Impact of agricultural technology information centre (ATIC) on the farming community in Dharwad, Karnataka

Agricultural technology information centers (ATIC) have been established at state agricultural universities to cater to the needs of the farming community. A study was conducted at the University of Agricultural Sciences(UAS), Dharwad to knowthe extent of usage of ATIC services. Primarydata were collected from 400 farmers/farm women to know the awareness about ATIC and its activities as well as adoption of technologies popularized by ATIC. The sample constituted 200 respondents each from UAS adopted and non-adopted villages of Dharwad Taluk. Secondary data were also collected from ATIC records to study the utilization of services by the farming community. The findings revealed that most of the respondents (70–80%) were aware of the presence of the agricultural university. In the adopted villages 79 per cent were aware of the university and 74 per cent of ATIC. In the non-adopted villages only 41 per cent were aware of the university while none of them had ever visited or availed the services of ATIC. The utilization of animal health services was as high as 91.12 per cent in 2010. This gradually decreased to 20.90 per cent in 2013. From the adopted villages most visited UAS campus to participate in Krishi Mela (74%) and to seek solutions to crop management practices (68%). The respondents from UAS adopted village had better utilized the services of ATIC. It is therefore important to create awareness among people of other villages at least from Hubli and Dharwad Taluks about the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and the extension services which could be availed of by the farming community.