STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE LEVELS OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGENTS ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT INSECT PESTICIDES OF DATE PALMTREES IN DIFFERENT AREAS IN SAUDI ARABIA | ||
| Journal of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences | ||
| Article 3, Volume 29, Issue 2, February 2004, Pages 663-680 PDF (2 M) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jaess.2004.209678 | ||
| Author | ||
| M. S. Bakry | ||
| Faculty of meteroyy, environment and arid areas cultivation king abdul- aziz university jedda, ksa | ||
| Abstract | ||
| This investigation was conducted to study the knowledge levels of aqricurtural extension agents regarding the most important pesticides attaching date palm trees in different areas in Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was designed for collecting the required data from 71 agricultural extension agents working in Jeddah, Hail, Dammam, AI-Ahsa and Qasim areas. The results revealed that 43.7 % of the respondents did not attend any in-service training. The majority of the examined of the interviewees, who attended in-service training, completed one training course. The study showed that one of the most important problems facing the respondents was the contradiction of the administrative and technical orders given to the agents, which confusing work and consequently affected extension services offered. The result demonstrated that the most important sources of agricultural information from which the respondents obtained their information was the Ministry of Agriculture and Water, followed by extension pamphlets and printed publications, books and specialized references. The study revealed that 70.1 % of the extension activities and services carried-out by the Agricultural Extension Body on the area of pests attaching date palm trees was directed towards informing the farmers about the harmful stages of pests, and 67.2 % of the extension activities was on informing the growers about the types of pesticides used for controlling the pests. It was found that the dustmite was the widely spread pesticides (44 2 %), followed by parlatoria date date scale (36.2 %) and fruit stalk borer, (23.9 %). The correlation coefficient between the knowledge level about the dgree of the spread of the pesticides and that regarding the symptoms of damage of different pests and the control method was significant. It was found that the correlation coefficient between the experience in the agricultural area and the knowledge level regarding the degree of the spread of the agricultural pests and their damage symptoms was low. On the other hand, it was found that the correlation coefficient between experience and the knowledge level about the methods of controlling different pests and also, between the general knowledge level concerning the degree of the spread of pests, their symptoms and methods of control were significant. There was no significant correlation coefficient between the number or the duration of training courses and the knowledge level in different studied areas. | ||
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