MSc

The AoA under WTO has special significance to Kerala agriculture
where in 70 per cent of the cropped area is occupied by crops such as coconut, tea,
cashew, coffee, rubber, spices 'etc most of which involve international trade. Most
of Kerala's cash crops have strong international competitors. Though AoA has far
reaching implications in the marketing of spices, it is not clear as to how far the
farmers, traders and development officers are conversant about the provisions of
AOA and related aspects. With this in mind, the present study was undertaken
with the main objective of analyzing the level of knowledge of keystakeholders
about AoA and the perception of key' stakeholders about the impact of WTO
agreements on spices production and marketing.
The study was conducted in two districts of Kerala viz, Idukki and
Ernakulam, the areas that are well known for spice cultivation. Three categories of
stakeholders namely farmers, traders and development officers which altogether
constituted 120 numbers formed the respondents. The data were collected using
pre-tested and well-structured interview schedule and suitable statistical
techniques were employed in the analysis of data.
From the study it was observed that most of the respondents were
under low and medium knowledge categories. The influence of selected
characteristics of respondents on their knowledge about AoA and perception
about the impact of AoA on spice production and marketing was studied. The
results of regression analysis of selected characteristics of farmers showed that 71
per cent of the variation in their level of knowledge and 77 per cent of the
variation in their perception could be explained by all the selected variables
together.
The variation in the knowledge score and perception score of the three
categories of respondents was also studied. There was significant variation in the
knowledge score as well as perception score of traders and extension personnel
where as between farmers and traders as well as between traders and extension
personnel there was no significant variation.


A study on the role of media showed that all the four major dailies
studied have covered more on aspects related to production and marketing of
spices and a little coverage was given to AoA related aspects. A general analysis
of the use of newspapers by the three categories of respondents indicated that
majority of respondents subscribing these newspapers fell under high and medium
knowledge level and perception category. As the print media has direct impact on
the people in a state like Kerala, where newspaper reading is quite high the role of
media for better' understanding and awareness about globalization is quite critical.
The study, it is believed, would provide deep insight to the stakeholders
on farming, on how to enhance their present condition. The content analysis of the
four major dailies also could bring out some critical issues related to the coverage
of areas about AoA.