of the institutional activity. All these represent a major danger for the sustainable development of the rural areas. The aim of this paper is to analyze the major factors affecting the academic performance of research and teaching staff in agricultural higher education of Moldova. The study is based on field surveys of academic personnel of State Agricultural University, the only agricultural higher education institution in Moldova. The data set includes 120 respondents. Main analyzed indicators are related to academic performance as: professional motivation, research activity in projects, published research results and achievements, main problems and challenges within the institution related and other relevant factors. As result, income level remains an important factor for staff motivation in achieving higher performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a genetic optimization-based neural network algorithm to conduct in-depth analysis on intelligent evaluation of teaching quality in agricultural and forestry universities. In the genetic optimization stage, the adaptive variation probability is specifically utilized. When searching the global optimal solution, different variation probabilities are used in time according to obtained different fitness values, so as to reduce the population diversity and the number of global individuals. This can enhance the ability of the genetic algorithm to search the global optimal solution. The final evaluation index system is formed by modifying according to the reliability test and the suggestions made. Next, attribute simplification and calculation of index weights are carried out using rough set theory. And the BP neural network model is established with the assistance of historical data, which can be served as the main software constitution of an online platform. The attribute reduction by kernel and reduction calculation can greatly reduce the actual computation, which is beneficial for the relevant managers in universities to consider the diverse attributes and make corresponding adjustments for the decision-making scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable agricultural education is a fundamental base for the sustainable development of the agri-food systems. Sustainable education should provide the necessary skills to the practical world. This paper is focused on skills and competences required by the agri-food stakeholders for their current work and for future sustainable development around the world. An online survey was disseminated for data collection, and quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed to understand the impact of the demographic factors on the variety of skills mentioned by the different stakeholders. As a result, according to all of the stakeholders, the skills of navigating in a changing world, networking and strategic development are relevant for their current work, and technical skills were mentioned as relevant for future sustainable development. The age factor, rather than geography and gender, was found to have a stronger impact on defining the aforementioned skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the key role sustainability plays in the agricultural sector and its impact on local communities. With climate change and economic challenges on the rise, it is vital to focus on sustainable agricultural practices to ensure food security and well-functioning ecosystems. Throughout the article we highlight global and local initiatives that encourage sustainable agriculture, as well as the benefits to the environment and society, highlighting our shared responsibility to future generations, highlighting collaboration between farmers, communities, governments and international organizations. For the representativeness of what will be presented we use the creative platform Canva, the basic statistical information comes from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) and FAOSTAT, the descriptive analysis is performed using the advanced tools offered by Microsoft Excel 365 and in addition to standard reference sources, we have also consulted recognized specialized websites, thus strengthening our perspective and providing readers with up-to-date and verified information. The purpose of this review is to examine the depth and breadth of the implications of sustainability in the context of agricultural work, highlighting the complex interconnections between agricultural practices, the environment and society. In conclusion, this article highlights the need for a collective and integrated approach to achieving sustainability goals in agriculture and building a more resilient and balanced future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Romania, the used agricultural area is operated by approximately 3.4 million farmers whose main feature is the fact that they have the lowest level of professional training among all European Union countries. Many of these farmers lack basic skills that are considered essential for a modern agricultural economy. The main objectives of this paper are to analyze the current conditions and the main trends in the field of adult education in the agricultural sector and to identify its strengths and weaknesses. The analysis is centered to the current European context of lifelong learning and includes: statistical benchmarks, legal and institutional framework, adult training programs, funding sources and education and training providers. The working methodology targeted three stages: identification of documentary sources and collection of data and materials for analysis; statistical processing and analysis of data and information; information synthesis. The main conclusions of this study show that Romania has a well-established legal and institutional framework for adult learning with a diverse range of funding sources for the vocational training courses. In agriculture, the main vocational training providers are the county agricultural directorates/public advisory and extension service, private firms, agricultural faculties and non-governmental organizations. However the assessment of adult vocational training quality is facing the lack of a regulatory and implementation framework has led to the discrediting, to a large extent, of this type of training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper was to use the analysis of the animal husbandry sector of the Republic of Moldova as a tool for predicting skills to be improved in related professional education programs. In order to achieve the proposed goal, the general trends in the evolution of the sector in the Republic of Moldova were evaluated; these trends were compared to those of the European Union level. The general problems of the sector were identified and, on this basis, the skills to be improved were deduced within the professional education programs of agricultural profile. The research resulted in the recommendations to improve skills in related professional education programs so as to create prerequisites for a higher quality educational service and, respectively, to optimize the contribution of professional education in increasing the performance of the animal husbandry sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, the Romanian agronomic engineering universities focused on the promotion of entrepreneurship among the students, by including entrepreneurial competences in curricula or by promoting entrepreneurial support activities. To develop more educational instruments in this field, we considered that the main challenge is to assess the entrepreneurship interest and needs of the students. In this context, the present paper aims to reveal the attitude of agricultural engineering students toward the implication in the development of their own business and to emphasize the role of formal education in their necessary skills development. The research is based on a survey conducted among students in final years of studies from a Romanian agronomic higher education institution and consisted in 215 questionnaires. Our approach has taken into consideration the differences among the students linked to their age, gender, place of residence, the potential employment and family environment. The main findings of our study have indicated that the students from agronomic engineering field have basically a positive attitude toward entrepreneurship and meanwhile they are very aware of the challenges related to the development of new businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In front of climate change and the threat of food shortages, organic farming is an answer to both challenges. On the one hand, organic farming protects and improves environmental conditions, and on the other hand, it can provide food for the entire planet. Of course, the organic farming system is difficult to apply, requiring both financial resources and consumer awareness. The current work aims to carry out an analysis of how organic agriculture has evolved in the counties of Constanța and Tulcea, as well as identifying some particularities at the level of the organic farm, from demand to obtaining and delivering production. The study deepened the situation of organic farming using both published data and information collected with the help of a questionnaire. From the study, it emerged that the two studied counties together own 24.1% of the area certified in the ecological agriculture system of our country, respectively Constanța 6.5% (17,651 ha) and Tulcea 17.6% (47,757 ha). The number of operators in the ecological system, in 2020, was 280 in Constanța County and 343 in Tulcea County respectively, holding a share of 2.5% and 3.1% respectively of the total per country. The analysis of ways to capitalize on organic production consisted of the assessment of capitalization, the existence of a capitalization plan and the possession of storage spaces, the commercialization of production in the country or for export. Thus, from the answers of the farmers it emerged that out of the 70 respondents, 18 (25.6 %) consider the exploitation of production to be an easy and medium easy activity, and 28 (40 %) consider it a heavy activity and 24 (34 %) as a very hard activity, of which 85% have higher education; out of the farms analyzed, 35 farms have production storage facilities, of which 32 have higher education; the destination of the production is 41.4% only in the country, 11.4% outside the country and 37.1% capitalize the production both in the country and outside the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the characteristics of low-intensity, small-scale family farming and related aspects of farming sustainability, in a marginally productive peri-urban landscape, that of the capital town of Lesvos Island, Mytilini, Greece. These aspects and characteristics are explored on the basis of farmers'-landowners' perceptions and visions of local landscape/land use change, through a questionnaire survey. Our findings indicate that production is basically aimed for self-consumption; such practices yield low incomes but bear high cultural values, mostly run by hobby and part-time farmers-landowners, lacking agricultural education. Olive crops are the dominant, but decreasing, form of production, while some other less-water-reliant cultivations are increasing. Peri-urban small family farming remains significant, but in need of new policies/strategies further promoting its value and role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to evaluate adequately the academic performance efficiency of the teaching and research staff employed in the agricultural higher education institutions and organizations in the field of agricultural science and innovation. At the same time it is developed the nonparametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis for rating assignment DEA_UASM. As a result of analyzing the academic performance rating by option variable returns to scale, it is possible to determine the resources for improving staff activity by evaluating the distance function for each causal factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New agricultural management entities have appeared and been encouraged by the government in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in recent years. Mainstream opinion has stressed the need to take action to overcome the perceived inefficient, small-scale, subsistence smallholder economy that rejects the market economy, has no specialized labor and a low level of technology. However, the question as to whether smallholders are inefficient remains to be substantiated. Smallholder farming households play an important role in the agricultural community in PRC. We believe that smallholder farmers are not representative of inefficient agricultural producers. The smallholder business model, not only shows its tenacious vitality and regenerative ability, but it also plays an important role in the economic and political culture of the nation. We adopt the stochastic frontier analysis framework, which accounts for random errors in the production function, together with technical inefficiency effects that are associated with different management capabilities, to analyze the technical efficiency of smallholder farming households and the impact of their household endowments on technical efficiency of crop production in China. The data used in this paper are from the annual statistical surveys of 17 village-level, fixed-observation points in Anhui province from 2011 to 2014, collected by the Ministry of Agriculture. The sample smallholder farming households considered in this paper have typical significance in terms of both location and economic significance. Using these panel data, we avoid the loss of volatility of variables but utilize the dynamic characteristics of technical inefficiency changes. There is evidence that smallholder farming households are performing quite well, contrary to the findings of previous studies. The level of education, technical training, incidence of a cadre in the extended family, and nonfarm incomes have positive and significant impacts on the technical efficiencies of smallholder farming households. However, with the aging of smallholder farming households, increases in loans, increases in total farmland area and greater fragmentation of farmland, the crop production of smallholder farming households tended to be more technically inefficient. From the results of the empirical analysis, we suggest that the government increase investment in agricultural training and rural education, select and train more high-quality village cadres and encourage them to continue to assist in agricultural production of smallholder farming households, establish a unified urban-rural labor market, improve the rural financial credit mechanism so that rural financial institutions will not release loans arbitrarily, and make reasonable arrangements for land development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper was to elucidate the relationship between the performance indicator of professional agricultural education „the number of graduates" and rural labour market in the Republic of Moldova. Caring out an analysis of the statistical data regarding the number of graduates and the state of the labour market as well as making a synthesis of some studies focused on the rural labour market problems in the Republic of Moldova, the authors identified a series of problems related to the difficulties existing in the quantification of the impact of the professional agricultural education performance on the rural labour market, as well as its optimization. Consequently, some recommendations have been formulated in order to harmonize the relationship between professional education and labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focused on redefining agricultural extension practice in Nigeria in response to the challenges of climate change. We reviewed 58 articles from research databases that were in line with our inclusion criteria for adequate understanding of the current state of agricultural extension practice in Nigeria and climate change concerns. The review identified the effects of climate change on agricultural extension practice, ascertained the training needs of agricultural extension workers towards climate change resilience, highlighted the strategies for repositioning the Nigerian agricultural extension system for climate change resilience and ascertained the opportunities and barriers for agricultural extension system towards building climate change resilience. Results show that climate change has adversely affected agricultural extension practice in Nigeria by worsening its operational environment. Changes in rainfall pattern have made it cumbersome for effective implementation of extension advice in real time. Training needs of extension workers for climate change resilience among others include the need to bridge digital divide, implementation of strategies for a better interface with development partners and optimization of the use indigenous mitigation strategies for climate change. The review recommends that essential strategies that must be in-cooperated in the extension service delivery in Nigeria should include adoption of new scenario thinking in communicating resilience building, establishment of emergency management unit by the agency, encouraging the involvement of the private sector in the extension service, transferring of research results on best affordable resilience practices to farmers as well as ensuring that government and other agencies are kept abreast with farmer's feedback on their challenges in building climate change resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate changes with their effects: floods, drought, desertification affect agricultural production. Likewise, the Agricultural Policies on the European Union, through the Farm to Fork Strategy, propose limiting the amount of fertilizers to improve the quality of the environment. Farmers must adapt and use high-performance technologies to face these challenges. In this context, the study analyses the perception of farmers with large farms regarding the main factors that influence the evolution of agriculture in Romania. According to the survey, the factors that influence the increase in agricultural production are: the use of selected seeds, adapted to the agricultural area where the farm operates, the establishment/expansion of irrigation systems, access to new research in the agricultural field, the increase in the level of training of agricultural personnel, the intensive application of fertilizers and pesticides, easy access to low- cost financing. Regarding the association in agriculture and ecological agriculture adapted to climate change, the farmers' attitude is polarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agro-processing is becoming more popular and practiced by farmers to reduce postharvest losses, add value to farm products and increase farm income. This paper presents the small-scale crop farmers' level of participation in agro-processing in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Data were collected from 255 small-scale crop farmers selected by random sampling using a semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23 of 2015) was used to analyse data. Descriptive statistics (in form of percentages) were used to analyse the background characteristics of the farmers, whereas the multinomial logit model was further used to show the level of participation amongst the small-scale crop farmers. With respect to agro-processing, results indicated that 47.1% of the small-scale crop farmers participated partly, 40.8% of them participated fully while 12.2% did not participate at all. Results of the multinomial analyses indicated that, educational level (p<0.05), size of the field (p<0.05), distance to the market (p<0.01), and access to credit (p<0.01) had positive significant influence on small-scale crop farmers' choice to participate fully in agro-processing. Gender, regarding male participation (p< 0.05), and age of farmer (p<0.01) had significant influence on farmers' choice to fully participate in agro-processing. Furthermore, the results of the multinomial analyses showed that size of the field (p<0.01) owned by the farmer and access to credit (p< 0.05) had positive influence on the farmers' choice to participate partly in agro-processing whereas older farmers (p< 0.05), widows (p< 0.1) and farmers with more number of fields (p<0.01) were less likely to participate partly in agro-processing activities. These results have implications for the development of smallscale farmers venturing into agro-processing in the Gauteng province. Young females should be encouraged to join the agricultural sector as they are likely to participate in agro-processing activities which in turn results in improved income and food security at the household level. Furthermore, new agricultural education programmes should be encouraged in the area households as educated farmers are more likely to participate in the value addition activities of agro-processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to analyze the commercialization of the results of scientific work of agricultural universities of Ukraine and the formation of their ratings according to these indicators. Data from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for the years 2018-2020 were used to achieve the goal. The research was carried out in three stages: analysis of absolute indicators of commercialization (amounts of earned funds based on the results of scientific work) using the ABC method; analysis of relative indicators of commercialization (amount of earned funds based on the results of scientific work per one scientific-pedagogical worker); formation of ratings of agricultural higher education institutions of Ukraine according to absolute and relative indicators of commercialization of scientific work. The following results were obtained: during the analyzed period, agricultural higher education institutions of Ukraine improved the overall effectiveness of scientific activity. In 2019, 7 higher education institutions, and in 2020, 11 higher education institutions increased the absolute financial indicators of their scientific work, compared to the previous year. In 2019, 8 higher educational institutions, and in 2020, 11 higher educational institutions increased the relative financial indicators of their scientific work, compared to the previous year. According to the rating of agricultural higher education institutions of Ukraine, four leaders were identified according to these indicators. It is expedient to study and implement their experience in attracting funds for financing scientific work in other 12 agricultural higher education institutions of Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the role and tasks of agricultural digitalization education. The major challenges and possibilities of agricultural digitization are inevitable. With the help of modern technology, agriculture has great benefits. This article has been based on a qualitative review of the literature to prove why digitization is necessary for agriculture, and also created a proposal for Curriculum for agriditization at BSc level. There are five suggested subjects groups: Basics of economics, Agronomy basics, Agricultural economics and entrepreneurship, Agricultural digitization and the Differentiated professional knowledge. We also suggest subjects for the knowledge groups and also propose credits to each one. We summarize the Training and Output Requirements (TOR) for the suggested course. We think that new education programmes and new approaches to extension would be also needed to accelerate the transition to digitized agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is an essential element of climate change policies. This paper explores Dutch dairy farmers' adoption behaviour of climate change mitigation measures using a Self-regulated Stage model of Behavioural Change. It tests the statistical relationship of stage-specific socio-psychological factors with individual farmer's intentions of planning or adopting on-farm climate mitigation measures. In addition, it tests the statistical relationship of intentions on four stages (pre-decisional, pre-actional, actional, post-actional). The empirical application focuses on data from specialised Dutch dairy farmers registered with the Farm Accountancy Data Network. Our findings suggest that negative emotion, personal norm, perceived goal feasibility, action planning, and coping planning vary significantly by stage. Furthermore, personal norm, attitude, goal intention, behavioural intention, and implementation intention are found to be statistically significant and positive influencing factors on adopting climate mitigation measures. Lastly, farmers younger than 45 years old with full agricultural education and farms with high livestock density are more likely to have taken steps in adopting mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aimed to present the role of extension agents in improving rice farmers' income in Albuera, Leyte, Philippines. It also predicts the significant factors that influence the rice farmers' income to make policies that might improve the well-being of farmers as well as their rice production. Primary data were gathered through a developed structured questionnaire as a guide for a face-to-face interview of the sample farmers. The gathered data were summarized through some descriptive statistics and constructed an inference using econometric analysis in the form of a regression model. Results depicted that the average monthly income of rice farmers in Albuera, Leyte is close to 5,047.95 (₱) (SD=2,208.20 (₱)). On average, farmers’ perception score towards extension agents’ role revealed that they are “undecided” (Mean=3.28; SD=0.85) (score of 1 to 5) in regards to satisfaction. Additionally, the econometric model showed that farmer's ownership of the rice field (p-value=0.003), educational attainment of farmers (p-value=0.001), perception of farmers to extension agents as "organizers" (p-value=0.100), and perception of farmers to extension agent as "facilitator" (p-value=0.080) are the significant predictors of their monthly income. In conclusion, farmers in Albuera need assistance in regard to their agricultural production especially knowledge about new technologies and innovation to increase their economic profit. Hence, the study recommends that the Philippine local government must initiate organizing farmers' associations and cooperatives to address farmers' constraints and lack of agricultural training. Furthermore, the agricultural sector in the country must strengthen the agricultural extension agents by giving them proper training and education to effectively aid farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the development of Mendel University in Brno and its Faculty of AgriSciences during last 100 years. It shows the present state of the University and Faculty, including facilities used for educational, scientific and other activities. The journal European Countryside owned by the University has been established 10 years ago. It is a highly cited per review periodical in the field of rural development. This special number gave the opportunity to the members of the Advisory Board to co-celebrate the anniversary by means of their own topic related scientific article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper examines the motivations of participants in a large-scale pilot project that aims at developing a new agri-environmental measure, gypsum treatment of arable fields, to reduce phosphorus loading in the Baltic Sea. We build a general model of crop production that allows for three motivations: profit maximization, utility from agricultural innovation and stewardship towards the environment by employing farmer survey and confirmatory factor analysis. Strong environmental motivation is associated with small farm size, adoption of environmentally friendly cultivation technologies, and part-time farming. Strong profit motivation is associated with large gypsum-treated areas, perceived ease of gypsum application as a water protection measure, and agricultural education, which associates also with strong innovation motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to analyze the institutional, educational and space-related complexity of agricultural orientation in La Pampa (Argentina) between 1952 and 1959. In this way, and using little explored sources, we will demonstrate that the initiatives implemented in this period were part of an official agenda previously defined in a context of agri-ecological crisis. This in turn will help us explain the role that the new institutions assumed in the state formation period, and the concrete actions that were taken to address the main problems in agri-production in a marginal space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to outline the draft of the General plan of social optimization through deep reform of education at all levels, obtained through interviewing life sciences first year students. It is well-known that no authentic social change could be made without a deep reform of education, starting from early age and continuing throughout the life span. Implementing such reforms will allow durable solving of urging social problems like violence, injustice, poverty, corruption, poor financing. Interviewing agricultural management students led us to a new perspective of education, resulting from the new directions of contemporary and future society. The ideas resulted from discussions outlined a plan of educational reform for the global society. This plan is designed within a intercultural perspective, being inspired both by the great ethical systems of humanity, and psycho-socioeducational research. Applying the plan at a regional, European, and international level will be able to further humankind on the way of a life whose quality will answer both the scientific demands of a society of knowledge, and the spiritual needs of humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and evaluation are important, yet, frequently neglected functions in most organisations. In Nigeria, many programmes have been established over the years but only little monitoring and evaluation have been carried out because of many implementation problems and lack of realistic and/or stable policy framework. This paper was designed to X-ray policy issues for improving monitoring and evaluation of agricultural programmes in Nigeria. Inductive and deductive reasoning through a review of relevant literature was used in this philosophical paper. To improve the performance of agricultural extension programmes in Nigeria, the following policy issues must be addressed: The questions of what should be monitored or evaluated, when should monitoring and/or evaluation be carried out and who should monitor and/or evaluate; and the methodology to be adopted in any project should be included in any agricultural programmes and/or policies. Manpower and financial resources, effective communication and the issue of accountability must be properly considered. The tools for monitoring and evaluation are also very crucial. The paper concluded that planning a good agricultural programme is not a problem in Nigeria but poor implementation is, as a result of poor monitoring and evaluation. Therefore, attention should be on when, how and who should be involved in monitoring and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyse the indicators in terms of level of education, school dropout, school population, civilians employed and the average of lifespan, in order to determine the trends in the rural areas of Olt county. The porpoise of the paper is to establish benchmarks in the formulation of strategies for the improvement of the education conditions and standards in rural areas and, therefore, in agriculture and connecting them to the socioeconomic reality. Olt County, by farmland it has, by the population living in rural areas, by the share of the population employed in agriculture and by the share that the value of agricultural production in the county's economy holds requires an education which should be connected to these socio-economic realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper approaches a difficult issue especially by its originality and complexity, since it involves the application of the same type of research on completely different areas of activity. Based on the idea that nowadays it is increasingly thought that „the school of life" is the one which really matters and that the level of educational training has no longer an important role in the professional achievements, we proposed ourselves to emphasize the concrete results of those working in agriculture, education and legal field, according to their level of specialization. The orientation towards a socio-economic study has determined the selection of some suitable research methods, in order to help us to obtain answers as close as possible with reality. For this purpose, a series of questionnaires, adapted to each individual case, but having a common basis were used. Interviews with 50 people for each of the mentioned branches of activity have been established. All the responses have been then inserted into a database and statistically processed, being obtained three distinct analyzes, which afterwards could be compared to each other, leading to the final findings. Another direction of research has been the one represented by the education awareness, many of the surveyed persons, who oriented themselves to these professions, completing their studies along the way, and afterwards continuing to inform themselves, to learn, to ask other specialized people. Conclusions arising are among the most diverse, but all guides us to the necessity of changing the way of thinking, of education and of its entire aim perception. Motivating people is an aspect that deserves all the specialists in sociology attention, being a phenomenon of real importance for the society we live in and especially for the future of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving farmers' knowledge of fertilizer use through agricultural training has been considered a prerequisite to scientific fertilizer management. However, empirical evidence of the effect of agricultural training on farmers' fertilizer management knowledge is inconclusive. Based on a randomized controlled experiment involving 687 farmers that mitigates selection bias in the data, this paper identifies the treatment effect of agricultural training on farmers' fertilizer management knowledge in Chinese rice production. Results indicate that the fertilizer management knowledge of field-guidance farmers improved by almost 40%. However, such knowledge acquisition did not occur for curriculum-trained farmers. We also find that there is no evidence of knowledge diffusion from trained farmers to exposed farmers in the same village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate changes, the greenhouse gas emissions and reduced sources of traditional fossil fuels are one of the most serious environmental problems of present time. This fact was the starting point for Directive 2009/28/EC, which defined two objectives in the area of RES, the mandatory 20% share of RES in gross final energy consumption in the European Community and the mandatory 10% share of RES in transport, which all Member States must achieve by 2020. In 2011 was the share of renewable energy sources in total energy production in the European Union 13%. Promoting the use of renewable sources for electricity, heat, hot water, as well as promoting the use of biomass energy and construction of energy efficient buildings brings, in addition to environmental aspects, the development of innovative technologies, the transition to an energy-efficient economy and increase employment opportunities. Development in clean technologies becomes a strategic not only in terms of ecology, but has a significant impact on economic development and employment. This paper presents an analysis of training needs in clean technologies and renewable energy sources and through the Leonardo da Vincis' projects - AVARES and C-TEST - supported by European Commission to show how to increase the attractiveness and accessibility of vocational education and training for employees in agricultural sector in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing competition in the market of educational services requires increased efforts to ensure an adequate quality of the educational products offered by vocational education institutions. However, reaching the adequate quality standards is impossible without the active involvement of stakeholders. Only through the synergy of the efforts of all groups of stakeholders, the progress in the quality of educational services provided can be achieved - a particularly important task especially for agricultural vocational education, which has a strategic significance for the Republic of Moldova. Knowing and correctly perceiving their role in this regard is required as an indispensable factor of quality and performance. The basic objectives of the research were: a) mapping the stakeholders of the State Agrarian University of Moldova; b) evaluation of the stakeholders' perception by the management team and the university staff. In order to achieve these objectives, the following research tools were used: the synthesis of a series of scientific publications with reference to the emergence and evolution of stakeholder theory in higher education; mapping process; structured thematic interview; tabular and graphical presentation of the primary data; structural analysis; descriptive method. As a result of the research, the mapping of the stakeholders of the State Agrarian University of Moldova was performed. Also, the areas that require intervention in the quality of stakeholder perception by university managers and teaching staff were identified: more active promotion of the value of stakeholders; increasing the level of involvement of the teaching staff in collaborative activities with external stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper set out to explore the precision agriculture (PA)-training needs of students studying in agricultural universities in the Euro-Mediterranean region (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain). SPARKLE is a Knowledge Alliance Project, funded by the European Union (EU), and one of its main goals is to narrow the innovation divide between entrepreneurship and the effective application of sustainable PA. During the project, the research conducted in all countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region revealed differences in the PA-training needs of university students. Additionally, this paper set out to explore the socioeconomic characteristics of students that affect their interest and knowledge towards PA. Finally, this paper aimed to understand the scope, present status and strategies for improving PA training in agricultural universities in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The following descriptive statistics and two multivariate analysis techniques were used: Two-Step Cluster Analysis (TSCA) and Categorical Regression (CATREG). Results support the notion that the lack of "PA knowledge/interest" adds to the technological gap amongst university students, slow adoption of PA and lower levels of overall rural economic development. These findings will be used as the fundamental cognition for the development of a joint action plan and several other national plans in the selected regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale farmers faced numerous risks related to the adverse impact of climate change, particularly prolonged periods of drought. Although farmers use various risk-coping strategies, these are insufficient to prevent them from remaining food insecure. This study aimed to identify the determinants of farmer’s adaptation strategies to drought in selected municipalities of Southern Leyte, Philippines. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the determinants. The results show that participation in agricultural training, awareness of drought and total farm income have positive and significant relationships with adaptation strategies. The result of the logistic regression implies that when farmers are aware, well-trained and equipped, they are more inclined to employ adaptation strategies to drought. The result also indicates that farmers who have experienced and are knowledgeable about dry spells have more tendencies to adapt and adjust during the actual occurrence of drought. More effort may also be made to older farmers as they are less likely to employ adaptation strategies. In addition, information and training about using drought-tolerant crop varieties is of the feasible options to consider in responding to drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching information literacy requires a constant and evolving paradigm shift in today's fast-changing technology era. Add to this the intricacy of agricultural science education, and it becomes clear that instructors face challenges teaching the necessary research skills to prepare the next generation of scientists. Two faculty members in Colorado State University's College of Agricultural Sciences identified a need to redesign a core agricultural science course after observing their students struggle with research and writing. These professors improved their course through a redesign program that connected them with librarians. This collaboration led to the creation of a scaffold to help students build information literacy skills through a first-year agricultural science course. In this paper the authors discuss this collaboration, including four key factors to the program's success: a) a faculty-librarian partnership through a learning and teaching institute; b) early exposure to information literacy skills in a first-year agricultural science course; c) the integration of a research guide in a Learning Management System (LMS), and a step-by-step library and information literacy instruction session with a library assignment; and d) a teach-the-teacher model using graduate students from the respective discipline. The authors also analyze student evaluation outcomes and reflect on future improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature analysis method used in this paper outlines variations in research topics. We tested whether research on wetlands is topic-centered, comparative of different wetland classes, or aimed at wetland loss. We analyzed research papers to identify clusters of research activity and interpreted these clusters relative to wetland function and type. Furthermore, a case study on 61 papers was conducted in order to find a critical path of wetland loss induced by different causes. From this case study, it was determined that agriculture is regarded as a root cause of wetland loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Where large-scale plantation agriculture spatially coexists with smallholding agriculturalists, they interact in multiple ways. A number of researchers have addressed the broader social, environmental, and economic consequences of smallholder/plantation relationships. Few studies, however, have examined the household-level conditions that drive smallholders to engage in plantation wage work. Research from off-farm and non-farm labor markets offer a number of clues to what types of households participate in plantation wage work. These studies, however, use aggregate economic categories and fail to consider the specific case of plantation wage work. Utilizing household survey data, this paper seeks to understand the relationship between smallholders and plantations by examining the household-level conditions that lead to engagement with plantation wage work within Costa Rica''s Dos Novillos watershed. Our principle findings are: (1) agricultural assets are negatively predictive of engagement in plantation wage work; (2) a household''s male labor availability is strongly predictive of a household''s level of engagement in the plantation economy; (3) participation in plantation wage work appears to be an income strategy for asset-poor households more generally. Overall, this study finds little engagement in plantation wage work by smallholding agricultural households. Instead, this type of work appears to be the domain of asset-poor households that are marginally engaged in agriculture. This paper concludes by suggesting policy prescriptions and an agenda for future research in this watershed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes the development and innovation in the curriculum design of the Agricultural Engineering undergraduate program of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica. After its 30 years of existence, this program has reached its maturity. However, due to the changes in the development of agriculture, national and international tendencies, as well as the productive surroundings of the area and the social and academic context of the university, it faces the necessity to modify and innovate its curriculum. The main objective of the process consists of improving the quality in this area, proposing an integral redesign of the program. The antecedents, the methodology, and the most outstanding achievements of the process are described in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing nations in Africa are not shielded from the pressures of a globalized competitive agricultural marketplace. With an appreciable bulk of her people deriving livelihoods from diverse agricultural enterprises, these nations must respond to important contemporary issues shaping global agriculture. Farmers from such nations, including Ghana, will be able to improve their participation in the competitive local, regional and global agricultural marketplace if the appropriate agricultural technologies and extension information support are available. To achieve this, a new breed of agricultural extension graduates who can respond to current and emerging challenges in agriculture and interface effectively with farmers must be produced through responsive extension education and training. While extension education can produce effective extensionists to hasten agricultural development, budgetary constraints make it difficult for most African governments to successfully and sustainably implement such educational programs. However, public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives offer a way out of this financial dilemma. Beginning in 1993, the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) worked with the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana to develop an innovative extension education program through a public private partnership. The program, comprising a BSc. and Diploma components, was designed to respond to the myriad of challenges facing higher agricultural extension education in Ghana. A key practical feature of the curricula is the "Supervised Enterprise Projects" (SEPS), which enable students to work with relevant stakeholders to identify and tackle agricultural problems in farming communities through experiential extension approaches and action research. The SAFE-UCC initiative fulfils important education goals such as: expanding and improving access; ensuring quality and relevance; ensuring funding and mobilizing resources for sustainability; building partnerships and linkages; and promoting international co-operation. The paper discusses the underlying conditions for a successful public private partnership in agricultural and extension education and sheds light on the impacts, lessons learned and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrimp aquaculture is among the most vital sectors in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam regarding economic well-being, social aspects, and food security beyond the country boundary. Nevertheless, this sector has faced emerging challenges from increased climate variability during recent decades, negatively influencing its outcomes. This paper utilized farm-level data surveyed in 2019 to investigate the mechanisms behind households' decisions to adopt three primary climate change adaptation practices: upgrading pond dikes, lining ponds with plastic sheets, and having settling ponds. This study demonstrates the effects of adopting these strategies on shrimp farming performance. An endogenous switching regression model was employed to deal with potential selection bias and heterogeneity in the decision to adopt or not. We find that the adoption of upgrading pond dikes and having a settling pond result in higher productivity in shrimp farming, and both adopters and non-adopters of these strategies would benefit from the adaptation. As well, education of the farm operators and farmers' belief on changes in climatic conditions and their impacts on shrimp farming are the main drivers behind the adoption behavior. This study, therefore, provides empirical evidence for policymakers to promote specific climate change adaptation strategies that would improve the welfare of shrimp farmers. • Shrimp farmers' decision-making in climate change adaptation in the Mekong delta. • Education and climate belief are crucial factors of the adoption process. • Sizable effects on output stem from different primary adaptation practices. • Adaptation practices would benefit both adopters and non-adopters. • Adoption of the adaptation strategies positively links to shrimp productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to present how in the Environments of Personalized Learning for the careers of agricultural profile the information can be recovered by the application of the techniques of Mining of Processes. It is started from the identification of common aspects among the concept of unit of learning of the standard IMS-LD, the pattern of data XES and social graph ontology. Are show up the main advances in the area of the Environments of Personalized Learning as well as some elements of the didactics that base the learning in systems centered in the student. Are described some concepts defined in the ontology, which can be used to develop computer systems that support those scenarios. The vocabulary was defined reutilizing FOAF and the OpenSocial specifications. By means of the concept of Activity defined in the ontology and of their relationships, are represented the events of the social nets as those that compose a unit of learning compatible with IMS-LD. It is explained how managing the similarity among the concepts defined in IMS-LD and the pattern of XES data is possible to apply the techniques of the Mining of Processes to discover learning models, patterns of activities and to carry out social mining. By way of example it is shown how in a learning unit you can apply the technique of Alignment of Appearances to detect possible learning patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human resource training and knowledge generation adapted to the operating conditions of the various regional productions in Argentina, occupied the attention of experts from the Department of Agriculture, agrarian entities, political and educational sectors, since the early twentieth century. It did not escape this interest a concern about women and farm home. The aim of this paper is to analyze, in this context, the first decades of the "Ramón Santamarina" Farm School of Tandil, an establishment with a rich institutional history that housed the first school of farm home, soon transformed into a farm school and specialized in dairy industry. The transit to the farm household to the preparation of cheese masters, under productivist orientation of schools in the educational proposal of the Department of Agriculture, the social subjects involved, specialization in dairy and its results, are some of the issues discussed, as part of an educational agrarian project not only as a source of labor associated with specific agricultural industries, but also --and perhaps more than anything-- as irradiators of that kind of teaching towards the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture contributes to Turkish economic development by manufacturing essential agricultural products, utilizing a huge portion of the population, trading of agricultural products, making intermediate goods for the other sectors. However, poverty along with deepening gap between input and output prices caused by Turkish agricultural policies implemented in the recent years has pushed farmers to quit farming. As a matter of fact, in 2017 5.4 million worked in agricultural sector, which were 7.7 million people in 2000. Therefore, object of this study was to investigate the factors affecting farmers' likelihood to quit agriculture. The data was collected by a questionnaire conducted in the selected districts of Izmir and totally 195 farmers are calculated as sample size. Logit regression model was used to determine the factors affecting quitting agriculture. The results show that agricultural subsidy, tenure, education and the size of the farm are the important factors for quitting decision. The question of who will make agricultural production in the future will be on the agenda as long as agriculture loses attractiveness for young people. The situation is no different in a country with a high young population country like Turkey. Hence, agriculture should be encouraged especially for young people with high education and entrepreneurship ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this article was to assess the quality of skills held by graduates of agricultural specialties in the Republic of Moldova in terms of contribution to the tasks of sustainable development of the rural environment. For this purpose, an empirical study was conduct on the contribution of managers and specialists in the agricultural field in order to solve the tasks of sustainable development of economic units in which they operate based on their own perception. Starting from this premise, an opinion poll was conduct on a total sample of 157 specialists, graduates of various vocational education programs with an agricultural profile of levels 4-7 ECTS. As result of the data processing, a number of problems were deduced regarding the transfer of the quality of the outputs of the vocational education system with an agricultural profile in the performance of the agricultural production sector and, implicitly, the sustainable development at enterprise level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a major global environmental challenge. It affects the livelihoods of many people, mainly in developing countries. Iran is one of the most affected and vulnerable countries in the Middle East to drought. In this paper, we present a microlevel analysis by employing the Tobit multiplicative heteroscedasticity regression to examine the effects of drought on small farm household education expenditures in rural Iran. We collected primary data from a sample of 300 smallholders in Marvdasht County in Fars Province of Iran. The results revealed a negative relationship between the farm income and education expenditures. This means that the farm households in rural Iran that were affected by the drought increased their expenditures on education for their children. The analysis of income elasticity indicated that a one percent decrease in farm income led to a 0.86% increase in education expenditures, which indicated that the education expenditures were necessary. Furthermore, we observed that in drought-affected families, girls were more likely to be pulled out of university education than were boys; however, for school education, there were no significant differences between the boys and girls. Our findings revealed the need to provide improved facilities and further finances for education expenditures, especially for female university students, and to formulate environmental management policies that include the provision of education facilities by the government of Iran in drought-affected villages. Our findings also shed light on the presence of positive externalities and the important role of education in helping rural households better cope with the negative repercussions of drought on their livelihoods. • This paper presents a micro-level analysis of the effects of drought on small farm household education expenditures in rural Iran. • Importantly, households suffering from severe drought increase their per capita education expenditures and appear to be spending more on their children education. • The farm income elasticity of education expenditures is inelastic. • Underscores the policy importance of subsidized rural education and employment generation to sustain and boost rural livelihoods in the wake of drought risk in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between knowledge and action through the analysis of the work of teacher-librarians in order to understand which knowledge is used in their professional activity. Action research on the analysis of teacher-librarians working in the French agricultural education, helped to initiate a large collection of data on tasks and activities. This analysis shows the difficulty in qualifying--finding the right wording--the knowledge used in the activity which refers to the difficulty of prescribing when it is only lightly anchored on knowledge of relevant and legitimate reference related to a scientific discipline: Information and Communication Studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farm diversification by farmers’ open-door policy generates opportunities for farmers to internalize externalities of multifunctionality. Although the educational function of agriculture is an example of such an open-door policy and is attracting growing attention, this function has been little explored. To promote farm diversification in this direction, this paper examined how and to what degree farmers internalize externalities of multifunctionality by focusing on the educational function provided by dairy farming, i.e., farming experience services, in Japan. The main findings were as follows. First, we can say that the educational function is determined by ordinary technical jointness as well as institutional jointness, which is represented by food culture and the agrarian heritage. Both the technical and institutional jointness enhanced the externality. Because of these two working factors, there is a U-shaped relationship between farm diversification and provision of farming experience services. Second, however, an empirical evaluation indicated that farmers only partially internalize educational externalities by treating them as supplementary services combined with processed milk products. Therefore, appropriate integrated management of these newly emerging educational services to become a viable market should be fully addressed in the future, especially for family farms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]