The Role of Artificial Intelligence Applications in Providing Extension Services and Supporting Environmental Sustainability from the Point of View of Agricultural Employees in Tikrit District / Iraq

Abstract

The research aims to identify the role of artificial intelligence applications in providing extension services from the point of view of agricultural employees in Tikrit District / Salah al-Din Governorate. And to find the correlation between the role of artificial intelligence applications in providing extension services from the point of view of agricultural employees and each of the personal variables. The research area included (the Directorate of Agriculture in Tikrit District, the Tikrit Agriculture Division, and the Extension Center in Tikrit District), where the number of agricultural employees in the research community was (101) employees. A random sample of 80% was selected proportionally so that the number of respondents who underwent the research procedures became (81) employees. The questionnaire form was prepared from two main parts to collect the study data. The first part includes a set of variables related to the personal aspect, and the second part scale consists of (42) paragraphs distributed over six main areas related to the field of artificial intelligence, which are answered through a three-point scale (major role, medium role, weak role). The results showed that the role of artificial intelligence applications in general is average to low, as 80% of the respondents were in the average and weak category. We conclude from this that artificial intelligence applications are not widely available or are not used intensively in agricultural areas. The results showed that artificial intelligence applications were effective in some areas, such as providing weather information. At the same time, their role was weak in other areas, such as diagnosing pests and managing field crops. The researchers recommended giving training programs for agricultural employees and improving the digital infrastructure in agricultural areas.