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ThesisItem Open 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, NExtension 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.ThesisItem Open Access Agricultural expert system - a participatory assessment(Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Helen, S; KAU; Kaleel, F M HCyber 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.ThesisItem Open Access Entrepreneurial effectiveness of agripreneurs in Kerala(College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2009) Gopika, Somanath; KAU; Seema, BThe study entitled ‘Entrepreneurial effectiveness of agripreneurs in Kerala’ was undertaken with the major objective of measuring the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs in Kerala, their socio-personal characteristics, the economic dimensions of the enterprises as well as the extent of possession of the entrepreneurial attributes by the agripreneurs. The study also aimed at inventorizing the agripreneurs operating in the selected districts of the state. The research project was undertaken in the Kasargod, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram districts of the state. From each district 60 agripreneurs comprising 20 on-farm agripreneurs, 20 off-farm agripreneurs and 20 commercial farmers were selected. Thus a total of 180 agripreneurs selected from the three districts constituted the sample for the study. The data collected was statistically analyzed using arithmetic mean, percentage, correlation, analysis of variance and principal component analysis. The inventory of the agro-enterprises prepared for the selected districts revealed that the on – farm agri-business activities such as mushroom cultivation, floriculture, apiculture, ornamental fish culture, and the animal based enterprises were found to be more predominant in the Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur districts while sericulture was more popular in the Thrissur and Kasargod districts. Nursery production was a principal agri-business activity in the Thrissur district and the number of nurseries in the district largely out numbered those in the other two districts. Among the off-farm agri-business activities, the food related processing units, the mat weaving units, the jute products units, the palm spathe products units and the paper bag units were found to be more concentrated in the Thrissur district followed by the Thiruvananthapuram district while the beedi making units were found to be more predominant in the Kasargod district. The commercial farmers were found to be more or less evenly distributed in the three districts with the commercial tobacco and areca nut farmers being restricted to the Kasargod district. The study revealed that the off-farm agripreneurs were entrepreneurially the most effective category followed by the on-farm agripreneurs and the commercial farmers who were found to be on almost on par in their effectiveness. The district-wise and category-wise comparison of the six sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial effectiveness namely production management effectiveness, finance management effectiveness, marketing management effectiveness, labour management effectiveness, risk management effectiveness and time management effectiveness revealed that majority of the respondents in all the categories in case of each sub-dimension belonged to medium effectiveness category. The on-farm agripreneurs, off-farm agripreneurs and commercial farmers exhibited significant differences in their effectiveness only in case of marketing management effectiveness and risk management effectiveness where as significant difference was observed between the agripreneurs belonging to the three districts in case of the possession all the six sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial effectiveness. The district based categories of the agripreneurs exhibited significant differences in their overall entrepreneurial effectiveness scores while the activity-based categories of agripreneurs exhibited no significant differences in their entrepreneurial effectiveness. The Principal Component Analysis of the six sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial effectiveness indicated that the first principal component accounted for the largest percentage variance in the entrepreneurial effectiveness scores of the agripreneurs with the largest magnitude of variation contributed by the sub-dimension viz. ‘Market management effectiveness’ followed by ‘Production management effectiveness’ and ‘Finance management effectiveness’. Thus it was deduced that it is the effectiveness of the agripreneurs in the management of the market for their produce which largely determine their effectiveness in the business followed by their effectiveness in the management of production and finance. Analysis of the relationship between the socio-personal variables and the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs revealed that age of the agripreneurs was negatively correlated with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs, indicating that the agripreneurs belonging to the younger age groups were entrepreneurially more effective. The variables such as education, annual income, social participation, extension contact, mass media exposure, and the diversification of the agri-business activities were found to have positive and significant correlation with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs, while the training received was found to have no significant relation with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs since majority of the entrepreneurs in all the three categories received no training in relation to their enterprise activities. The correlation between the possession of the entrepreneurial attributes by the agripreneurs and their entrepreneurial effectiveness revealed that the possession of all the entrepreneurial attributes studied namely achievement motivation, self confidence, personal resourcefulness, attitude towards self employment, internal locus of control, risk orientation, economic opportunism, innovativeness, market perception and strategic visioning were positively and significantly correlated with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs. The most important constraints faced by the on-farm and off-farm agripreneurs in their decreasing order of importance are the high cost of the inputs, the difficulty in securing credit and the shortage of labour and high wage rates occupying the first three ranks respectively. In case of the on farm agripreneurs the other major problems were the lack of storage facilities and the exploitation by the middle men while in case of the off-farm agripreneurs the constraints securing the fourth and the fifth ranks were the exploitation by the middle man and the lack of adequate training facilities. The commercial farmers also rated the high cost of inputs as the most important constraint followed by the labour shortage and the ever increasing wage rates, the difficulty in securing credit, the constant fluctuations in the market prices of the produce and the incidence of pests and diseases in the crops. Some of the important suggestions for improvement of the agri-business in the state includes fostering linkages between the institutions undertaking research and development activities in agriculture with the farmer’s organizations thereby ensuring them better technical back up, putting the credit systems in place, ensuring the availability of good quality inputs at reasonable costs, popularization of simple, affordable and durable post-harvest technologies for use at the farm level, establishment of small-scale collecting, cleaning, pre-cooling, grading and packaging centers in the Panchayats to reduce the post harvest losses and increase the shelf life of the perishables, establishment of contributory chilling and pasteurization plants at the village level, formation of self-help groups by the farmers for the preparation of value added products and undertaking group marketing of the products, ensuring better insurance cover for the farmers, linking the farmers co-operatives with the district or state co-operatives, to ensure better access to market intelligence, introducing facilities for grading, standardization and branding of the agricultural commodities to increase the consumer acceptance and providing incubation facilities for the processing and value addition of the agricultural produce, with suitable agencies for use by the resource poor agripreneurs.