ACCEPTANCE LEVEL OF INDEPENDENT OIL PALM SMALLHOLDERS IN MALAYSIA TOWARDS EXTENSION SERVICES

Abstract

The main objective of the extension group is to disseminate the oil palm technologies to the independent oil palm smallholders (ISH). However, since the beginning of the establishment of the extension group in the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in 2002, there is no clear information on the acceptance level of ISH toward extension service activities by this group. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to determine the perception and attitude of ISH toward the extension service activities by extension group and to identify the association between the level of perception and attitude of ISH toward extension activities with ISH personal profile and farm background. Based on the total population in the study area, the number of samples to be selected in this study is 384 respondents. Interview administrated questionnaires were employed to obtain the relevant data. The study revealed that the total average mean of respondents’ perception and attitude towards extension service activities is 3.99 which belongs to the category of high score range (3.67 – 5.00). Therefore, it shows that ISH has a positive perception and attitude towards extension service which can lead to the high acceptance level of extension service activities by extension group among ISH. Other than that, based on the chi-square analysis, it shows that different demographic profiles significantly influence the level of perception & attitude of ISH toward extension activities. The findings of this study will assist the extension group in MPOB to re-strategize and further improve its extension service while contributing to future studies.