Use of Mass Communication Channel by the Farmers in Receiving Farm Information

The purpose of this study was to determine the use of mass communication channel in receiving farm information by the farmers, and to ascertain the constraints faced by the farmers in receiving farm information and their suggestions to overcome the constraints. Data were collected using interview schedule from a sample of 256 farmers selected by multistage random sampling procedure from 15 villages of Birganj Upazila of Dinajpur district during February to June 2008. The use of a mass communication channel was determined initially on four dimensions viz. contact, understanding, interaction, and application, and finally a use of mass communication channel index (UMCCI) was computed. The UMCCI ranged from 23.18 to 164.31 with a possible range of 0 to 400. The UMCCI was the highest in case of television while it was the lowest in case of radio. The important constraints as mention by the farmers was “regular load shedding of electricity” during watching television programmes (78.91 percent). Repetition of the telecast agricultural television programme (77.34 percent) appeared to be the most important suggestion to overcome the constraints.