• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.267-283
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• 2003

The purposes of the study were to; 1) examine the diffusion and adoption of new agricultural technology in rice farming, 2) survey the status of agricultural education institutions on technology transfer, and 3) explore the linkages between agricultural education and extension for more effective reinforcement strategies to further the diffusion and adoption of new agricultural technology in Korea. Literature review, field survey and panel discussions were employed to strengthen the linkages among agricultural education, research and extension in Korea. As the results of analysis of the diffusion and adoption of new agricultural technology in rice farming following recommendations were offered; 1. Extension services have helped Korean farmers in achieving self-sufficiency in rice and year-round supply of green vegetables as well as upbringing rural youth, however, government changed the status of extension educators from central government staff to county/city government staff since 1997. This brought about various problems such as: decreased morale and number of extension educators, thus weakening the extension education function, weakened linkages between national and local extension offices, less opportunity for in-service education of extension educators, and weakened linkages between agricultural research and extension, etc. 2. In order to insure that extension educators are high caliber professional individuals, it is crucial to establish a system that nationally recognizes these individuals as such, and that provides a professional development path. It is important to restore the morale of extension educators to continually achieve the national goals of food production, balanced national development and preservation of environment, at the same time to meet increasing needs of farmers. 3. Because of the critical importance of diffusing innovations to agricultural producers in order to ensure quality and steady food supply, it is crucial that these issues be addressed before the extension service further deteriorates. Further research activities on agricultural extension should be conducted for more effective agricultural extension system in Korea to achieve a greater rural, national and regional development. 4. Research and implementation activities should be emphasized and encouraged to improve the cooperation and collaboration among agricultural education research and extension to better serve farmers' educational and information needs. National level research activities should be encouraged to improve the effectiveness of agricultural technology transfer including internet education programs for farmers in Korea.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.247-254
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• 2000

Since 1997, Korean government changed the status of extension educators from central government staff to county/city government staff for the sake of democratization and localization, regardless of opposition of academic society of extension professionals. Localization of extension educators followed by government restructuring in Korea, resulted various problems, such as 1) Decreased morale and number of extension educators, thus weakening the extension educational function, 2) Weakened linkages between national and local extension offices, 3) Less opportunity for in-service edition of extension educators, 4) Weakened linkages between agricultural research and extension, etc. During the last 30 years, extension services have helped Korean farmers in achieving self sufficiency of rice and year around supply of green vegetables by diffusion of vinyl house technology. Various problems after three years of localization of extension educators were discussed between announcer of radio KBS and a professor of extension in an interview format, and it was concluded that national efforts should be needed to restore morale of extension educators to continually achieve the national goals of food production, balanced national development and preservation of environment, at the same time to meet increasing needs of farmers.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.181-193
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• 2016

The linkages between agricultural research and extension are important to enhance farmers' competence. The objectives of the study were to explore the linkage between research and extension for the family farm. Data including quantitative and qualitative were obtained from the key actors about the public management regarding linkage which were the method, the topic of the agricultural technology dissemination, and the agricultural research topics. Results show that the main structural problems of the agricultural technology dissemination were technical support services, credit services, and farm planning and infrastructure deficit. Furthermore, as for the topics or content of agricultural technology dissemination, organic agriculture, soil management and conservation, agricultural credit, organizational strengthening, marketing, participatory research, dissemination of technology, equipment, infrastructure and agricultural mechanization were preferred.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.175-189
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• 1995

Poitical demand for decentralization trends in Korea has led the government to plan to localize its agricultural extension system by changing the status of 6,696 extension personnel stationed at the provincial and county level from central government status to local government status as of January 1997. However, serious drawbacks of lowered morale of extension personnel and the financial burden of local governments has not yet been debated extensively for effective personnel management. Some of the findings that emerged from both the analytical and empirical research show the dangers of decentralization such as an increase in disparities, jeopardizing stability, and undermining efficiency. These problems should be considered along with the culture, tradition, and Koreans' attitude towards central and local government. The dangers of decentralization of agricultural extension services in Korea may cause serious problems in allocative efficiency because of a mismatch between available resources and promised expenditures, and in production efficiency because of unproven cost-effective provisions of local governments. It is accepted that the central government can invest more in technology, research, development, promotion and innovation in the agricultural sector. However, changing the status of extension personnel from central government to local government status may lead the best people to leave, lower morale, shake the sense of public service, break networks, and sacrifice investment in research, development and extension. In deciding the future directions for personnel management of agricultural extension services in Korea, maintaining or reinforcing the existing national status of extension personnel should be considered along with a reflection of the basic characteristics of agricultural extension services, linkages of research and extension, the financial burden of local government, specialization of extension personnel, unnecessary duplication of investment among local governments, possible national supports to agricultural research and development, and extension under the WTO systems.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.299-314
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• 2001

한국의 농촌 지도사업은 농민들이 주곡인 쌀의 자급과 푸른 채소의 주년 공급을 달성할 수 있도록 도왔을 뿐 아니라 4-H 클럽 활동의 지도를 통한 농촌 청소년의 지도와 영농후계세대의 육성 등에도 기여하여 왔다. 1997년 정부는 민주화 지방화의 미명 하에 농촌 지도 교육자의 신분을 지방직으로 전환시켰다. 이러한 지방직 전환은 다양한 문제들, 예컨대 1) 농촌 지도 교육자의 사기와 인원수를 줄여 농촌 지도의 사회교육적 기능을 저하시켰고, 2) 중앙과 지방 농촌 진흥기관의 연계를 약화시켰으며, 3) 농촌지도 교육자의 현직 교육 기회를 축소시켰으며, 또한, 4) 농업 연구와 농촌지도의 연계를 약화시키는 등의 부작용을 야기 시켰다. 흔히 농촌지도 공무원으로 부르는 농촌지도 교육자들은 농업 기술의 전파 보급을 위한 전문직이며 미국 등 선진국에서는 국가가 인정하는 지도 교육자 (extension educator)로 전문직업 능력의 향상을 위한 다양한 노력을 경주하고 있다. 국가 목표인 식량의 지속적 생산, 국가의 균형 발전과 환경 보전은 물론 점증하는 농민들의 요구에 부응하기 위해서 농촌지도 교육자들의 사기를 앙양시키는 것은 중요한 과제이다. 안전하고 질 높은 음식의 지속적 공급을 위해서는 농업 생산자들에게 혁신 농업 기술의 전파 보급이 절대적으로 중요하기 때문에 더 이상 농촌지도사업이 훼손되는 것을 방치해서는 안 될 것이다. 농촌지도 사업의 지속적 발전을 위한 국내의 연구는 물론 아시아 태평양 지역 국가들의 농촌과 국가 발전을 위한 협동적 노력도 필요할 것이다.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.839-869
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• 2013

Since opening the domestic food markets after late 1980s, Korean agro-food sector has been changed a lot, including commercialization of livestock and horticulture sectors. The large-scale periodic transactions appeared in food retail market in 1990's demand further commercialization of farm sectors. It require comprehensive on-farm knowledges including production, food processing, marketing, and management for agricultural sector. As the result, The Farming Systems Research & Extension concept has been introduced in 1992 as a form of The Regional Specialization Experiment Station. The Science and Technology Committee for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, and Foods are established in 2009. However, we still find gaps between on-farm knowledge demands and supply, requiring further refining of R&D systems. It also asks to differentiate applied research from basic disciplinary research, better linkages between research and extension on farm, and comprehensive knowledge transfer systems. This study recommends for proper role allocation and cooperative structures for regional research and extension institutions to reduce overlaps among them. It further asks government to support regional research and extension systems including human resource and infrastructure building, to strengthen commodity based on-farm research and extension, and to separate budget allocation for regional research and extension. Provincial administration of the county level extension offices should also be considered for better linkage between research and extension at regional level.