Philip, H.

English

Journal of Extension Education

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESKChief EditorIn its recent e-publication entitled, ICT in Agriculture - Connecting smallholders toknowledge, networks and institutions, Agriculture and Rural Development Department(ARD) of the World Bank has identified two critical factors for using ICTs such as mobilephones and the Internet in agriculture viz., policy change and collective action amongextension agents, research institutions, governments and farmers. While policy initiativescan spur the development of the ICT infrastructure for improved information sharing,collective action, facilitated by digital tools can push the agricultural agenda forward.After a thorough review, the World Bank has listed out the following areas that requireattention when using ICT in Agriculture:Individuals: Develop and diversify the skills and competencies of all stakeholders inapplying ICTs for innovation.Policies: Generate or adapt institutional and national strategies and policies to makethe introduction of ICT innovations more frequent and more effective.Institutions :  Adapt organizational structures at all levels to accommodate changesin ICT systems and information management processes.Content :  Stimulate open access to the increasing volume of outputs of agriculturalresearch so that all can benefit.Processes : Use ICTs to facilitate and open up inclusive multi-actor processes in whichknowledge flows and can be put to use by different stakeholdersTechnologies : Invest in greater connectivity, data and information generation andhandling capacity, hardware, software, and improved human-computer interfaces thathave been purposefully designed to enable innovation. Ensure that rural ICT infrastructureand connectivity are enhanced. Specific actions are needed to overcome barriers totechnology use, such as culture, language, and gender. Monitoring and evaluation: Develop new and improved tools and approaches to assessinformation and knowledge interventions more effectively.Capacities : Invest in the technical and organizational capacities of individuals andinstitutions so they appreciate and use ICTs as tools to enhance knowledge creation,transformation, and innovation.Besides these considerations, one should also bear in mind that not all of the ICTsavailable for agricultural information systems will work in rural areas. The technicalcapacity as well as staff capabilities in the line departments, local institutions or researchcenters working in the rural areas need to be analyzed beforehand, for making the rightchoices for effective implementation of ICT-enabled knowledge sharing.This issue of JEE contains eight papers on various topics such as strategies of female-headed households, attitude & adoption of farmers & trainees and the impact of eco-friendly conservation practices. I would like to thank the associate editors and the reviewersfor their time and effort to this issue.

From the Editor's Desk

https://extensioneducation.org/index.php/jee/article/download/17/4

From the Editor's Desk

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Journal of Extension Education