Famine of information impacts farmers

Forty per cent of farmers in India have access to any one source of information. In Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, over 60 per cent of farmers contacted "some" source for farm-related information, but only 15 per cent did so in Rajasthan.

According to a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report on the extent of information available to farmers on modern farming techniques released today, in Punjab and Haryana, states with strong agriculture base, the figures are abysmally low at 27 and 37 per cent, respectively.

The survey was conducted on a random sample of 51,770 farmer households spread over 6638 villages across the country during 2003.

The most frequently accessed source was "other progressive farmers" with 17 per cent followed by "dealer providing inputs" and "radio", which accounted for 13 per cent.

Television, newspapers and extension workers accounted for 9, 7 and 6 per cent, respectively.

The state-level averages showed that in Kerala, 38 per cent of farmer households relied on newspapers and 31 per cent on radio.

In Jammu and Kashmir, 36 per cent accessed information from radio and 30 per cent from TV.

In Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat, the farmer households relied on the "input dealers" and "other progressive farmers" for farming information.

Over 50 per cent of farmers who received farming related information from sources like radio, TV and newspapers, actually "tried" out the tips whereas the figure for "input dealers" or "other progressive farmers" was 80 per cent.

About 65 per cent of farmers that accessed information from extension workers or the Krishi Vigyan Kendra actually tried it.

Among the farmers accessing information from any source, 96 per cent obtained information on cultivation.

Sixty per cent of farmer households got information on improved seed variety, 49 per cent on fertiliser application, 24 per cent on plant protection measures, 5 per cent on animal husbandry related topics and under 3 per cent obtained information on fisheries.

Most of the farmers rated the information received as "good" or "satisfactory". Only a small percentage of farmers rated the information received by them as poor.