Abstract
Pakistan is an agricultural country; its development is mainly dependent on this sector. However, agricultural
production of the country is much lower than that of many other countries. This is an era of information wave,
which requires the generation, dissemination, and use of information rapidly. The current technological
developments will have a big impact on the future direction of extension and rural development programs realizing
the abruptness of the new technologies, Govt. of Pakistan accorded a very high priority to this sector. For this
purpose, they have been asked to work under Devolution of Power Plan 2001. That is why the present study has
been designed which represents a descriptive survey research. Out of 341 Agricultural Officers (AOs), a random
sample of 181 was taken. The panel of experts established face and content validity of research instrument. The
Cronbach’
s alpha calculated for Agronomic Practices (0.97). The questionnaire was mailed to the respondents.
Data were analyzed by “Statistical Package for Social Sciences” (SPSS). The discrepancy values based on the
mean perceptions of AOs were positive values for all 14 competencies ranging from lowest value 0.21 to highest
value 0.99. It means that AOs needed training in all 14 competencies of Agronomic Practices
