An Assessment of Communication Strategies for Agricultural Information Transfer to Stakeholders in Nagpur District, Maharashtra

Abstract

This research was conducted to evaluate the utilization of social media as a source of agricultural information among farmers in the Umred block of Nagpur district in Maharashtra State. Farmers in the study area were selected as participants in this study, and the total sample size for this study was 300. Data collection was performed using a meticulously designed questionnaire, and the analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, percentages, and tables. The study findings indicated that a significant portion (93%) of the respondents primarily utilize social media tools to gather agriculture-related information. WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube are some of the popular social media tools used, as indicated by the respondents. The respondents stated that they are using social media tools to gather agriculture-related information, often focusing on topics such as weather conditions and environmental information, educational and training information, technological information, and the variety of seeds. The study identified several critical challenges hindering the effective use of social media for agricultural information dissemination, including poor network access, high relative costs, delayed information delivery, and inadequate infrastructure. Consequently, it is recommended that efforts be made to ensure that relevant information is readily available and accessible to farmers on social media platforms to promote active engagement in agriculture. This is particularly important for rural farmers who may struggle to keep up with the latest agricultural innovations.