Evaluation of Rural Leaders of the Quality of Agricultural Extension Services for the Utilization of Agricultural Residues in Kafrelsheikh and ElBeheira Governorates, In Egypt

Abstract

This study primarily aimed to evaluate rural leaders’ perceptions of the quality of agricultural extension services related to the utilization of agricultural residues, in terms of the degree of availability, implementation, benefit, satisfaction with these services and identify their opinions regarding the various dimensions of these services, their sources of information, and the problems limiting their benefit from them. The study was conducted in Kafrelsheikh and ElBeheira governorates in Egypt, where one district was selected from each governorate and two villages from each district. A systematic random sample of 148 respondents was selected, representing 81% of the total rural leaders in the selected villages, The most important results were:

• About 68% and nearly 70% of the respondents' rural leaders in the two study areas, respectively, perceived that the overall level of quality of agricultural extension services for the utilization of agricultural residues ranged from low to medium.
• Approximately 56% and 54.8% of the respondents' rural leaders in the two study areas, respectively, indicated that the overall level of the dimensions of agricultural extension service quality was medium.
• The sources of information used by the respondents' rural leaders in the two study areas regarding the utilization of agricultural residues, according to the weighted mean, were ranked as follows: agricultural extension agent, agricultural cooperative manager, and agricultural television programs.
• The main problems limiting the benefit of the respondents' rural leaders from agricultural residues in the two study areas were the absence of factories for processing agricultural residues, the scarcity of machinery and equipment required for their utilization, and the shortage of agricultural extension agents specialized in the field of agricultural residue utilization.