Abstract
The major purpose of this study was to find out the flow of agricultural information to the farmers in two selected areas of Bangladesh. Sources used by the farmers along with their preferences for getting agricultural information have also been identified. The communication networks and decision making process of the farmers are discussed to examine the flow of information in the farming community. The relationships of farmers' 19 selected characteristics with the flow of agricultural information were tested to measure their direct and indirect contribution. Out of 1013 farmers, 200 were randomly selected from four villages. Among the villages, two were under Studies on Integrated Farming (SIF) project area of BAU and the rest were out side SIF area. Data were collected from the farmers in two phases during November 1999 to May 2000.The highest proportion (58 percent) of the respondents fell in low information flow category, 22.50 percent in medium information flow category and 19.50 percent in high information flow category. The SIF farmers experienced moderate to adequate flow of information while the non-SIF farmers expressed low to moderate flow. A remarkable gap was found between information need and information receipt of the farmers. The gap was wider among the farmers of non-SIF sites compared to SIF sites. The over all flow of information indicated that the farmers received only about one-third of their required information.The farmers used and preferred the localite and inter personal sources for receiving agricultural information. The source credibility and availability were the main reasons for the use and preference of particular sources of information. The information providers were the catalytic agent in the formation of communication networks in the community and thus influenced the decision making process of the farmers. The experienced farmers, input dealers, school teachers, Block Supervisors and available research personnel were the key informers in forming the communication network among the farmers. The farmers usually maintained homophily in communicating with other farmers such as closeness of age, education and farm size.In making decisions about agricultural information the farmers considered its immediate economic and social gain and consequences. The individual as well as family need and marketing facilities of farm produce also influenced farmers for making decisions regarding application of improved farm information. The farmers used various information sources in order to collect information in different phases of decision making process. Among the sources, personal contact, printed materials, group meetings, training session and mass media were prominent sources used by the farmers for taking decision.The correlation coefficients between the flow of information and age, personal education, family education, annual income, organizational participation, opinion leadership, media exposure, risk orientation, educational aspiration, economic motivation, training experience and agricultural knowledge of the farmers were positively significant. The regression coefficient confirmed significant contribution of family education, training experience, media exposure, economic motivation and farming experience on the flow of information to the farmers. The stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that family education, training experience, media exposure, economic motivation and farming experience were the important predictors of information flow to the farmers. These variables combinedly explained 25 percent of the total variation of information flow. The results of path analysis indicated that training experience had the highest positive direct effects while family education had the highest indirect effects to the flow of information to the farmers. To reduce the gap between demand and supply of information extension providers should disseminate demand-led information to the farmers.