The extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural staff in the agricultural extension units administration in the Agricultural Directorate of Salah Al-Din / Iraq

The research aimed to determine the extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural staff in the management of the extension units of the agricultural department in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din directorate and identification of the extensional-epistemic needs in each of the areas of research (planning, organizing and decision-making, communication, coordination, observing and evaluation field). The research also aimed to identify the correlation between the extensional-epistemic needs and each of the following independent variables: (gender, academic degree, specialization, number of years of agricultural extension work, period of employment, sharing in training courses and administrative responsibility). A simple random sample (20%) was pell of the total community, where the total of its members reached (89) respondents. The questionnaire was used as a mean to collect data and it consist of two parts, the first part included some independent variables while the second part included (25) items related to the process of managing the extension units distributed over five areas, in front of which was a five-step scale (very high need, high need, medium need, low need, very low need) The results showed that the level of extensional needs in all areas is high we conclude from this research that agricultural staff lack information and skills in all areas of extension unit management. The results also showed a negative correlation between the level of needs and the variables studied; therefore, we conclude the importance of these variables and that they inversely affect the level of needs. Researcher recommends that the Salah Al-Din Agriculture Directorate should prepare educational and training activities for agricultural employees to develop their administrative skills and provide them with the necessary expertise.


INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH PROBLEM
The human element is considered an essential factor for achieving development in all fields. Many elements of material development are easy to provide or buy, while it takes a long time to prepare the working person and reach him to the required efficiency during which he makes arduous efforts. This has been proven by experiences in many developing countries where material resources are available but lack the efficient human element. Thus, it becomes clear that the human factor is one of the determining variables for the development of the various economic sectors, one of which is _____________________________ the agricultural sector, especially in the societies of developing countries, in which agriculture is still the sector in which a large part of the individual community works (Al-Ziyadi, 2005: 2).
.The agricultural sector in particular in developing countries has a priority in the interests of policy makers to conduct administrative reform and organizational change, with its great responsibility in achieving food security and poverty reduction, especially in light of the magnitude of the challenges it faces in recent years, the most important of which is the steady population increase and climate change, Urban sprawl in rural areas, lack of water resources, in addition to changing demand for the quality of agricultural products on world markets (Birner et al., 2012: 1).
The governments of the different countries of the world have paid attention to the role of governmental organizations, especially agricultural organizations, in advancing agricultural development. Agricultural organizations are a vital and vital requirement in raising the efficiency of agricultural production, (Waddington, 2010:2). The agricultural extension is considered one of the development agencies that participate in the process of developing agriculture and, consequently, developing the people of the countryside. As it is the agricultural educational system that is concerned with the responsibility of making the desired behavioral changes (cognitive, skillful, and emotional) in the rural population, by assisting them in identifying their problems, putting them in priorities and proposing solutions to them, (Al-Sarraf, 2008: 36). The reality of agricultural extension is described as (without the level of what it should be like) in the face of the desired goals and that weakness and for many reasons, the most important of which is weakness in management and performance (Al-Alaq, 2008: 3) Traditional management patterns are no longer able to keep pace with changes because they are designed according to a stable environment, which is no longer available at this time. (Mursli, 2011: 2) The administrative decision-making process, as agreed by many scholars, is the axis and essence of the administrative process and that the success of the institution or department depends to a large extent on the ability and efficiency of administrative leadership to make appropriate administrative decisions, and from this standpoint thinking has become in administrative work, he focuses to a large extent on the decision-making process, its adopted methods, and the variables that affect it (Al-Hazaymeh, 2009: 397).
Thus, the first and main importance of the indicative administration becomes clear. In order to achieve these goals, the extension administration, like the rest of the departments, exercises a set of functions, operations, activities, and works related to planning, organizing, implementing, supervising , and evaluating, and reconciling the actions and tasks of the sub-units and their activities and communication (Tawfiq, 2008 : 10) and coordination And other jobs as well as cooperative work among all workers in order to achieve the objective pursued by the extension agency (Al-Morsi, 2005: 29). The level of performance of agricultural extension units, their impact, and their effectiveness in the field of developing the people of the countryside and agriculture is affected by many and various variables, including employees, where agricultural employees are one of the internal variables for the success of these units as they constitute the human inputs to the organization or institution, so it is important that the organization has Agricultural Extension the number of employees, male and female, and who are scientifically and practically qualified, commensurate with the nature of extension services requirements and the roles and tasks assigned to them, and commensurate with the privacy of the rural and agricultural environments in which they work (Naji, 2004: 45) . The unit manager is an essential element in any organization regardless its revenue (government, private sector) or its field of activity, because it is directly responsible for its management and conduct of its affairs, preparation and implementation of its projects, programs and plans, and the level of its effectiveness in achieving its objective , success, continuity and development, all of which are affected by the level of performance of the manager in his duties (Al-Badr, 2005: 17).
In order for the manager to manage any unit successfully, there is a set of characteristics that are supposed to be characterized, such as the ability to drive toward the goals set according to the plan prepared in a scientific and programmatic manner and the ability to develop the reality of the policies adopted in his organization to keep pace with modern and ongoing developments in science and technology. And also the ability to identify work problems and obstacles before they happen and see the views of others within the framework of his organization or outside and adopt the method of successful organized meetings, and the ability to supervise, coordinate and evaluate (Al-Atabi, 2007: 16) as it is one of the major problems in the field of career staff and management of extension units it is for the agricultural directorates in the governorates and their agricultural divisions in the districts and districts to assign agricultural employees with different agricultural job addresses that are not properly qualified to carry out the management process, and assign them to the responsibility of field agricultural extension work in the areas of work of those departments (extension officials in those divisions) (Al-Jaf, 2001: 73). This is reflected in the functions and operations carried out by the extension departments, which did not perform their duties at the required level, as indicated by the Al-Ta'i study, as this study indicated a weakness in the performance of the extension administration and the absence of some of its activities at all levels (Al-Ta'i, 2009: 4). From the foregoing it becomes clear the importance of management for extension units and their money from the effects of extension work for those units in rural agricultural areas, as these units are service units that have agricultural programs, projects, activities and goals that they seek to achieve, and these are all affected by the efficiency of the person responsible for their management and the extent to which they achieve the roles and functions assigned to them and to be based On administrative standards and qualifications that enable him to do so, and based on the above and in order to stand on the administrative qualifications, knowledge needs and extension capabilities of the agricultural employees of the Salah Al-Din Agriculture Directorate, the idea of the study came to identify the educational indicative needs of agricultural employees in the Salah Al-Din Agriculture Directorate in the field of extension units management until The administrative capabilities and knowledge needs are identified and addressed so that the agricultural employees in these people are able to manage these units in the event they are assigned to them, and this research comes to answer the following questions: -What is the knowledge extension need for agricultural employees in the field of extension units management?
-What is the relationship between the level of the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units management and the independent personal variables of the respondents?

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:
The research aims to achieve the following objective: 1-Determining the extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of extension units management affiliated to the agricultural divisions of the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate, in general.
2-Defining the extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural staff in the field of managing the extension units of the agricultural people in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate in each field of research: (the planning, the organization and decision-making, the communication, coordination, the supervision, observing and evaluation).
3-Arranging the research fields in descending order according to the weight percentage.
4-Recognition the correlation between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units of the agricultural departments in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate, and each of the following independent variables: (gender, academic achievement, specialization, job duration, number of years of agricultural extension work, sharing in Training courses, administrative responsibility).

STATISTICAL HYPOTHESIS:
1-The research assumes that there is no correlation relationship between the cognitive extensional needs of agricultural staff in the administration of the counseling units of the Agricultural departments in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and gender.

2-
The research assumes that there is no correlation relationship between the cognitive extensional needs of agricultural staff in the administration of the counseling units of the Agricultural departments in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and academic degree.

3-
The research assumes that there is no correlation relationship between the cognitive extensional needs of agricultural staff in the administration of the counseling units of the Agricultural departments in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and specialization.

4-
The research assumes that there is no correlation relationship between the cognitive extensional needs of agricultural staff in the administration of the counseling units of the Agricultural departments in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and period of employment.

7-
The research assumes that there is no correlation relationship between the cognitive extensional needs of agricultural staff in the administration of the counseling units of the Agricultural departments in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and administrative responsibility.

RESEARCH IMPORTANCE
The research was accomplished for the scientific contribution by improving the performance of agricultural employees and filling their knowledge deficiency. So that they can manage the advisory units if assigned to them, and upgrade their level in this job and contribute to ensuring the sustainability of the extension work. This is to prepare training courses in the field of unit management and extension and agricultural activities, and to design these courses based on their actual needs, which are identified through scientific research. In order to meet those needs and be of benefit to them, then their performance improves and develops, which contributes to developing the performance of agricultural extension organizations in which they work and achieving their objectives.

PROCEDURAL DEFINITIONS
1-Agricultural Extension Unit: An official organizational unit in the organizational structure of the Agricultural Divisions in the Agricultural Directorates 2-Extensional indicative need: It is the feeling of the agricultural staff of a knowledge deficiency in the field of managing the extension unit. This feeling of inferiority may be comprehensive for all or part of the fields.

3-Extensional Unit Management:
The total administrative functions performed by the agricultural employee in the Extensional Unit that is responsible for managing it. 4-Agricultural staff: Preparatory and institute graduates, agricultural institutes or colleges working in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate.

RESEARCH METHOD:
The descriptive approach was used to achieve the objectives of the research, and this approach is appropriate in obtaining detailed data and facts about the needs of the target at a specific time (Al-Asadi, 2008: 51). Then classifying those data and facts, treating them and analyzing them carefully, and explaining the conjunctions, to extract their indications and to reach sufficient and accurate results and generalizations on the research problem (Al-Bayati, 2005: 10).

RESEARCH AREA:
The Directorate of Agriculture and its subordinate, in Salah al-Din governorate, were chosen to conduct the research. We were chosen because it is one of the important agricultural governorates in Iraq that supply the national food with various crops, whether fruits, grains, and vegetables.

THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY AND ITS SAMPLE:
The research included all the agricultural employees working in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and its agricultural divisions, who numbered (476) employees (according to records of the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate) and after excluding the initial test sample of (20) employees, the research community became (456) Employee A simple random (20%) was taken of the research community, where the total of its members reached (89) respondents.

DATA COLLECTION MEAN:
A questionnaire was prepared as a data collection mean to determine the level of extensional-epistemic needs for agricultural employees in the field of extension units of the Agricultural Divisions. It consisted two parts; the first part was questions about the independent personal variables, which are: (gender, academic degree, specialization, period of employment service, period of service in extension work, sharing in training courses, administrative responsibility). The second part consists five areas in the management of extension units, the areas are: (planning, organizing and Making decisions, communication, coordination, supervision, monitoring and evaluation). We put in front of the paragraphs of each field a five-level scale (very great need, high need, medium need, little need, very low need), so we have identified the following numerical values (5,4,3.2,1), respectively. As shown in Table (1):

MEASUREMENT OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLES:
The independent personal variables were measured in the questionnaire form as follows: 1-Gender: It was measured according to the following levels: (male, female) and numerical values (2, 1) were assigned to it, respectively.
2-The academic degree: It was measured according to the following levels: (Preparatory school, Institute, Bachelor, Postgraduate studies). The following numerical values were allocated to these levels (1, 2, 3, 4), respectively.

5
(5 -25) The first Field: planning 6 (6 -30 ) The second Field: organization and decisionmaking 6 (6 -30 ) The third Field: communication and coordination 3 ( 3-15 ) Fourth Field supervision 5 (5 -25) Fifth Field: monitoring and evaluation 25 (25-125) Total 3-Specialization: It was measured according to the following levels: (Specialized in agricultural extension, not specialized in agricultural extension). The following numerical values were allocated to these levels (2, 1), respectively. 4-Number of years of agricultural extension work: This variable was measured by the number of years of extension work. 5-Job Duration: This variable was measured by the number of years of job service.
6-Sharing in training courses: It was measured according to the following levels (sharing in training courses, not sharing in training courses). The following numerical values were assigned to these levels (2, 1), respectively. 7-Administrative responsibility: this variable was measured according to the following levels (agricultural manager, division manager, department manager, unit official, director of extensional farm, others ) The following numerical values were assigned to these levels (6,5,4,3,2,1 ) Respectively VALIDITY AND STABILITY: To achieve validity with its apparent qualities and the content of the measuring instrument, the questionnaire was presented in its primary form to professors specializing in the Agricultural extension Department at the college of Agriculture / Tikrit University, and expert comments were taken in terms of extensional-epistemic and content and appropriate adjustments were made according to their opinions. Then, a preliminary test was conducted on a random sample of (20) respondents, to know the stability and validity of the scale. Crounbach's-Alph method was used to calculate stability, which has a value of (0.78) and a value of validity coefficient (0.88). Thus, the questionnaire was characterized by good stability and validity, and is valid for collecting data from the respondents. The data collection was completed on 15th June 2020, after that the data were arranged in tables, and tabulated in order to reach the results and their implications.

STATISTICAL METHODS:
The statistical analysis program (SPSS) was used in data analysis, it uses for descriptive method research.

Results AND DISCUSSION
The first objective: in general, to determine the educational needs of the agricultural staff in the field of extension units management affiliated to the agricultural departments of the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate.
The results showed that the highest value of the need obtained by the respondents in the field of extension units in general (125) and the lowest value of the need (25) with an average general need of (89.97). The respondents were divided into three categories using the term law, as shown in Table (2):  Table (2), we can observe 42.70% of the respondents in the high need category, followed by the medium need category with 30.33%. Therefore, the level of indicative knowledge needs is as high. This indicates a lack of knowledge and information among agricultural employees in the field of extension units management. This may be due to the weak knowledge and skills of the respondents and the insufficiency of extension and training programs, which provide them with management skills in addition to that, most of the respondents are not specialized in agricultural extension. Because of the curricula in the agricultural extension departments, they do not provide students with detailed information on the science of extension management and its fields.
The second objective: To determine the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units management that are affiliated with the agricultural departments of the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate in each field of research:

-The field: planning
The results showed that the highest numerical value of the need was obtained by the respondents in the field of planning (25) and the lowest numerical value of the need (5) with an average general need of 18.50 the respondents were divided into three groups using the term law, as shown in Table  (3):  Table (3), we note that 44.95% of the respondents are in the high need category, then the middle class with 28.08%.Therefore, the level of knowledge indicative needs is described as high, that indicates the existence of a knowledge need and a lack of information among researchers in the field of planning in managing the indicative unit. This may lead to a weakness in the cognitive preparation of the respondents in this field, where the planning process includes the need for a lot of information and skills, which may be difficult for agricultural employees to complete without academic and cognitive qualification to enable them to prepare plans.

-The field of organization and decision-making
The results showed that the highest numerical value of the need was obtained by the respondents in the field of organization and decision-making (30) and the lowest numerical value of the need (6) with an average general need of 19.90 The respondents were divided into three categories, using the term law, as shown below in Table (4):   (4), we note that 43.82% of the respondents are in the medium need category, after which the low category is 30.33%. Therefore, the level of indicative knowledge needs is described as moderate and tends to decrease. Which indicates a need, but medium in the area of organization and decision-making. Perhaps the reason was that most of the respondents did not exercise administrative responsibilities, therefore, they did not have enough information on organization and decision-making, so the level of need was medium.

-The field of communication and coordination
The results showed that the highest numerical value of the need was obtained by the respondents in the field of communication and coordination (30) and the lowest numerical value of the need (6) with an average general need of 20.12. The respondents were divided into three categories using the term law, as shown in table (5):  (5), we note that 41.57% of the respondents are in the medium need category, after which the high category is 32.59%. Therefore, the level of cognitive extensional needs is medium, which tends to rise. This indicates that there is a knowledge need, and that there is a lack of information among the respondents in the field of communication and coordination in the management of the extension unit, perhaps the reason for this is that this field needs communication skills that most employees do not possess, so the result is at this level.

-The field of supervision
The results showed that the highest numerical value of the need was obtained by the respondents in the field of supervision (15) and the lowest numerical value of the need (3) with an average general need of (9.10) .The respondents were divided into three categories using the term law, as shown in table (6):  (6), we note that 43.82% of the respondents were in the category of medium need, while the high and low category came in the same percentage, so the level of Cognitive extension needs is described as average. This indicates that there is an average knowledge need and lack of information among the respondents in the field of supervision in the management of the extension unit, perhaps this caused the respondents not practicing the supervisory function because they were not assigned to administrative work, so they lack a lot of information and skills in this field.

-The field of monitoring and evaluation
The results showed that the highest numerical value of the need was obtained by the respondents in the field of monitoring and evaluation (25) and the lowest numerical value of the need (5) with an average general need of (19.81). The respondents were divided into three categories using the term law, as shown in table (7):  (7), we note that 39.33% of the respondents are in the high need category, after which the middle class is 33.70%. Therefore, the level of indicative knowledge needs is described as high, which indicates a high need for monitoring and evaluation. Perhaps the reason is that the follow-up and evaluation as a process requires specialized information and expertise, and it may sometimes be done by experts from outside the extensional units. Therefore, agricultural employees often do not practice the process than was the level of need The third objective: Ranking of the research fields in descending order according to the weight percentage. To make a comparison between the averages of the extensional-epistemic needs for the study journals. The weight percentage of the domains was calculated by dividing the arithmetic mean for each field by the maximum score for that field multiplied by 100. The results are shown as in Table  ( (8) shows that the field of monitoring and evaluation came in first place with a Weight percentage of (79.24). This may be due to the fact that the field of monitoring and evaluation as a process requires specialized information and skills, which are often carried out by committees from the higher administrative levels. Therefore, the respondents lack a lot of information and experience in this field. The field of planning came second with Weight percentage of (74), while field of communication and coordination came third with Weight percentage of (67.06). The field of organization and decision-making came in fourth place with Weight percentage of (66.33) As for the field of supervision, it ranked last, with a Weight percentage of 60.66. The reason for this, may be that supervision as a process does not need a lot of skills and experience, as well as is one of the difficult tasks, and the employee's duty in this process is to supervise the implementation of the plan previously prepared by the higher authorities, and to direct the implementers according to the directions attached to the plan, so it was the last rank among the fields. Fourth Objective: To identify the correlation between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units affiliated to the agricultural people in the Agricultural Salah Al-Din Directorate and each of the following independent variables: (gender, academic degree, specialization, job duration, number of years of agricultural extension work, sharing Training courses, administrative responsibility): In order to find the correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units and independent personal variables, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used for quantitative variables and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient for descriptive variables, then , the test (t) was used to find the correlation significance as shown in table ( 9):   (9) showed the correlation between the of extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units management and the independent variables listed below: 1-gender: The results showed that the male category of the respondents is the highest percentage, as it reached 77.52%. To find the correlation between the level of the of extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units and gender, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, which has a value of (-0.124), is not significant, On the probability level (0.05), thus accepting the null hypothesis, and this relationship shows that the gender of the respondent is not related to the level of needs, and the reason for that may be due to the fact that the administration of extension units needs a set of skills, experiences and knowledge that do not enter the gender of the respondent, so if the opportunity is available for males or females To obtain these experiences and skills, they must be able to successfully manage units.

2-Academic degree:
The results showed that the respondents who hold a bachelor's degree reached 41.58%, and they are the highest percentage of the total respondents. To find the correlation between the level of extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of extension units management and academic achievement, we used the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, which has a value of (-0.283), which is a negative correlation relationship at the level of probability (0.01), thereby rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis (There is a correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the area of extension units management and academic achievement). This relationship shows that the academic achievement of the respondent has an inverse relationship to the level of needs, and the reason for this may be that the increased academic achievement of the respondents makes them possess academic expertise and knowledge, which enables them to manage extension units well in all fields.

3-Specialization:
The results showed that the non-specialists in the agricultural extension are the vast majority, as they account for 78.66% of the total respondents. To find the correlation between the level of extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of extension units and specialization, use the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, which has a value of (0.411 -), which is a negative significant relationship at the level of probability (0.01), thus rejects the null hypothesis and accepts the alternative hypothesis that states (There is a correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the area of extension units management and specialization). This relationship shows that the academic specialization in the agricultural extension of the researcher has an inverse relationship to the level of needs. This may be due to the fact that agricultural extension specialists have integrated academic information that was provided to them in the study on extension management, its types and skills, so the employee specialized in agricultural extension has a lower level of need.

4-Number of years of agricultural extension work:
The results show that the low category of extension work years (1-8) reached 52.80%, which is the highest percentage of the total respondents. To find the correlation between the level of extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of extension units management and years of agricultural extension work, he used the Pearson correlation coefficient, whose value (0.267 -), which is a negative correlation relationship at a level of probability (0.01), therefore we were rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis that It states (There is a correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural workers in the field of extension units management and years of extension work). This relationship shows that the years of agricultural extension work for the respondent have an inverse relationship to the level of needs, and the reason for that may be due to the fact that the years of extension work gain the employee extensional-epistemic about the management and its skills, and that the large number of practices leads to the accumulation of experiences among employees and therefore the level of need is less than others.

5-sharing in training courses:
The results showed that 68.53% of the respondents are not sharing in any training course related to management. To find the correlation between the level of extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of managing extension units and sharing in the training sessions, he used the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, which amounted to ( -0.387 ), which is a negative correlation relationship at the level of probability (0.01), therefore, by rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis that It states (There is a correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the area of extension unit management and participation in training courses). This relationship shows that sharing in the training courses of the researcher has an inverse relationship to the level of needs, the reason for that may be due to the fact that the training courses provide the sharing with information, experiences and skills about management, and therefore the level of knowledge need of the sharing in these courses is less than others.
6-Employment service period: The results showed that the category (13-24) years reached 46.06%, which is the highest percentage among the groups. To find the correlation between the level of extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units management and the duration of the job service, use the Pearson correlation coefficient, which has a value of ( -0.361 ), which is a negative extensional-epistemic relationship at the level of probability (0.01), thus rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis On (there is a correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension unit management and the duration of employment). This relationship shows that the period of employment service has an inverse relationship to the level of needs, and the reason may be that the years of career service the more that led to the accumulation of information skills among agricultural employees. 7-Administrative responsibility: the results showed a category (others) that includes all agricultural employees who have no administrative responsibility and their percentage is 58.42%, which is the highest percentage among the groups. To find the correlation between the level of extensional-epistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of extension units and administrative responsibility, use the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, which has a value of ( -0.321), which is a negative correlation relationship at the level of probability (0.01) and thus rejects the null hypothesis and accepts the alternative hypothesis which states (There is a correlation relationship between the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the area of extension unit management and administrative responsibility). This relationship shows that the administrative responsibility has an inverse relationship to the level of needs, and the reason may be that the employee who has administrative responsibility will have practiced management in all of its areas physically, and therefore, he has more management skills and experiences than others, the more administrative responsibilities the employee has.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the study, the following conclusions were reached: 1-The level of the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in the field of extension units management was average and tended to rise. We conclude that agricultural employees need educational and training activities and courses to provide them with the necessary expertise to raise the level of their skills in managing extension units. 2-The results showed that the level of the extensional-epistemic needs of agricultural employees in all fields is slightly high. It turned out that the lowest level of needs was average. We conclude that agricultural staff lack information and experience in all fields of extension unit management. 3-The field of monitoring and evaluation was ranked first, which indicates a severe knowledge deficiency and a high level of needs. 5-The results showed that there is a negative correlation between the level of the extensionalepistemic needs of the agricultural employees in the field of extension units management and each of the following variables: ( academic degree, specialization, duration of employment service, number of years of agricultural extension work, sharing in training courses, administrative responsibility) . We conclude the importance of these variables, and that they inversely affect the level of extensional-epistemic needs of employees agricultural.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Based on the research results of this study, the researcher recommends the following: 1-The necessity for Salah Al-Din Agriculture Directorate to organize extension and training activities for agricultural employees to provide them with the necessary information and skills in order to increase the level of expertise and knowledge they have in the field of extension unit management. 2-Focusing on the field of follow-up and evaluation when organizing educational or training materials, because this field ranked highest in the level of needs. 3-It is necessary that the tasks of extension units management be assigned to agricultural employees who specialize in agricultural extension as much as possible. 4-Conducting a similar study on extension management on a large scale at the country level, and should be this study will be comprehensive for all extension institutions and organizations, whether they are (bodies, departments, units, centers or private sector companies) to determine the administrative capabilities and qualifications of managers in those institutions.