Agriculture information needs of farm women: A study in State of north India

Access to accurate, timely and reliable information plays a crucial role in the adoption of appropriate agriculture technology. Although, women contribute significantly in the farming operations, their contribution is not yet fully recognised and acknowledged. In order to improve agriculture productivity and production efficiency, there is an urgent need to identify their agriculture information needs. The present study was undertaken to find out the agriculture information needs of farm women in a Himalayan State of North India. The study adopted a descriptive research design and the study sample included 120 farm women selected from eight randomly selected villages using PPS method. The findings indicate that farm women expressed the need for information regarding disease control/management, weed control/management, high yielding variety crops, fertilizer requirement, use of improved farm implements, and information related to marketing. An appropriate information dissemination strategy can be developed on the basis of their information seeking and information sharing behaviour. The study has policy and programming implications for devising appropriate extension strategies for fulfilling the information needs of farm women for enhancing agriculture productivity and production efficiency. Key words: Information needs, farm women, information seeking behavior.