Evaluation of Agricultural Research, Extension and Farmers Linkages: A case study from Gezira State Sudan

The present study seeks to evaluate the agricultural research, extension, and farmers linkages in Gezira State, Sudan. A field survey was used to collect data from50 extension agents, 50 farmers and50 researchers in Gedarif State, Sudan. The collected data were coded, fed to the computer, statistically analyzed using (SPSS), discussed, and interpreted using descriptive statistics. The results revealed weak linkages between research and farmers, between extension and farmers, and between research and extension. The used method of communication between research, extension, and farmers are workshops, training periods for extension agents, field days, and demonstrations. The Main constraints facing the linkages between research, extension, and farmers are a lack of budgets for linkage activities, weak infrastructure, transfer of extension agents, and separate administrations of research and extension organizations. From this study, it can be concluded that the weak linkages between these three agricultural pillars will lead to low adoption of new agricultural technologies and consequently lead to low income from agricultural production in the country. The study recommends that constraints facing agricultural research, extension, and farmers linkages should be solved.