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Subject: Agricultural Extension × Author: KAU × End date: 2008 × Start date: 2008 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effective agricultural information delivery system-an action research among farmers
    (Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2008) Nazreen Hassan, S; KAU; Kishore Kumar, N
    Extension providers and client expectations include superior information accessing and dissemination, ongoing farmer-extension-research communications and marketing. AgIDS offer tremendous potential for accelerating development. They are transforming our lives, creating wealth and impacting every facet of human endeavor. Agricultural marketing requires connectivity between the market and exporters, growers, traders, industry consumers, through wide area network of national and international linkages in order to provide day-to-day information with regard to commodity arrivals and prevailing rates etc. this study was carried out with the objective of bringing out the underlying facts in the Information Communication technology available to the benefit of the farmers. Thiruvananthapuram district has been purposively selected for the study because this is the only district in Kerala having information kiosks being operated in the Krishibhavans. From the ten Krishibhavans three Krishibhavans were selected based on the maximum numbers of users of this ICT facility based on the records available in the Krishibhavans. The respondents were selected by random sampling method. 60 user farmers and 30 non-user farmers from each panchayat were selected and they formed the respondents of this study. A total of 270 farmers were contacted for the study. From a review of related literature and discussion with experts a comprehensive list of variables were selected. The dependent variables included attributes of ICT, Communication behaviour, information need and skill requirement. Majority of the farmers came under middle age group. Majority of the farmer in both the categories were found to be marginal farmers. Mostly the users were in a better socio economic group. The Extension Service must be able to provide information that makes a difference. ICTs are tools that help build human network, increase public awareness and provide access to information and knowledge for the use of people. They include Telephone, Fax, GIS, Radio, Television, Print, Internet, Video, Audio, Computer and technologies on the drawing boards. Possession of ICT tools by users was found to be higher than the nonusers except for farm magazines where the nonusers out-numbered the users. The mean of the socio technical variables was found to be the maximum for physical compatibility and desirability in the case of users. This was followed by social acceptability and simplicity. This was followed by physical compatibility and social acceptability. In both the cases user education had the minimum score. So this area needs more attention. Majority of farmers in both the categories perceived efficiency of ICT as ‘saving time and money in interacting’ and has ‘all information the farmer wants’ in the nonuser category. This was followed by one stop shop information by the users and supports marketing in the case of non users. There existed significant relation ship between the dependent variables. Also significant relationship was observed in the relationship that existed between some independent variables and dependent variables. A majority of the users claim that they slightly agree to the fact that their productivity has increased compared to the previous year. Analysis of variance showed a comparison between the user group and the non user group. It was found that the user group was higher in the case of all dependent variables. But in the case of information need it was found to be almost similar. A need assessment can help Extension educators to decide whether an extension program should be improved and how the services should be better delivered. The farmers needed information on agriculture such as market rates, bio pesticides, bio fertilizers. These areas ranked top in their information needs. This was followed by organic farming, plant protection and cropping practices. The skill requirement of the non-users farmers was more than the user farmers. The action research was conducted in the form of training on the skills of using computers. The participants for the research were selected by random sampling from the list of non user farmers’ interviewed. The farmers were exposed to the skills for five hours for two days i.e., for ten hours each to a group of thirty members. The influence of Training on the non-users observance on their knowledge gain, and skill acquisition at different intervals of time on the existing ICT facility was studied by documenting the knowledge gain, and skill acquisition at one week, one month and three months interval by the trainees. The results of paired‘t’ test on knowledge gain and skill acquisition showed high significance between different intervals of time. As perceived by the farmers it was found that lack in skill was the major problem that prevented most farmers in accessing through the ICT facility. The farmers also gave out some suggestions to bring this facility in a more effective manner. The study indicated anew strategy for solving the problems in technology dissemination by finding out the actual needs of the farmers in harnessing the benefits of ICT.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Agricultural expert system - a participatory assessment
    (Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Helen, S; KAU; Kaleel, F M H
    Cyber Extension includes effective use of Information and Communication Technology, national and international information networks, Internet, Expert Systems, Multimedia Learning Systems and Computer based training systems to improve information access to the farmers, extension personnel and scientists. The dissemination of the technologies could be enhanced by using expert systems and other artificial intelligence technologies (Hadi et al., 2006). An expert system is a computer-based program that uses knowledge, facts and different reasoning techniques to solve problems that normally require the abilities of human experts. The expert systems are based on the concept of artificial intelligence in which the experience and knowledge of human experts are captured in the form of IF-THEN rules and facts, to solve the field problems (Rao, 2003). ‘Diagnos-4’, was a computer-assisted software developed by Kerala Agricultural University during 2004. This package would support the agricultural extension workers and literate farmers for decision-making and help them in suggesting suitable control measures of the major pests and diseases of important nine crops of Kerala (Ganesan, 2002). It will be modified and released shortly for the benefit of all the stakeholders involved in agricultural development. Before introducing the system among users, it is appropriate to explore the possibilities of functioning of AES under the existing extension system so that suitable modifications can be made to make it more user friendly. Development of AES, ‘Diagnos-4’ was the pioneering and ambitious programme of Kerala Agricultural University. The personnel involved in technology dissemination and technology users need much information on plant protection measures. Hence ‘Diagnos-4’ was selected purposively. The research was conducted among the prospective users in two phases viz; exploratory design among researchers who were in the research institutes engaged in AES development and in TOT, all over India and experimental design among extension personnel and farmers from Palakkad District of Kerala. Mean scores, percentage analysis, Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance, t-test for two samples assuming equal variances and Binary Logistic Regression were the statistical tools used in this study. Twenty AES were identified during this study, developed by various agricultural research institutions in India. Many of the systems were restricted only to limited groups of users and they were yet to be popularized among the ultimate users. It was found that extension personnel and farmers possessed low level of knowledge especially in the areas of plant protection aspects of crops and they were in need of information on the same. Hence there is a lot of scope for the application of AES among extension personnel and farmers on plant protection aspects of crops that help the users to clarify their doubts, confirm their knowledge and provide real time information to the technology users. Prospective users in the transfer of technology stream were very much satisfied about the future prospects of AES based on its better performance, settings in the AES, mode of presentation, practicability and serviceability of the system. The areas that needed modifications were: retrievability of information, relevancy of information and information content. Release of Malayalam Version with more emphasis on easy retrievability of information, needs the immediate attention of the researchers. All the categories of respondents perceived that AES had got ‘more potential’ in the transfer of technology in terms of disseminating information to the users. The combination of AES and human expertise showed better performance and higher Information Efficiency Index (IEI) among the extension personnel and farmers. Majority of the extension personnel rated AES with high IEI. Whereas majority of the farmers rated AES with low IEI. Extension personnel and farmers assessed that the overall percentage of solution offered by AES in the plant protection of rice, coconut and banana was almost on par with the solutions given by human experts and in combination, it served better. It is better to introduce the AES designed separately for extension personnel and farmers. It is also necessary to release the software among the prospective users after a comprehensive orientation in using the AES. Maximum potential of AES can be explored by making the users as the partners in the AES development process to ensure user friendliness of Agricultural Expert System.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Perception of agricultural officers and selected progressive farmers on computer mediated communication: A socio-psychological analysis
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Grace Sarala, S; KAU; Sreevalsan, J Menon
    The study was undertaken with the objective of finding the attitude and perception of Agricultural Officers towards computer mediated communication. The study area was Malappuram and Trichur districts of Kerala. A sample of ninety five Agricultural Officers formed the sample size of the study. The independent variables of the study were age, educational status, trainings undergone, knowledge about modem technologies, communication ability, computer use efficiency, creativity, innovativeness, achievement motivation and information source utilisation. Almost three fourth of the respondents have favourable orientation towards computer mediated communication and four fifth of the respondents have favourable perception towards computer mediated communication. Age and Education shows significant relationship with attitude towards computer mediated communication. Communication ability had positive and significant relationship with perception towards computer mediated communication. There is no relationship between perception with respect to the variables such as age, education, trainings undergone, knowledge, creativity, innovativeness, achievement motivation and information source utilisation. There was significant difference between age, trainings undergone, knowledge about computer mediated communication, innovativeness, achievement motivation between respondents in Malappuram and Trichur districts. Factor analysis using principal axis method was used to extract the nine factors for expressing the characteristics of computer mediated communication. Factor analysis shows that the nine factors V1Z. credibility-accessibility factor, presentation-treatment factor, experiential factor, animation factor, intervention factor cataloguing factor, imaging factor, audio factor, geographic specificity factor together explains 80.11 % of variation. The first two factors Credibility-accessibility factor and Presentation- Treatment factor explained more than 50% of the variation.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Survival stress for livelihood security of farmers in Palakkad district: the case of Nalleppilly panchayat
    (Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2008) Kumaran, V; KAU; Anil kumar, A
    The crisis in the agrarian sector due to many socio-economic, climatic and technology related factors adversely affected the farmers and they have been impoverished, dispossessed and marginalized. As a result they fail to meet even their basic livelihood requirements and hence borrow money but fail to repay due to very low income from farming. Thus these deprived farmers become helpless and undergo high level survival stress forcing them to commit suicide. So it is necessary to design a strategy for resolving this most serious human rights issue. This study entitled “Survival stress for livelihood security of farmers” was an attempt to de-construct the concept of survival stress of farmers which enabled to delineate the various dimensions of, and factors contributing to their survival stress. The study was conducted in Nalleppily Panchayat of Palakkad District. A sample of 100 farmers was selected randomly from the three villages’ viz. Nalleppily, Chittur and Teckaedesam constituted to Nalleppily Panchayat. The study indicated that most of the farmers belonged to old age group and possessed education up to higher secondary level. Most of the farmers lived in joint families. Nearly 50 percent of the respondent farmers were marginal farmers earning less than Rs.30000 per annum and 32 percent were below the poverty line. The average annual expenditure of a farm family was Rs.59750.50 which is much higher than their annual income. Thus they are unable to meet their livelihood demands and they borrow money from all possible sources. It is found that most of the farmers depend on institutional sources rather than non-institutional sources. The study revealed that more than 60 percent of the credit availed is utilized for non-agricultural purposes and thus they get low returns from agriculture and could not repay the loans. The average outstanding debt for a family was Rs.49470 which is twice their annual income. Hence the farmers are not able to meet their domestic consumption and social obligations and responsibilities, and become more vulnerable to survival stress. The results of the study indicated that more than 50 percent of the farmers were under very high survival stress for their livelihood security due the reasons mentioned above. Among them the economic factors were found to be the major contributor for their survival stress followed by social factors, psychological factors and technological factors. To some extent environmental factors were also found generate survival stress for the farmers. The study on the survival stress of the farmers on four dimensions viz, Physical complaints, Negative affective reactions, Negative overt behaviour and Negative cognitive behaviour revealed that more than 80 percent of the farmers were having high survival stress for their livelihood. Among the dimensional factors influencing survival stress, economic dimensional factor was found to be the major contributor followed by personality, family and technological dimensional factors. To some extent environment dimensional factors also generate survival stress though it is not under the control of farmers.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Cause-consequence analysis of indebtedness among farmers in pulpally panchayat of wayanad district
    (College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2008) Bhavya, B; KAU; Mothilal, Nehru S
    The agrarian sector in Kerala is facing a crisis unparalleled in its history. Fall in prices, decreasing production and productivity of crops, diminishing soil fertility and irrigation water availability, climatic aberrations, pest and disease attack of crops etc. have resulted in a manifold decline in the financial viability of agriculture. This has in turn led to a steep increase in indebtedness of farmers and increasing number of farmer’s suicides. In this background, the present investigation has been designed to attempt a cause- consequence analysis of indebtedness of farmers. The study was conducted in Pulpally panchayat of Wayanad district where maximum number of farmer’s suicides due to indebtedness were reported. Sixty respondents were randomly selected for the study. A simple severity index was used to rank the causes and consequences of indebtedness and a usefulness index was used to measure the perception of farmers on governmental interventions in resolving the crisis. Majority of farmers belong to medium category as far as socio economic variables like exposure to mass media, extension participation, extension contact, economic motivation, risk orientation, credit orientation, progressiveness, perception of profitability and level of aspiration is concerned. Agriculture was the main source of income for more than 86 per cent of farmers. Nearly 84 per cent of respondents were indebted for less than two lakh rupees. The average amount of loan across the panchayat of Pulpally is Rs. 96,850. The average amount due per acre for entire sample area was Rs. 64,518. The total number of loans taken was 1.63 times higher than the number of respondents. More than 65 per cent of respondents took credit from institutional sources. For respondents the average number of years of being a creditor and defaulter is 6.91 years and 3.11 years respectively. More than 48 per cent respondents used agricultural loan for non agricultural purposes. The factors leading to indebtedness were delineated and arranged in descending order of severity. They are low market price of produce, disease/pest of support, decline in agricultural income, disease of crop, absence of other sources of income, decrease in produce demand, crop failure due to climatic variations, high rate of interest, absence of value addition, misutilization of loans, pest attack of crop, deficiency of irrigation water, decrease in soil fertility, inefficient marketing, low export price. A similar analysis was done on consequences of indebtedness. The descending order of consequences is changes in lifestyle, hunt for alternate jobs, deforestation in holdings, reduction in money on social purposes, selling land, reduction in money spent on recreation, depression, decrease in health consciousness, aggravation of drinking habit, sale of vehicles, adverse impact on education, social isolation, tensions in family, impact on marriages and house construction and maintenance affected. The usefulness of governmental interventions was measured on the basis of perception of farmers and was arranged in decreasing order of importance. They are compensation cash for pepper, interest waiver, Debt Relief Commission, saplings and fertilizers for pepper farmers and NREGS. It was also found that majority of farmers had high levels of stress.