摘要：This study was conducted in three districts (Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar) of Punjab province. A total of 480 respondents selected through a simple random sampling technique participated in the study. Face to face interviews was conducted with the selected farmers on a validated, pre-tested and structured questionnaire. Collected data were analysed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The major objective of the study was to compare the competence of public and private sector EFS, hence T-statistics were applied to test the hypothesis. Results indicated that the null hypothesis was accepted as the EFS of the public and private sectors were statistically different (P<0.05) for professional and technical competence. Private sector EFS was more competent professionally and technically as compared to public sector EFS. This is quite alarming for the credibility of public sector EFS, which is mainly exercising their activities for the welfare of farmers rather than having any business-oriented intention. This study urges to improve the professional and technical competence of EFS especially public sector extension. The government of Punjab, Agriculture Department should pay special attention to the competence development of EFS and for this purpose establishment of the Agricultural Professional training Academy should be ensured. There is a further need to develop a competency framework for the EFS. The field competency of EFS needs to be reviewed especially following the changing needs of agricultural development.
