This study evaluated the responses of public extension agents to the participatory extension approach. Since independence in 1945, Indonesia's extension agency has provided services to farmers to put them at the heart of development. The government promulgated law number 16/2006 on participatory extension as a consequence of political decentralization in the country by 2000. In principle, the new law requires the shift from a top-down approach to a bottom-up approach upward. The law gives objectives to this extension system not only to be "productive, effective and efficient", but also "decentralised, participatory, transparent, self-initiative, fair in partnership... and responsible". The new law urges that extension be a learning process for farmers and business communities, ready to organize themselves and able to access information, technology, capital and other resources to increase productivity and prosperity in harmony with sustainability environmental. Consequently, agents must act as facilitator, rather than agent of technology transfer. The research question is whether the new approach works and what types of potential barriers to implementing the approach? This study focused on three aspects, namely farmer participation, stakeholder partnership and access to contemporary agricultural-rural development as seen by public extension agents. The objectives of the study were: 1) to describe the characteristics of extension agents in Malang Regency; 2) examine the implementation of participatory extension as a new approach from the agents' perspective; 3) examine the challenges faced by agents in implementing the new approach; 4) describe your training needs in implementing the new app… halfway through the document… one in the absence of an interagency network. As a result, public extension agents were not ready to implement the participatory extension approach. For this reason, extension management and policy makers must consider the following recommendations and strategies to address it. Capacity building is vital to improve agents' knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it is recommended to integrate the Communication for Development (C4D) framework to address the complexity of participatory extension. The framework is achieved by bringing in special agents of the C4D to support public extension agents, as well as increasing ICT (information and communication technology) facilities to improve the extension service. Other recommendations regarding demographic and practical considerations are also provided and additional complementary research is identified.