The Influence And Development Strategy Of The Longdistance Agricultural Education On Agricultural Extension In Zaozhuang City

The long-distance agricultural education is the application of modern educational technologies to agricultural education It is important since it provides modern teaching means for farmers.Agricultural extension is developed and specialized along with the development of agricultural production.It has combined with the agricultural extension influence and helped each other forward. It can be regarded, to some degree, as the education for farmers in the countryside. Therefore, education is one of its typical characteristics. The process and tendency shows that the way of agricultural extension is changing from the traditional technological knowledge spreading to modern agricultural consultation. Zaozhuang City is located in the south of Shandong Province. It is composed of five districts and one city. The high-quality grain in Tengzhou City, pomegranate in Yicheng District, the three types of agriculture concerning water in Tai'erzhuang District, the agriculture in the suburb in Shizhong District and Xuecheng District have distinctive local features. I interviewed 600 farmers from 168 villages, 22 towns in the above districts and city in Zaozhuang City from January to June, 2004. I made an investigation in the aspects of the farmers' education level, yearly income, the understanding of science and technology, the use of new agricultural technology and so on. Then, I used mathematical statistics to analyze the data, under the guidance of the theory of system, the principle of agricultural extension and the long-distance agricultural education on. I took the agricultural extension in Zaozhuang City as the example and looked back the development process of agricultural extension and the long-distance agricultural education. I analyzed the present situation and tendency, studiedthe influence of the long-distance agricultural education on rural economy, labor quality, the use of new agricultural technology, the behavior changes of the farmers, the ways of agricultural extension and the diagram of agricultural technology. I found out the problems of the long-distance agricultural education and put forward the suggestions of the policy, system construction and media model of the long-distance agricultural education, based on my experience of Zaozhuang City. The main content and result is as follows:Part One. The birth and development of the long-distance agricultural education and agricultural extensionThe agricultural extension appeared much earlier with the agriculture production. The long-distance agricultural education was given into birth in Britain in the 1940's. It developed very fast then and combined with the agricultural extension influence and helped each other forward. Nowadays, agricultural extension is changing its way from the traditional technological extension to farmer education and agricultural consultation in the modern times. It has close relation with pedagogy, sociology, mass media, psychology and other subjects. It has multiple content and methods.Part Two. The influence of the long-distance agricultural education on the agricultural extension in Zaozhuang CityThere are two sides of the influence.First is the direct influence: The long-distance agricultural education, such as the agricultural extension school as the example, directly raised the educational level and improved the knowledge structure, fanners' quality in learning and methods of agricultural extension. Second is the indirect influence: The long-distance agricultural education, since it has improved the farmers' quality in learning, indirectly affected the agricultural economy, farmers' income, farmers' changes of behavior, the adoption and spreading of the new agricultural technology in an "S" diagram and so on. The investigation shows that the long-distance agricultural education has helped the development of the agricultural economy. The farmers' educational level has the positive relation with farmers' income,farmers' changes of behavior, the adoption of the new agricultural technology. I made an scientific analysis, with much first-hand data of investigation, that the development of the agricultural economy depends on science and technology. The development of science and technology depends on talents. The talents depend on agricultural education. And the development of agricultural education depends on the long-distance agricultural education.Part Three. The problems and target model choice of the long-distance agricultural education: 1.The problems of the long-distance agricultural education in Zaozhuang City are as follows: insufficient awareness, no directly related laws, lack of money, incomplete system, and the lack of enthusiasm of the farmers and so on. 2. The eleven suggestions for the development of the long-distance agricultural education in Zaozhuang City We need to pay more attention to the importance, to strengthen the leadership, to make the complete system, to improve the methods, to revise the content, to invest more money, to make better policies, to make specific laws, to arouse the enthusiasm of the farmers, to start the overall farmer-training project in different levels. The idea for the long-distance agricultural education mode: based on the present long-distance agricultural educational system, to construct a future scientific and technological educational system for farmers, and a life-long educational system for fanners.