Evaluation of Agricultural Extension Activities in Longxan District, Xaysombun Province, Lao People's Democretic Republic

The present studyaimed to evaluate the performance of agricultural extension activities of the Agricultural Extension Station and Cooperatives in Long Xan District and to recommend solutions to improve the performance of the Station's agricultural extension activities. Secondary data combined with primary data were collected from 100 farm households by random sampling method. The results show that the Station's agricultural extension activities had motivated farmers to apply new techniques, contributing to productivity improvement, product quality and household income generation. However, the Station's agricultural extension activities were still limited such as: (1) Lack of information about markets and products in agricultural extension content; (2) Inappropriate training methods and locations; (3) Lack of funding to support the construction and scalling-up of demonstration models; (4) Human resources for agricultural extension are lacking in quantity and limited in quality; (5) Farmers have low educational levels affecting their application of transferred techniques. Solutions needed to be implemented to improve the performance of the Station's agricultural extension activities include supplementing the quantity and improving the quality of human resources, innovating agricultural extension activities, and mobilizing financial resources from all involving stakeholders.