Agricultural and Biological Research

Agricultural training and farmers perceptions of agricultural extension in zamboanga del sur, Philippines

Liezel Maño-Caranto*

This paper focuses on agricultural training and the attitude of farmers towards agricultural extension services in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. Primary data was gathered on the awareness, perceptions, and involvement of 350 farmers in training programs using a descriptive quantitative design, which used a structured survey to collect the data. Findings show that the farmers have high awareness (mean=2.75) and generally positive perception (mean=4.01) towards agricultural training, especially in the competency of the trainers, the relevancy of the contents, and the importance of the government in facilitating agricultural development. In spite of such positive assessments, the attendance is limited by practical reasons, in particular, time issues (76.67%) and distance to training facilities (35.33%). The need to gain knowledge that can be used in the farming practices is the main reason why farmers are interested in doing so (82.67%). The results indicate that even though the extension services are effective in content delivery, and perceived usefulness, there is a need to make the services more accessible, schedule, and communicate to achieve more participation. The paper concludes that more flexible and farmer-oriented training methods and enhancing information flow may enhance the efficiency of agriculture and extension services and aid in making the agricultural sector sustainable.