Agricultural Horizons: Research, Technology and Sustainable Development Vol. 5

Social Media as a Tool for Agricultural Extension: A Review of Influence, Reach and Farmer Outcomes

Amit Kumar — 2026-10-15

Agricultural extension is increasingly delivered through networked digital environments in which farmers, extension personnel, researchers, input suppliers and peer communities exchange information in real time. Social media has particular appeal because it can combine low-cost distribution, multimedia demonstration, interpersonal interaction and farmer-to-farmer learning at scales that conventional face-to-face extension often cannot sustain. This critical narrative review examines how social media influences agricultural information flows, who it reaches, and whether observed changes extend from access and knowledge to farming practices, productivity and livelihoods. Literature published from 1 January 2010 to 18 July 2026 was examined, while earlier methodological sources were retained when necessary. The synthesis distinguishes social media from broader mobile and digital advisory services and evaluates direct social-media evidence alongside stronger causal evidence from adjacent digital-extension research. Across the literature, the most consistent advantages concern speed, responsiveness, peer exchange, multimedia communication and the ability to maintain contact between visits. Evidence for expanded reach is substantial but conditional: device ownership, data cost, connectivity, digital literacy, language, age, gender, education and pre-existing social networks shape who participates and who remains invisible. Evidence for farmer outcomes weakens along the causal chain. Knowledge, attitudes and reported practice changes are frequently positive, but many studies rely on cross-sectional surveys, selected users, self-reported outcomes or short pre-post designs. Direct causal evidence that social media alone improves yield, income or welfare remains limited. The review therefore argues that social media is best understood as a socio-technical extension layer rather than a substitute for extension systems. Its value depends on expert moderation, local relevance, trusted relationships, inclusive access, feedback mechanisms and integration with field-based support. Future research should prioritise comparative and cluster-randomised designs, objective agronomic and economic outcomes, network spillovers, equity, misinformation, cost-effectiveness and governance.

Influence of Plant Growth Regulators and Chemical Treatments on Shelf Life and Fruit Quality of Sudhakar Seedless Grapes (Vitis vinifera L.)

S. R. Bhagwat — 2026-10-15

Sudhakar Seedless grapes are early-maturing and require management strategies that maintain harvest quality and reduce short-term postharvest losses. The present study evaluated the influence of pre-harvest applications of plant growth regulators and selected chemical treatments on yield, berry quality, biochemical characteristics and postharvest behaviour of Sudhakar Seedless grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). The experiment was conducted during 2020–2021 at MRDBS, Nashik, using a randomized block design with four replications. Treatments were applied at the veraison stage, and bunch weight, berry characteristics, yield per vine, total soluble solids, acidity, phenolic constituents and postharvest physiological loss in weight were assessed. Chitosan treatment produced the highest bunch weight of 392.56 g, whereas the highest recorded yield was 14.60 kg per vine under the naphthalene acetic acid treatment. The highest total soluble solids content, 21.02 °Brix, together with the lowest acidity of 0.47%, was recorded for T5 in the bunch and berry quality assessment. Postharvest evaluation on the seventh day showed physiological loss in weight ranging from 7.21% to 10.58%. The lowest recorded physiological loss in weight occurred under the naphthalene acetic acid treatment, while chitosan recorded the lowest proportion of rotten berries at 2.15%. The treatments also produced differences in measured phenol, tannin and flavonoid contents. These results indicate that pre-harvest treatment can influence both harvest quality and short-term postharvest behaviour of Sudhakar Seedless grapes. Further interpretation should consider the individual effects of each treatment and the specific quality attribute being targeted.

Digital Agricultural Advisory Services in the Global South: From Information Dissemination to Farmer-Centred Decision Support

Nikki Bhardwaj — 2026-10-15

Digital agricultural advisory services are frequently assessed through their capacity to distribute information, although farmers require support for decisions shaped by uncertain weather, heterogeneous production conditions and unequal access to resources. This critical narrative review examines when digital communication becomes effective, inclusive and accountable decision support in the Global South. Peer-reviewed experimental, observational, qualitative and review evidence was selected through iterative scholarly searching, supplemented by institutional implementation studies. The synthesis distinguishes communication reach, learning, practice change, agricultural performance and farmer agency rather than treating these outcomes as interchangeable.

Randomised evaluations demonstrate that digital services can improve knowledge and selected management practices, but production and economic benefits are less consistent. Positive pooled effects coexist with well-designed studies reporting no clear yield, profit or sale-price improvement. This variation reflects differences in the decisions addressed, counterfactual services, resource constraints, delivery arrangements and outcome measurement. Personalised recommendations can improve management without increasing total input use, while information on uncertainty and opportunities for dialogue may be as consequential as technical precision. Facilitated video, voice services and agent-mediated tools show that the relevant intervention is often a combined digital and organisational service rather than an application alone. Yet human mediation does not automatically ensure effectiveness or inclusion.

Farmer-centredness requires influence over advisory objectives, understandable alternatives, feasible actions, meaningful control of data and opportunities to question recommendations. Gender-responsive targeting, accessible interfaces and institutional capacity are therefore substantive components of decision support, not peripheral implementation concerns. Climate services and generative artificial intelligence extend the range of possible assistance but introduce additional requirements for calibration, local validation, professional oversight and accountability. A proposed decision-support framework connects goal definition, contextual diagnosis, comparison of alternatives, supported action and feedback. The strongest defensible conclusion is that digital advisory services should be evaluated by the quality and distribution of decisions they enable, with agricultural and livelihood benefits demonstrated rather than inferred from access, engagement or technological sophistication.

Artificial Intelligence in Agricultural Extension: Redefining Extension Professionals in the Generative AI Era

Manjeet Kaur — 2026-10-15

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving agricultural extension beyond digitised information delivery towards systems that can generate, retrieve, translate, personalise and synthesise advisory content in conversational form. This shift is consequential for extension professionals because generative AI can perform portions of knowledge work that were previously inseparable from professional practice, while also introducing new risks of inaccurate, decontextualised or unaccountable advice. This critical narrative review examines how AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation and related conversational systems, is reshaping the work of agricultural extension professionals. Literature published primarily from 2015 to 2 August 2026 was identified through multidisciplinary, agricultural, educational and computing scholarly sources, with earlier foundational studies retained where conceptually necessary. The synthesis distinguishes technical capability from demonstrated advisory effectiveness and from downstream farmer outcomes. Evidence indicates that generative AI can support drafting, summarisation, translation, question answering, first-pass diagnosis, programme planning and administrative work, while domain grounding and expert review can improve relevance. Yet current agricultural evidence remains dominated by prototype evaluations, expert ratings, cross-sectional surveys and short-term implementation studies rather than longitudinal studies of professional performance or farmer welfare. Site-specific agronomic errors, hallucination, language and equity limitations, automation bias, privacy concerns and unclear liability constrain direct substitution of professional judgement. The emerging role of the extension professional is therefore better understood as a human–AI stewardship role that combines domain expertise with evidence curation, contextual validation, risk triage, relationship building, accountability and participatory governance. Professional development must correspondingly extend beyond prompt use to include AI literacy, source verification, calibrated reliance, data governance, equity assessment and evaluation of field outcomes. Extension organisations should adopt risk-tiered oversight, locally grounded knowledge systems, auditable workflows and explicit escalation rules. The central challenge is not whether AI can generate agricultural advice, but how extension systems can use it without weakening the contextual expertise, trust and public accountability on which credible advisory services depend.

Future Directions in Agricultural Extension and Economics: Digital Innovation, Behavioural Science, Climate Resilience, and Inclusive Markets

Sarita Meena — 2026-10-15

Agricultural extension is increasingly expected to improve productivity while supporting climate adaptation, environmental stewardship and equitable market participation. These objectives are often pursued through separate digital, behavioural, agronomic and economic programmes, although their effects depend on interacting constraints. This critical narrative review examines how these agendas can be integrated without treating technology adoption as an adequate measure of development. Targeted scholarly searches covered literature published from 2000 to 1 August 2026, with emphasis on peer-reviewed experimental studies, comparative analyses and evidence syntheses. Publications were appraised for causal identification, outcome validity, implementation context, distributional effects and transferability. Digital advisory interventions can improve knowledge and selected farming practices, but benefits vary with content, delivery arrangements and complementary resources. Evidence for generative artificial intelligence remains substantially less mature than evidence for established telephone and video services. Behavioural research explains how timing, expectations and social learning influence decisions, yet informed non-adoption may be preferable to uptake of unsuitable products. Climate resilience requires attention to downside losses, recovery and adaptation limits rather than average yields alone. Market information, contracting and producer organisations can expand opportunities, but participation does not necessarily strengthen bargaining power or individual agency. The synthesis develops a decision-centred interpretation of extension as public-interest infrastructure connecting credible information, feasible choices, collective coordination and accountability. Its central implication is that services should be evaluated against the constraints they actually address and the welfare outcomes they can reasonably influence. Immediate research priorities include independent evaluation of artificial intelligence, mechanism-based comparisons of delivery channels, multi-season assessment of resilience portfolios, and measurement of net benefits and harms across social groups. Longer-term progress depends on institutions that preserve farmer choice, finance shared knowledge and maintain credible scrutiny of both public and commercial advisory systems.

The Digital Divide in Agricultural Extension: Gender, Geography, Literacy and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Access to Advisory Services

Geeta Mohan — 2026-10-15

Digital agricultural extension can reduce the cost of communicating agronomic information, but the availability of a digital service does not establish equitable access to useful advice. This critical narrative review examines how gender, geography, literacy and socioeconomic position shape entry into advisory services, meaningful engagement and the conversion of information into agricultural and livelihood benefits. Scholarly and institutional evidence published between 2000 and 1 August 2026 was selected through targeted searches, citation tracing and bibliographic verification. Experimental evaluations were considered alongside observational studies, qualitative implementation research and social theories of digital inequality, with attention to their different inferential strengths. The synthesis identifies a sequence of interdependent barriers: recognition as an intended user, reliable and sufficiently autonomous access, comprehension and contextual relevance, the resources and authority to act, and control over benefits and service governance. Gender inequalities extend beyond handset ownership to credibility, household bargaining and the organisation of extension. Geographic disadvantage combines connectivity constraints with weak services, unsuitable content and greater delivery costs. Literacy is multidimensional and cannot be reduced to schooling or addressed universally through voice messages. Poverty affects both digital participation and the feasibility of implementing advice, while user-fee models can select against farmers with substantial unmet needs. Randomised studies demonstrate improvements in knowledge and selected practices in particular settings, but yield, income and empowerment effects are less consistent, and favourable results among existing users do not demonstrate population-wide inclusion. Hybrid delivery, local-language interaction and targeted skills support are promising when backed by accountable human services and sustainable financing. The review proposes evaluating effective advisory access through disaggregated transitions from eligibility to benefits, rather than registrations or message delivery alone. Inclusive digital extension requires institutional redesign alongside appropriate technology; neither digital substitution nor a single preferred communication channel is supported as a general solution.

Morphological and Physiological Trait Association in Rice Genotypes under Hydroponic Salinity Stress

M. Srikanth — 2026-10-15

Salinity stress restricts rice seedling establishment by impairing growth, disturbing ionic balance, and increasing oxidative stress. This study assessed associations among morphological, physiological, biochemical, and ionic traits in 20 rice genotypes screened under hydroponic salinity stress. The experiment followed a completely randomised design with two replications, and salinity was increased from 6 to 12 dS m⁻¹ during seedling growth. Salt injury score, seedling vigour index, root and shoot length, root and shoot weight, catalase activity, superoxide dismutase activity, proline content, and the Na⁺/K⁺ ratio were evaluated. At 12 dS m⁻¹, MCM151-3-2-1-1, MCM253-8-2-2, IR04A115, and the tolerant check FL478 recorded a salt injury score of 3, whereas BPT5204 and PUSA44 recorded a score of 9. Salt injury score was negatively associated with superoxide dismutase activity (r = −0.50), catalase activity (r = −0.51), and proline content (r = −0.48), but positively associated with the Na⁺/K⁺ ratio (r = 0.56). Shoot length was strongly associated with seedling vigour index (r = 0.83) and was positively related to several growth and biochemical traits. Catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were also positively associated with proline content. Overall, lower salt injury coincided with better seedling growth, stronger antioxidant activity, greater proline accumulation, and a lower Na⁺/K⁺ ratio under the tested hydroponic conditions, indicating that these traits may be useful for identifying salt-tolerant rice genotypes at the seedling stage.

Why Farmers Do Not Buy Crop Insurance; Behavioural Institutional and Economics Explanation for Low Uptake

Sarita Meena — 2026-10-15

Low crop-insurance uptake is frequently attributed to inadequate farmer awareness or excessive reluctance to engage with unfamiliar financial products. These explanations are incomplete because non-purchase can also reflect poor protection, unaffordable payment schedules, unreliable institutions and the availability of alternative ways to manage risk. This critical narrative review integrates economic theory, field experiments, observational research and recent reviews to explain when low uptake represents a remediable constraint, an informed choice or exclusion from a functioning insurance market. Literature eligible through 1 August 2026 was identified through targeted searches of openly accessible scholarly records and citation tracing. Evidence was evaluated according to identification strategy, contract type, outcome measurement, implementation conditions and geographical transferability. The strongest evidence supports substantial sensitivity to premiums and payment timing, together with context-dependent effects of information, trust, subsidies and complementary technologies. Basis risk complicates the conventional prediction that greater risk aversion increases insurance demand: a farmer can pay a premium and still receive nothing after a damaging loss. Behavioural mechanisms matter, but apparent biases are difficult to distinguish from reasonable beliefs about product quality and institutional performance. Information may reduce willingness to insure when it reveals previously misunderstood exclusions. Social networks can transmit knowledge and support risk sharing, while gendered resource control and administrative requirements determine whose preferences become observable purchases. Initial enrolment, sustained renewal and improvements in household welfare are distinct outcomes and should not be treated as interchangeable measures of success. A sequential diagnostic framework is proposed to connect access, protective value, financial feasibility, institutional credibility and learning. Policy should prioritise reliable protection and accountable delivery before attempting to maximise sales through persuasion. The central unresolved issue is not whether insurance can benefit farmers, but which contracts, delivery arrangements and public investments produce durable protection for particular farming households.