In both, Latin America and Brazil, rural extension is recovering acknowledgment in the context of public policy. In this paper, the problems faced in their practice by a sample of Brazilian rural extensionists are described and how they relate to their conception of rural extension is analyzed. 52 rural extensionists of different Brazilian states were surveyed via email. It is concluded that (1) difficulties related to group or associate work among farmers are the most mentioned, (2) a diffusionist conception of rural extension tend to persist, even against the participatory and dialogical principles established by public policy and (3) rural extensionists have a limited self-critical attitude and tend to perceive the farmers as a problem.
rural extension; conceptions; diffusionism; problems