Requirements for Developing the Technical Capabilities of Agricultural Extension Service Providers to Face the Effects of Climate Change in Baghdad Province

The aim of the research is to determine the requirements for developing the technical capabilities of the agricultural extension service providers to face the effects of climatic changes in Baghdad Governorate, to achieve the goal of the research and in order to obtain the respondents’ approval of the requirements (28) requirements were identified in the light of the literature and studies related to the subject and the opinions of specialists to develop the technical capabilities of the agricultural extension service providers distributed on two axes (the ability to know the effects of climate changes, the ability to know the practices to reduce the effects of climate changes). The research community and sample included all workers in the provision of agricultural extension service in the province of Baghdad and distributed to the Department of Agriculture Baghdad Al-Karkh and agricultural divisions affiliated to it and the Department of Agricultural Extension and Training in the province of Baghdad, the number of (110) persons. The results of the research showed that there was a great agreement by the respondents on all requirements for developing technical capabilities.As the requirement (developing the ability of the extension service provider to inform farmers of the impact of climate changes on the production of summer and winter crops) ranked first in terms of the level of approval of the respondents, which obtained a weighted average of (3.84) and a percentage weight of (96.1%). While the requirement (developing the ability of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the possibility of fires occurring in farms as a result of rising temperatures due to climate changes) came in the last order in terms of approval with a weighted average of (3.36) and a percentage weight of (90.9%). The researcher recommended the importance of the competent authorities considering the requirements for developing the technical capabilities of agricultural extension service providers and working on applying them to develop the performance of agricultural extension service providers in the face of climate changes.


Introduction
The agricultural sector represents about 30% of the total workforce in the Arab world, which makes it an essential source of livelihood for a large segment of the population and a major source of national income for countries, including Iraq [1]Today, agriculture faces great challenges that made major organizations and countries strive to meet these challenges [2], which were summarized by the Food and Agriculture Organization by preserving natural resources, achieving food security, and reducing the effects of climate change [3] Which poses a growing and significant threat to food security.As the effects expected to occur as a result of climate change are: an increase in the frequency of extreme climatic events, a rise in temperature, land degradation, disruption of ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, 1259 (2023) 012131 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1259/1/012131 2 and water receding [4] Studies indicate that climate changes are a direct result of an increase in the concentration of some gases in the atmosphere, which are known as greenhouse gases or greenhouse gases [5[ In particular, the three gases (nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide) are attributed to the careful emission of these gases from (deforestation, animal production, nutrients, and soil perpetuation( As the agricultural sectors produce (20-25%) of global emissions of greenhouse gases [6].Because of these emissions of harmful gases resulting from human activities, and with the absence of strategies to mitigate the phenomenon of climate change, it is expected that the air temperature will rise by the end of the century, including It ranges between two degrees to 4.5 degrees, and this will directly affect agriculture and thus threaten food security [7] Given the importance of the agricultural sector, many organizations are interested in it Agriculture and rural population originated [8] Among the institutions that have the responsibility to confront the various effects of climate change that negatively affect agriculture is the Agricultural Extension Agency, which is considered an essential element in achieving sustainable agricultural development and food securit [9] As it seeks to advance the agricultural sector by developing the skills and knowledge of farmers [10], the fact that agricultural extension plays a role in strengthening the link between farmers and the technical agencies related to agriculture [11] It aims to transfer information, experiences, ideas and agricultural innovations and to simplify the results of agricultural research in general and those related to the field of climate change in particular through the activities and programs that it presents to farmers [12] Thus, it requires the agricultural extension service providers in the agricultural and extension organizations to choose the information provided by the research agencies accurately, which farmers benefit from, and which is reflected in the form of extension services provided to them.Thus, they need technical skills and capabilities to use this information, which is in the form of agricultural recommendations that are simplified and presented to farmers to meet the great challenges in the agricultural field [13] The great challenges at this stage impose on the extension apparatus the need to improve its services provided to farmers [14] where it is one of the most important developmental agencies participating in achieving sustainable development, preserving natural resources and improving their investment methods [15] and since the agricultural extension agent represents the main pillar of the success of the extension work in the extension organization by providing the agricultural extension service to the farmers [16] Therefore, it requires the management of the extension institution to work on developing the capabilities, skills, and knowledge of its employees [17] in the field of climate change, and thus requires them to develop human inputs in terms of quality and quantity to effectively face the challenges.Capacity development is a process for which the higher administrative authorities of the extension system are responsible.It is a participatory, planned and organized process that is characterized by continuity and requires identifying the needs of the functional staff and their knowledge and skill needs and preparing appropriate programs to meet them [18] Including the development of technical capabilities to achieve integration and harmony between efforts and activities through the use of appropriate strategies and methods.[19].In view of the importance of the role of extension service providers in the extension institution and the responsibility that rests on them to carry out their extension tasks in the field of successfully confronting the effects of climate change,The matter requires the extension institution to develop their technical capabilities in the field of confronting climate changes (knowing the effects of climate changes and knowledge of agricultural practices to reduce them) to activate the role of extension service providers in performing their extension tasks to successfully confront the effects of climate changes.As well as enabling the extension institution to perform its role properly.Therefore, the research came to answer the following questions: _ What are the requirements for developing the technical capabilities of agricultural extension service providers in the field of confronting climate change?What is the degree of their approval?Research objective: Determine the requirements for developing the technical capabilities of the agricultural extension service providers in Baghdad governorate, including:  Knowledge of the effects of climate change. Knowledge of methods to reduce the effects of climate change.

Materials and Methods
Research community and sample: The province of Baghdad was chosen to conduct the current research, due to the presence of good numbers of employees who provide agricultural extension services to the rural people.The research community included and appointed all the workers in providing the agricultural extension service in the province of Baghdad and the distributors of the Department of Agriculture of Baghdad Al-Karkh and the agricultural divisions affiliated with it and the Extension and Agricultural Training Department in the province of Baghdad, which numbered (110) individuals, as all members of the community were taken as a sample for research due to their lack of numbers.

Research tools
The questionnaire was prepared to collect data by examining scientific sources, studies and research related to the subject, and consulting specialists on the subject from university professors and researchers in the field of agricultural extension.Accordingly, (28) items were identified distributed on two axes: the requirements for the ability to know the effects of climate change by ( 12) items, and the requirements for the ability to know the practices of reducing the effects of climate change by ( 16) items.To measure the respondents' agreement on these requirements, a graduated four-level scale was developed according to the degree of approval, which are (largely agree, moderately agree, slightly agree, disagree) and weights (4, 3, 2, 1) were given to it, respectively.The requirements were arranged in descending order according to the degree of approval and based on the weighted average for each requirement.The data collection process took place from (110) respondents during the period from 5/12/2022 to 20/1/2023.After collecting the data, it was coded and tabulated, then the data was analyzed using manual analysis and the statistical program (SPSS), and statistical methods (weighted mean, weight peracentage) were used to analyze the data.

Results and Discussion
The items related to the technical requirements for developing the capabilities of agricultural extension service providers in the field of confronting climate changes, which numbered (28) items, distributed on two axes (the ability to know the effects of climate changes, the ability to know the practices to reduce the effects of climate changes) got the approval of all respondents.As it obtained a weighted median according to the degree of approval, it ranged from (3.84 -3.63) degrees and percentage weights from (96.1 -90.9%), with a weighted median rate of (3.73) degrees and a weight percentile of (93.5%) on a scale graded according to approval consisting of four, which It means that the average of the weighted media was higher than the hypothetical mean of the average of the weighted parentage, and thus indicates the need for agricultural extension service providers to adopt these requirements in order to develop their capabilities in performing their extension tasks related to the phenomenon of climate change.And as follows:

The Ability to Know the Effects of Climate Change
The (12) items related to the axis (the ability to know the effects of climate change) obtained weighted means according to the approval of the respondents that ranged from (3.84 -3.63) degrees and percentage weights whose value ranged from (90.9 -96.1%) with a median rate of (3.73) and a weight percentile (93.5%).These values are high compared to the hypothetical mean of the quadruple scale (2) degrees, although these degrees vary, as shown in Table (1).Table 1.Distribution of requirements for the ability to know the effects of climate change according to the weighted average of the degree of approval of agricultural extension service providers.It is clear from Table (1) that the requirement (Developing the ability of the extension service provider to inform farmers of the impact of climate changes on the production of summer and winter crops) came in the first place, where it obtained a weighted average of (3.84) degrees and a weight percentage of (96.1%).This may be due to the importance of farmers knowing the seriousness of climatic changes on their crops and agricultural production, which required developing the ability of the extension service provider on how to define and educate farmers about the seriousness of these changes.While the requirement (developing the ability of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the possibility of fires occurring in farms as a result of high temperatures due to climate changes) came last in terms of level of importance, as it obtained a weighted mean of (3.63) degrees and a percentage weighted of (90.9%).This may be due to the non-recording of fires due to high temperatures and the presence of continuous follow-up by farmers on their farms.This requirement came last among the requirements for developing the capabilities of extension service providers.

The Ability to Know the Practices to Reduce the Effects of Climate Change
The items related to the axis (the ability to know the practices to reduce the effects of climate change), which amounted to (16) items, obtained weighted percentage according to the degree of approval of the respondents, which ranged from (3.82 -3.7) degrees and percentage weights whose value ranged from (95.6 -92.5%) with an average of Its amount is (3.76) and weight percentage (94%).Although these values vary, they are high compared to the hypothetical mean of the quadruple scale (2) degrees, as shown in Table (2).Table 2. Distribution of requirements for the ability to know the practices of mitigating the effects of climate change according to the weighted average of the degree of approval of agricultural extension service providers.Developing the extension service provider's ability to spread the culture of water harvesting by building reservoirs to collect rainwater and benefit from it in watering plants.
3.79 94. 7 5 13 The ability of the extension service provider to disseminate the technology of using biological organisms, including mycorrhizal fungi, in agriculture to improve soil properties, the continuity of the natural system, and reduce pollution.
3.78 94. 5 6 6 Developing the ability of the extension service provider to raise awareness of the importance of conducting a soil analysis before adding the required nutrients from the fertilizer 3.77 94. 3 8 11 Developing the capacity of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the need to move towards organic farming to preserve the sustainability of the soil It is clear from Table (1) that the requirement (Developing the ability of the extension service provider to raise awareness of the importance of rationalizing water to maintain its sustainability) came in the first place, where it obtained a weighted average of (3.82) degrees and a weight percentage of (95.6%).This may be due to the effects of climatic changes represented by the lack of rain and water, and to reduce the severity of the effects of these changes on the agricultural sector and the preservation and sustainability of natural resources, which required agricultural extension service providers to know how to educate farmers about the importance of water and ways to preserve it.While the requirement (developing the ability of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the importance of using well water wisely) came last in terms of level of importance, as it obtained a weighted mean of (3.7) degrees and a percentage weight of (92.5%).This may be due to the lack of dependence on well water in agriculture and the large dependence on surface water.This requirement came last among the requirements for developing the capabilities of agricultural extension service providers.

Conclusions and Recommendations
The existence of significant approval by the agricultural extension service providers on the terms of the requirements for developing their technical capabilities in the field of confronting climate changes.This is clear evidence of the awareness of agricultural extension service providers of the importance of knowing the effects of climatic changes on the agricultural field and knowledge of agricultural practices that limit these effects, and shows the extent of their willingness to apply it in the field of their extension and awareness work.The researcher recommended the importance of considering the competent authorities (Agricultural Extension and Training Department, Agricultural Directorates in Baghdad) to the requirements of developing the technical capabilities of agricultural extension service providers and working on applying them to develop the performance of agricultural extension service providers in the face of climate changes.

1 Developing
the extension service provider's ability to inform farmers of the impact of climate change on the production of summer and winter farmers that low rainfall rates and high temperatures are a result of climate change 8Developing the ability of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the seriousness of the decline and decline in soil fertility due to erosion factors and climate changes.service provider's ability to educate farmers about the effects of excessive use of chemical fertilizers on soil fertility of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the impact of climate change on the decline in water levels suitable for agricultural uses. of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the danger of excessive use of pesticides on crops and their impact on service provider's ability to explain the damages of noncompliance with the dates and quantities of fertilizers used and their relationship to the exacerbation of the effects of climate change 3of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the danger of the increasing occurrence of dust storms as a result of climate changes on their crops3 of the extension service provider to educate farmers about the seriousness of the increase in diseases and the spread of pests due to climate changes 3service provider's ability to educate farmers about the possibility of farm fires as a result of high temperatures due to service provider's ability to raise awareness of the importance of rationalizing water to maintain its sustainability service provider's ability to inform farmers of the need to use irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture 3

by Questionnaire Practices to reduce the effects of climate change Weighted Averages Weight percentage Sort by importance
6 Sort