Cyber Extension, a New Hope in Agriculture and Rural Development

I agree that, at present, ongoing global issues such as liberalization, democratization, and decentralization can be driving factors in the agricultural and rural development policy process. It is also believed that agriculture and rural areas in Indonesia have shifted towards diversification, commercialization, and focusing more on sustainability and efficiency issues. Therefore, the government should adopt a suitable sketch to enhance the ease of ensuring a more efficient production, distribution, and marketing process for agricultural products. In this case, it is necessary to change the agricultural paradigm and agricultural practice itself by paying attention to institutional improvements used for agricultural and rural extension activities.

Counseling is an important factor in agricultural and rural development in Indonesia because extension plays a big role in determining the success of agricultural development. The important role of agricultural and rural development counseling This includes the communication process, knowledge transfer, new initiatives, consulting (technical and non-technical), as well as facilitating farmers and rural communities at large (both related to manufacturers, agent input, group farmers, association farmers, as well as groups of consumers). When viewed from the perspective of system counseling in agriculture, optimization, distribution, and innovation agriculture, extension has been recognized as a model of triangle knowledge, including study, education, and is a system that acts as a solution best in problem solving.

One of the stages in business activities in the agricultural sector is the marketing of agricultural raw materials. Marketing of agricultural raw materials also requires fast and effective communication and requires innovative services. Given that new expansion, technology development, and use of information and communication technology (ICT) implemented in agricultural and rural extension activities is one of the most promising strategies in the future. In some cases, ICTs can ensure a more rapid and effective dissemination of information, both about new technologies and innovations. This ICT-based electronic extension can be used as a strategic model because it has the potential to increase access for the public, especially farmers, extension workers, input agents, and other stakeholders related to agricultural and rural extension practices.

I agree that ICT can be applied well in counseling because of the benefits it has. One of the benefits of ICT in extension is that the database system can include agricultural policy information, market information, climate information, new technologies, and innovations. When compared to others, the conventional existence method has fewer advantages because virtual existence is believed to have greater advantages in terms of higher data collection speed, faster identification of the latest agricultural conditions, communication to provide information faster and more. It is easy, and can spread information to a large number of users at the same time and in various regions. Therefore, information and communication technology (ICT) can facilitate information and knowledge about appropriate and best practices in agriculture from various regions. In addition, the application of ICT in extension can also be in the form of disseminating stories of successful farmers so that later they can be applied directly by other farmers in order to increase agricultural yields and productivity in order to improve the welfare of farmers in Indonesia.