HISTORY OF THE PROGRAMME/SUB-DISCIPLINE/DISCIPLINE
The Department of Agricultural Extension & Rural Development, formally called Department of Agricultural Extension Services, was created out of the former Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension in the 1975/76 session. It was domiciled in the same building with the Department of Agricultural Economics as well as a departmental annex behind Postgraduate School until the 2004/05 session when this present departmental building was provided through the Education Trust Fund (ETF).

To meet global extension needs of middle and high-level manpower, the department runs both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in agricultural extension and rural development. The undergraduate programme leads to the Bachelor of Agriculture (B. Agric) in Agricultural Extension while the three academic postgraduate programmes lead to Master of Science (M.Sc.), Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees respectively. Courses offered in these programmes include agricultural extension, agricultural administration, extension psychology, rural sociology, development communication, rural development and home economics among others.

The Department is organised into four units namely: General Extension, Rural Sociology, Development Communication and Home Economics. These units have a mix of renowned academic and resourceful administrative staff members. The Department coordinates the extension activities of other Departments in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. To actualise this, the Department ran a Pilot Project in Rural Development at Badeku – a rural community near Ibadan metropolis which was scaled up to about 30 other villages in the then Western State of Nigeria. The project area served as a unique action-research laboratory for rural development to the students and staff of the faculty. The programme assembled relevant body of knowledge about rural extension, nutrition and family welfare. The project activities were planned and executed in close collaboration with the Departments of Preventive and Social Medicine and Adult Education, some states Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Trade and Cooperatives, and Economic Planning/Reconstruction and Health. Other collaborating institutions were the Agricultural Credit Cooperation, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, University of Ife. However, the programme was discontinued because of lack of fund. The Department has started another social laboratory at Ile-Ogbo, which is to be extended to other communities soon.

The Department has teaching and research expertise in agricultural extension, rural sociology, home economics and rural development communication. The staff strength of the Department has grown from 8 during its inception to 16 in the 2005/2006 session. Currently there are 19 academic staff and six non-teaching staff. The Home Economics and Communication laboratories of the Department are being developed and hoping will be centre of excellence when adequate space is provided for the facilities. The Department spearheaded the establishment of a radio station – Diamond FM for the University.

The department has benefitted from the leadership of the following eminent individuals:
SN Names Period
1. Professor A. U. Patel 1975 – 1978
2. Professor S. K. T. Williams 1978 – 1984
3. Professor J. A. Ekpere 1984 – 1985
4. Professor Caroline E. Williams 1988 – 1990
5. Professor J. O. Ogunfiditimi 1997 – 1998
6. Professor Janice E. Olawoye 1998 – 2001
7. Professor A. A. Ladele 2004 – 2006
8. Professor Terry A. Olowu 2006 – 2009
9. Professor Janice E. Olawoye 2009 – 2010
10. Professor A. A. Ladele 2010 – 2014
11. Professor A. E. Adekoya 2014 – 2018
12. Professor L. A. Akinbile 2018 – 2020
13. Professor J. O. Oladeji 2020 – 2022
14. Professor M. G. Olujide 2022 – 2024
15. Professor Stella O. Odebode 2024 till date