MSc

Radio is the first electronic mass media. Radio has played a very vital role in the dissemination of agricultural information during the past years .
A research study entitled “Radio listening behaviour of farm families in the digital age” was taken up with the objective to identify the radio programmes listened by farm family members and to assess the awareness of farm family members on farm broadcast programmes, to study the information seeking behaviour, information utilization behaviour and information documentation behaviour of farm family head and their relationship with personal and situational variables, to find out the preferences of farm family members on the mode, time, duration and frequency of farm broadcast programmes, to identify the constraints in listening farm broadcast programmes and make suggestion for improving the programmes.
The personal and situational of farmers selected through judge’s relevancy rating were age, education, farm size, farming experience, extension contact, extensionparticipation, mass media exposure and cosmopoliteness.
Sixty farmers who listened to radio programmes through medium wave of Thiruvananthapuram station of All India Radio were selected through three stage random sampling procedure. Farmers from Nellanad and Pallichalgramapanchayath were interviewed.
On analysis of the data it was found that majority (58.33%) of the respondents belonged to 40-60 year age group and 100%of the farmers were literate.Majority (78.33%) of the respondents were cultivating more than 50 cents of land.
Majority (40%) of the respondents had 11-25 years of experience in farming, majority (75%) of the farmers were having medium extension contact , 41.66% had medium extension participation and 46 % had medium cosmopoliteness and 58.34% had medium mass media exposure.
Majority of farmers and family members listened to morning programmes health programmes and some of the evening programmes.
Majority (66.66%) of the respondents had medium information seeking behaviour, majority ( 73.33% ) had medium information source utilization behaviour and majority (83.34% ) of the respondents had medium information utilization from radio. Majoriy (80%) of the farmers had medium information documentation behaviour.
Education, extension contact, extension participation, cosmopoliteness and mass media exposure were significantly and positively related with information seeking behaviour and information source utilisation behaviour.
Discussion was the most preferred mode of presentation by farmers .
Inconvenience of time, use of other mass media and listening of family members to FM radio were the major constraints.
Suggestions were provide farm information through FM radio, increase awareness of students ,farmers, farmers groups and Kudumbasree groups on farm broadcast programmes and provide facilities to school students to listen to radio at school .