Do we have to adapt extension approaches to the digital farming environment?

The FAO Technical Network on Sustainable Crop Production and Agroecology is pleased to invite you to the following seminar: 

                Do we have to adapt extension approaches tothe digital farming environment?

Event Details 

• Friday 21 February 2020 
• 11:00 – 12:00 AM (Rome Time – CET)
• Ethiopia Room (C209)
• Join us online

Please connect 10 minutes before the webinar starts to ensure the audio works properly. 

The challenges of food security and climate change are increasing the need to accelerate adoption of sustainable and effective management practices. Traditionally, farmers have received agronomic and technological advice from public funded extension services; however, today the provision of advice and services takes multiple forms, actors, and structures. These changes impose multiple challenges, especially related to the quality and impact of the service provided, and more so now that farmers and advisors operate in the digital era.

Guidelines to agricultural extension practitioners and also funding agencies are needed, to strengthen the impact of extension programs and practices. This seminar will review current practices for the design and monitoring of extension programs, factors that influence behavioral intention to adopt a practice, barriers to adoption of digital technologies in agriculture, links between precision agriculture adoption and adoption of other digital agriculture approaches. The seminar will also discuss what adaptations would be necessary for the provision of advice in the era of digital Agriculture. 

Speaker:  Dr. Brenda V. Ortiz is a Professor from Auburn University in the state of Alabama, USA. She got her Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Georgia, USA in 2008. She has spent her career in the field of Precision Agriculture and over the last 11 years, as professor at Auburn University, has been working with Southeast USA farmers on adoption and adaptation of precision agriculture technologies for nutrient, water, and seed management as well as integration of climate and weather forecast as a management tool. She has been a very active member of the American Society of Agronomy. In 2015, she was the leader of the Precision Agriculture System Community and currently she is the incoming leader of the Extension and Education Community. Dr. Ortiz joined FAO in Fall 2019 as a visiting scientist in the AGDR unit.