Annals of Library Science and DoclImentation 47. I ; 2000; SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR FARMERS IN KARNATAKA

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1 Annals of Library Science and DoclImentation 7. I ; 2000; SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR FARMERS IN KARNATAKA Dr B 5 Biradar Reader Department of Library & Information Science Kuvempu University Shankaraghatta Karnataka Studies existing rural libraries in Karnataka and opinion of farmers of the region. One thousand farmers were interviewed for determining the sources of information used in various stages of farming activities. Also suggests strategy to develop the collection of rural libraries and to make use of them. INTRODUCTION Agriculture in India is not merely an occupation or a business profession for the people, but a tradition, a way of life which for centuries has shaped their thoughts, outlook and culture. Agriculture dominates the country's economy to such an extent that- about 6% population is dependent on it [1]. Agricultural statistics reveal that out of the total areas, 12.5 million hectares of land is under effective cultivation [2]. Considering cultivable land available, pressure on the demand for foodgrains is very high, because population growth of 2.8% [] has outstripped the rate of increase in agricultural production, which was 18. and million tonnes during the year and respectively []. Thus the li mited available land has to meet the demands of a rap idly increasing population for foodgrains production. This implies that agriculture has a great scope for improvement in India and to improve agricultural production, there is an ever increasing neecl for the latest information, because information is considered as a resource. an essential input like other agricultural inputs. Knowledge is essential not only for the progress of agriculture but also for a higher national agricultural output. It is apparent that the right kind of information is a key to solve the various problems faced by the farmers at different stages. It is necessary to determine the sources of information used by the farmers to overcome the problems faced by them: SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of the present study encompasses the role of rural libraries in meeting the information needs of farmers, particularly in Karnataka State. In addition to this, an attempt has been made to study the (i) forms of different communication media such as print and non-print media, and (ii) personal and group contacts such as village level workers, agricultural extension officers, group discussion with friends, neighbours, relatives etc. SAMPLING STRATEGY The whole area of Karnataka for the above purpose was divided into ten zones. These zones are as created by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore on the basis of climatic conditions, rainfall and soil. From each zone, two villages were selected randomly in which there were library facilities. Fifty farmers from each of the twenty villages belonging to ten zones were selected. Hence. a total sample of 1000 farmers was considered for the study. Vol 7 No I Man.:h

2 asa/radar METHODOLOGY The questionnaire and interview method has been used for collecting the necessary information from the librarians and the farmers. The information from farmers was collected regarding occupational background, use of communication media, rural libraries etc. for meeting their information needs in various agricultural activities. COLLECTION OF RURAL LIBRARIES The importance of the library and its serv"ices totally depends upon its collection. If the coll ection is good, the services will be satisfactory. The strength of collection in libraries under survey is given in Table 1 which reveals that the highest number of books are available in Lakkavally (787). Next in rank are Malakhed (809) and Byahatti (197). All Table 1 Collection of Rural Libraries 81. Name of the Total No. Books on No. Village of Books Agriculture Journals/ Magazines 1. Attur M.Hipparga Malakhed 809. D. Ghanagapur Morab Ganihar Aimangal Kakkaragola Nittur Rampur Gejjalgere Volagerahalli Lakkavally inganamane Byahatti Hebsur Yadoga 165 lb. Hadinabalu Maveenkurve Linganmath these libraries are directly connected to the District Central Library and they have permanent staff. Hadinabalu. Linganamath, Rampur and Attur village libraries are having just 270, 26, 01 and 55 books respectively, which is a very small collection considering the population of these villages. It is also seen from the table that very few libraries have collection of books on agriculture and even if available, these are extremely small in number. Almost all libraries have a few general magazines except in Lakkavally which has 16. It is also observed that more than 90% of the collection of rural libraries consists of novels, plays, poetry, essays etc., which are used as light reading materials. PER-HEAD PERCENTAGE OF BOOKS It is also necessary to ascertain the per head availability of books for total population as welt as literates in the libraries surveyed (Table 2). IX Ann Li b Sci Doc

3 SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR FARMERS IN KARNATAKA Table 2 Per Head Percentage of Books in Different Libraries Percentage 51. Name of the Total Total No. Village Books Population Literates Books Literates per head 1. Attu r M.Hipparga Malakhed 809. D. Ghanagapur Morab Ganihar Aimangal Kakkaragola Nittur Rampur Gejjalgere Volagerahalli Lakkavally inganamane Byahatti Hebsur Yadoga Hadinabalu Maveenkurve Linganmath For total population the highest percentage of books per head is in Lakkavally (.81 %), followed by Aimangala (1.70%). Ganihar and Yadoga 0.75% each. In the rest of the villages, it is very low. In the village Hadinabalu. Rampur, Linganamath and Volagerahalli, libraries are functioning just in name only. These libraries are not having even a single book for four person. In the case of literates. the credit for the highest percentage of books per head also goes to Lakkavally (16.97%) followed by Ganihar (5.5%), Aimangal (.%). Yadoga (2.61 %), Malakhed (2.11 %),M. Hipparaga (2.0%) and Attur (2.02%). The villages D.Ghanagapur, Kakkaragola, Hebsur, Maveenakurve are also having one book per head. The rest of the village libraries have less than one 1J00k per head. Hence it is suggested that there should be at least one book per head for literates for fulfilling Ranganathan's second law of library science which is "Every reader his or her book". COMPUTATION OF RANKS FOR DIFFERENT MASS MEDIA CHANNELS The impact of sources of information varies from one activity to another in agriculture. In order to assess the most widely used sources of information, a rank list was computed viz. sourcewise rank list of information sources. Sourcewise Rank List of Information Sources In this rank list, information source are grouped as: a) Informal personal sources Vol 7 No I March

4 B S B/RADAR b) Impersonal sources, and c) Formal personal sources Friends neighbours, relatives and pesticide dealers are informal personal sources. Radio, newspapers, television, libraries, leaflets and film shows are considered to be impersonal sources. Formal personal sources, comprised of gramasevaka and agriculture extension officer. The ran k list is computed as per the above three groups and is presented in tables -5 and Fig 1. Informal Personal Sources Informal personal sources occupy the first place 1~r ' 1~ ~ ~,~.--~ 1 ~ ~ ~~~~ ] i E 600 -\ Imll i! a: 6OOr ~~1 ~ ~._---- " Name 01 the sources e 1. Agriculture credit 5. Advise taken for sowing 2. Soil test 6. Awareness of fertili sers. Storage of seeds 7. Irrig ation. Awareness of hybird seeds 8. Rate of commodity Fig.1 : Sourcewise Rank Li st of Information Sources on Different Aspects in all activit ies except soil test and rates of commodities, in which it occupies third and second place respective ly. Am ong the informal sources, f ri e nd s28 (.0 9 % ) a nd ne i g h bo u rs 18 (2.55% ) occupy the first and second place respectively. It is also observed that this method is widely and libe rally used by the farmers. (Tab le) Impersonal Sources The impersonal sources play a vital role in many activiti es, particularly with respect to so il test 7 (97.97%) and prices of ag ri cultural products 101 (10.10%) (Tab le ). It is found that most of the respo ndents sought informatio n through impersonal sources. Among them radio 1857 (26.5%) and newspaper 96 (1.69%) are first and second respectively. For other activities, namely financial assista nce 25 (2.5% ), awareness of hybrid seeds 616 (6 1.6%), advice taken for sowing 90 (90.%) and awareness of fertilizers 686 (79. 2%), these sources stand in the second category. In case of other activities i.e. for storage of seeds 19 (1.9%) and irrigation facilities 102 (12.85%), these sources are least used. Formal Personal Sources The formal personal sources of informati on are ~( I

5 SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR FARMERS IN KAaNATAKA Table Souecewise Rank list of Informal Personal Sources Name of Agnculture Soil Storage Awareness Advice Awareness Irrigation Rate of Total the Credit Test of Seeds of Iybrid taken for of commodity Seeds Sowing Fertilisers Friends (26.20) (2.51) (22.20) (2.0) (7.00) (50.87) (1.86) (6.80) (.09) Neigh bours (8.70) (1.5) (19.20) (5.20) (66.0) (28.67) (8.06) (16.80) (2.55) Relatives (5.61 ). (1.60) (2.20) (.20) (9.02) (2.1) (1. 90) (.21) Others (7.20) (6.90) (1.00) (11.89) Total (2. 10) (51.57) (.00) (76.60) (116.50) (88.56) (25.06) (66.50) (6.7) Percentage is more than 100% because of multiple choice. Figures given in parenthesis is percentage. Table Sourcewise Rank List of Impersonal Sources Name Agriculture Soil Storages Awareness Advice Awareness Irrigation Rate of Total of the Credit test of seeds of hybrid taken for of fertilisers commodity Source Seeds sowing Radio (9.0) (8.) (5.50) (29.90) (8.90) (0.87) (5.67) (5.10) (26.5) News paper (.80) (22.2) (2.50) (7.60) (2.10) (11.5) (2.27) (5.90) (1.69) Tele vision (6.90) (1.57) (2.70) (9. 10) (17.50) (10.06) (2.9) (25.20) (11.) Library ( 11.88) (0.70) (2.50) (6.1) (2.52) (2.90l. (6.08) Film show (9.80) (7.85) (1.80) "(2.00) (8.0) (7.0) (.66) Leaflets/ Brochures (2.91) (2.0) (12.0) (1.1) (.88) Total (2.50) (97.97) (190) (6 1.60) (90.0) (79.2) (12.85) \ 10.10) (66.21 ) Percentage IS more than 100% because of multiple choice Figures given in parenthesis is percentage Vol 7 No I ~v l arc h 20(}{) ~ I

6 B S B/RADAR least utilised in all activities except in soi l testing 271 (60.76%), storage of seeds 221 (22.10%) and irri gation facility 108 (1.59%). These sources occupy second position for the above mentioned activities. (Table 5). SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION On the basis of various analysis, the following suggestions have emerged. Table 5 Sourcewise Rate List of Formal Personal Sources Name Agriculture Soil Storages Awareness of th e Credit test of seeds of hybrid Source Seeds Grama sevaka (9.10) (8.88) (2 1.0 ) (7.0) Agriculture Extension (1 1.88) (0.80) (1.50) officer Total (9.10) (60.76) (22. 10) (8.90) Advice Awareness Irrigati on Rate of Total taken for of fertilisers commodity sowing (2.80) (60.2) (1222) (27.99) (.0) (7.17) (1.7) (.27) (28.20) (67.0) (1.59) (1.26) i. For improving the use of library materials, the librarian has to convince the farmers about the importance of the library and availability of reading materials. iv All rural libraries should be equipped with audio-visual material and should also act as a resource c~ntre for all activities of rural communities. ii. Satisfactory collection is not available in any rural library. Authorities concerned should try to strengthen the occupat ional based collection. iii. Agricultural research organisations are publishi ng pamphlets, brochures, handbooks etc. for end users (farmers) in regional languages. Authorities concerned and village level workers (VLW) should supply this material regularly to village libraries, so that each and every literate person can make use of this. REFERENCES 1. II\lOIA 1998, A reference Annual. P STATISTICAL OUTLINE of India Tata Services Ltd., Dept. of Economics and Statistics; Mumbai, P.51. Ibid. P. 8.. Ibid. P Ann Lib Sci Doc