UTILIZATION PATTERN OF DIFFERENT SOURCES AND CHANNELS OF WEATHER INFORMATION BY THE RAINFED FARMERS

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "UTILIZATION PATTERN OF DIFFERENT SOURCES AND CHANNELS OF WEATHER INFORMATION BY THE RAINFED FARMERS"

Transcription

1 Indian J. Agric. Res., 47 (3) : , 2013 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE / indianjournals.com s UTILIZATION PATTERN OF DIFFERENT SOURCES AND CHANNELS OF WEATHER INFORMATION BY THE RAINFED FARMERS N. Satishkumar*, Prabhuling Tevari and Amit Singh Agricultural Research Station, Siruguppa, Bellary , India Received: Accepted: ABSTRACT Weather assume significant role in nearly every phase of agricultural activity from preparatory tillage to harvesting and storage. Various organizational and institutional agencies were disseminating the forecasting weather information to help farmers plan their agricultural operation so as to take advantages of the favourable weather and mitigating the effects of adverse weather. Farmers use both the traditional as well as modern tools to access and in assess the weather information. Viewing the area the present study is designed to investigate the utilization pattern of weather information sources by the rainfed farmers of Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh state. A sample of 80 farmers was selected randomly from KVK adopted villages of Ranga Reddy district and their observation was collected through structured interview schedule. The study compared the utilization pattern of different sources and channels used by the farmers to access weather information or agro meteorological to plan agricultural operations. There were distinct pattern of weather information sources utilised by the rainfed farmers in the study region. TV (62.5%) and radio were ranked first and second among mass media source used by them. Agricultural extension officer followed by KVK were emerged as the major source of weather information in case of personal cosmopolite source. With regards to localite source indigenous knowledge plays prime source for weather information. There is need to improve the accessibility of weather information from medium level to high by improving linkages and utilization of Information communication technology. Key word: Channel of information, Rainfed, Weather INTRODUCTION In India rainfed areas currently constitute 55 per cent of net sown area of the country. Even after realising the full irrigation potential, more than half of the cultivated area will continue to remain rainfed. The 55 per cent un-irrigated agriculture supporting 40% human population, two third livestock population and contributing 40% to the food grain production of the country. But it is risky, vulnerable, diverse, and complex and under invested (NRAA, 2012). Weather simply refers to day to day meteorological condition, especially temperature, cloudiness and rainfall affecting a specific place. The growth of crop and their development are primarily governed by environmental conditions of soil and weather. The qualitative and quanti tati ve improvements in crop production are intimately related to the prevailing conditions (Anonymous, 2009). The weather element includes temperature, precipitation and sunshine which are influencing the crop growth and yield. Weather assume significance in nearly every phase of activity from selection of crop varieties, time of sowing, transplanting, scheduling of irrigation, time of fertiliser application, using pesticides, harvesting process and storage decided by weather. Adverse weather warning for the same would be useful to farmer for estimating the nature of the impending attacks based on the current conditions and past experiences. So, that they can take suitable and remedial action and reduces losses. Temperature is important weather variable influencing crop production directly and indirectly. According to World Meteorological Organization (WMO, 2011) over the ten years from 2001 to 2010, global temperatures have averaged 0.46 C above the average, and are the *Corresponding author satishndri18@gmail.com; 2 National Dairy Research Institute - Karnal.

2 highest ever recorded for a 10-year period since the beginning of instrumental climate records. Source and channels of weather information:in India agro meteorological information disseminated through different channels and sources by various ministries and organisations involved for betterment of farming community and agricultural production. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) established a network of observatories all over the country and forecasting the weather information. Besides this general interest farmer s weather bulletins are also issued, indicating precipitation, temperature and humidity and other farm weather related information. This information has broadcasted in different regional languages through the stations of All India Radio (AIR) and Televisions (TV). The Agricultural Meteorological Division (AMD) of IMD maintain network of agro meteorological observatories across the country with the coordination of agricultural universities and research institutions in different states. The AMD prepares weather calendars which helps farmers to plan agricultural operation so as to take advantages of the favourable weather and mitigating the effects of adverse weather. Along with mass media sources, farmers contacting the personal cosmopolite and other localite source to access to weather information to plan and manage their crops for their sustainable livelihood in particular and food security in general. Even if it is available through these entire source and channels farmers are unable to fully utilise. Keeping this view the present study has been planned with objectives to study socio-economic profile and to investigate the utilisation pattern of source of weather information by the rainfed farmers MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in three Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) adopted villages of Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh. A sample of 80 farmers from these villages was randomly selected. The primary data was collected by personal interview method using a structured interview schedule. The collected data was analysed with the help of SPSS and using descriptive statistics. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Socio-Personal profile of the respondents: The study of socio personal variables in Table-1 shows that 55 % of the respondents were middle aged while Vol. 47, No. 3, rest 27.5% and 17.5% were in age group of young and old respectively. The average age of the respondents was 43 years and standard deviation was A significant population in the study area was found to be illiterate (28.75%). It shows that 15% of respondent can read and write, 28.75% completed primary education and only 17.50% of respondents had passed high school. The study revealed that % of respondents belonged to other backward classes (OBC) and few 13.75% belong to schedule caste. The above Table 1 revealed that majority (66.25%) of respondent had nuclear type family. The majority 52.50% had the small (up to 5 members) family size whereas rest 40 % medium size (6 to 8 members) and 7.5 % had large family. The farmers had vast experience of farming in the study area. The study shows that 48.75% of respondents have more than 21 years farming experience. The average farming experience among the respondents was years and the standard deviation was It is therefore almost all the respondent were involved in farming. The table shows that 36.25% respondents were involved in farming and wage labour. It further explored that the farmers were also involved in mixed farming (21.75%), whereas, 17.5 per cent of the respondents depends on agriculture and other allied activities. Socio-Economic profile of the respondents: The socio economic profile reveals in Table-2 that % belonged to small and marginal farmers having less than 1 to 5 acres of land holding. The study also shows that the landholding varies from less than one hectare to more than 10 acres % have medium size ( acres) and only 5.00% per cent of respondents have large farm (more than 10 acres) holdings. The farmer in district after monsoons depends on groundwater through openwell and borewells. In the study area per cent respondents owned open wells and per cent had borewell source of irrigation. The study further explored that 41.6 per cent of respondents were sharing the irrigation with neighbour farmers. This is due to fragmentation of inherent landholding within the families are the main cause.

3 250 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH TABLE 1: Socio-Personal profile of farmer Particulars Category Frequency Percentage M ean Std. Deviation Age Young (< 35) M iddle (36-45) Old (> 46) Education Illiterate Read and w rite Primary High school Above Caste General OBC SC Farming Experience Low (upto 15) M edium (16-20) High (> 21) Family Size Small(up to 5) Medium(6 to 8) Large(more than 9) Family Type Nuclear Joint Occupation Only farm ing Farming + dairy Farming + Dairy + Labour Farming + labour Farming + other allied activities TABLE 2: Socio-Economic profile of farmer Particulars Category Frequency Percentage Mean Std. Deviation Landholding Small and marginal Medium Large 4 5 Source of irrigation Open well Borewell No irrigation Jointly used irrigation Annual income (in Rs) 37,488 Low Medium High Social participation

4 Vol. 47, No. 3, 2013 TABLE 3: Utilisation pattern of weather information. 251 Particulars Regularly Occasionally Never Rank(based on farmer ranking) N % N % N % Radio II TV I News Paper IV Farm Magazines V Mobile III Exhibition VI Film shows VII AEO I AO III KVK II ITK I Social Contact II The farmers in the area have low annual income. The table shows that the income of majority (53.75%) of respondents were between the range of Rs.8000 to 20,000 with the average annual income of Rs.37,488. The study reported 61.25% of respondents were members of one or the other organisation in the study area. The mean of respondent s social participation was 0.61 with standard deviation of Source of weather information utilisation: Source and channels of agricultural information play important role in the dissemination of information from the source of its invention to its ultimate users that are client system ( Meena and Aiswarya, 2011). The source of information is important factor in disseminating information to farmers on responding to weather events and seasonal climatic conditions in cropping season. This weather information utilisation pattern varies among farmers and it depends on the contact of source and channel. An effort was made to categorise sources and channels disseminating weather or agro metrological TABLE 4: Weather information utilised from different sources. Category Frequency Percentage Low (Mean-SD) Medium (Mean ± SD) High (Mean + SD) SD= Mean= Maximum score - 18 information considering the nature of exposure of particular source and channel by the respondents in the study area. The source of i nformati on has been categorised into three groups namely mass media, personal cosmopolite and personnel localite for simplification and further analysis. The information sources about weather utilised by the respondents were studied in terms of their frequency of contact and credibility towards different sources of information. Frequency, percentage and ranking method were employed to understand the preference of respondents towards the weather information source. The mass media sources that were widely acceptable in the study area include television (TV), radio, mobile, newspaper, farm magazines, exhibition and film shows. Table-3 shows the distribution of farmers according to their usage of mass media information for weather information. The result shows that majority of farmers regularly used TV (62.5%) for getting updates of weather. The other mass media sources followed by TV are radio (32.5%), mobile (30%), and newspaper (22.5%). Exhibition and films sources are not regular source of information in the area. Television, radio and mobile were ranked I, II and III position respectively. These items are no more luxurious things and are important source of information. The items are compatible, easy for understanding to illiterate and

5 252 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH less educated farmers. The area based weather or agro metrological information s are disseminated over the local TV channel and radio programme. The less use of newspaper and farm magazines is accounted to low level of literacy in the area. The mass media source like exhibition and film shows were not a regular feature in the area. The less use of these sources was also due to lack of door step information to the farmers. The findings are in conformity with studies of Manveer and Basavaprabhu (2011) and Yadav et al (2011). The farmers referred their personal contact with KVK personnel, Agriculture Extension officer (AEO) and agriculture officers (AO) to gather information about weather. The table-3 indicate that 70.00% of respondents regularly have contact to AEO, whereas 43.75% of respondents regularly interact with KVK personnel to get agro metrological information for agricultural and other allied activities. An agricultural officer (AO) was also contacted by 37.50% respondent for weather information. The study of Sendilkumar, (2010) ranked field assistant, field officer and Assistant Agriculture officer as the top three cosmopolite source of information for farmers. The study found that 63.75% of respondents relay for weather information on their indigenous knowledge due to it is most reliability they gained from generations and experience. They know very well about relation between sun and moon to the earth. The present study explored that farmers have more concern on indigenous knowledge due to change in climate and failure of climate prediction. whereas, 61.25% of respondents got information through social contacts like progressive friends, relatives and inputs dealers and exchanging views of weather conditions for farming and other allied activities. Sendilkumar, (2010) had shown that fellow farmers and friends are important information provider to farmers. 0 O verall utilisation pattern of weather information from various sources and channels The distribution of respondents according to their overall utilisation of information from various sources and channels for farming is prescribed in Table-4. It shows that more than half of the (57.5%) total respondents had medium level of weather information utilised it followed by low (25%) and high (17.5%). It could be concluded that more than half of the respondents utilised different sources and channels of weather information for farming and allied activities. CONCLUSION The study concluded that weather information utilisation pattern is varying among farmers as it depends on the contact of source and channel. The mass media sources like television, radio and mobile phones were the most preferred source of information. Agriculture extension officer and KVK personnel were contacted by 70% and 43% of respondent strengthening their role in weather information dissemination. There is need to make the reach of weather information more compatible as the utilization pattern of information falls in medium category. Then there is an urgent need to improve this medium level of weather information to high use in the form improving linkages and network of networks via ICT. REFERENCES Anonymous (2009). Hand Book of Agriculture, ICAR, New Delhi. Meena,M.L and Aishwarya Dudi (2011). Utilisation of Information Communication Channels by the Henna Growers. Journal of Communication Studies, 29: Manveer Singh and Basavaprabhu Jirli (2011). Source of Information Utilisation by Self Help Group Members. Journal of communication Studies, 29: NRAA, (2012). Prioritization of rainfed areas in India, Study Report 4, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), New Delhi, India, pp: 100. Sendilkumar. R (2010) Knowledge and Information Sources Utilisation Pattern of Soybean Growers. Indian Res.J. Extension. Education. 10 (3): WMO (2011). Welcome address on the occasion of the ceremony for WMO. World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva, 5p. Yadav B.S. Khan I.M. and Kumar M.(2011).Utilization pattern of different sources and channels of agriculture information used by the fenugreek growers. Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 11(1):