Communication patterns among contact farmers in Kerala

Abstract

The research study conducted among selected contact farmers in Trivandrum district of Kerala revealed that majority of the respondents received most of the information, on coconut cultivation from Agricultural Demonstrators of the Department of Agriculture and 'local leaders' were the least consulted source of agro-information. The study brought to light the increasing difficulty the contact farmers experienced in decoding and encoding as the complexity of the message increased. The respondents communicated technical information to 'non-contact farmers of their own area' more frequently. Out of the three types of information feedback, communication of information related to technical aspects was the most important form of feedback.