Advancement of ict in agricultural extension practice reality of integration in Nigerian public extension services

ICT in agriculture has greatly made agricultural extension services  more responsive to the needs of rural farmers not only in the developed but  also in developing countries. A desk review of ICT usage in extension  service delivery in some of the developing countries showed  revolutionary applications of the technology for the development of  specialised agro-based information hubs, namely, aAUQA) Lifeline; e Sagu (e-cultivation); VERCON; AppLab; AFRRIand video integration;  for fast-tracking extension service delivery to rural farmers. Similarly, the  integration of ICT platforms such as HelloTractor, FarmCrowdy,  Agrikore, ProbitFarms, e-wallet, Releaf.NG, Compare-The-Market, in  the Nigerian agricultural system for the provision of agro-based  information and support services for improved productivity. However, the  ICT-based support services in the Nigerian context largely served the  modern farmers or the Agripreneurs who have what it takes patronise the  services of the ICT-based agro-service providers largely because of the  ICT-Tech services are provided by private agro-agencies with the primary  purpose of profit-making. Patronage of the ICT-based agro-services by the  rural farmers, however, remains daunting as the farmers lacked resources  such as android phones and internet services to patronise most of the ICT based agro-services, with exception of e-wallet service which is run by the  Federal Government of Nigeria and made compatible with the simple  mobile phones. Consequently, the need for a strong partnership between  the private ICT-based agro-supporting agencies and the public extension  agencies is emphasised for enhanced and prompt responsive extension  services to rural farmers.