Abstract

The research aimed to identify the role of agricultural extension in reducing the negative impacts of the Laylan Cement Factory on soil from the farmers’ point of view. It also sought to determine the level at which farmers apply certain agricultural practices to enhance soil health in the study area, examine the correlation between the level of farmers' application of these practices and various independent variables, and rank the soil health-enhancing agricultural practices based on their level of application by the respondents. To achieve the research objectives, a specially designed questionnaire was prepared consisting of three parts. The first part included a number of independent variables related to the respondents. The second part contained an (18) item four-point Likert scale to measure the role of agricultural extension. The third part featured a (16) item three-point Likert scale to assess the level of application of the practices. The research population included all farmers in the eight districts surrounding the Laylan Cement Factory, totaling 56 farmers. From this population, 16 farmers were randomly selected as a pilot sample (pre-test sample) and later excluded from the population of study. Thus, the final research sample consisted of 40 farmers.

The results showed that more than two-thirds of the respondents believe that the role of agricultural extension in reducing the negative impacts of the cement factory is weak. The findings also indicated that the level of farmers' application of certain agricultural practices to enhance soil health in the study area is moderate tending toward weak. Moreover, there was a statistically significant correlation between the level of farmers' application of soil health-enhancing agricultural practices and the variables of educational level, participation in training courses, and level of communication with information sources.