Farmers’ feedback associated with accessibility and usability of agromet advisory services disseminated in Thiruvananthapuram district

Effective weather and climate information in the form of agromet advisory services, may improve farmers’ decision-making and help them to mitigate climate related risks. But, availability of climate services is always a matter of concern. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the farmers’ feedback on accessibility and usability of agromet advisory services. A total 120 farmers were randomly selected from the two blocks namely Nemom and Athiyanoor of the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. Selected farmers were further divided into two groups i.e. control and beneficiary group. The beneficiary farmers in the experimental villages were provided with treatment i.e., block level agromet advisory bulletins disseminated from the AMFU, Thiruvananthapuram regularly for 6 months (1^st Jan – 30^th June 2021) through WhatsApp. It was found that majority of the farmers found the agromet advisory services relevant to make appropriate decisions regarding fertilizer application, scheduling of irrigation and plant protection measures in crop farming while the services were more relevant for decisions related to shelter management and feed management for dairy farmers. There was a significant improvement in the percentage of experimental farmers who realized the utility of agromet advisory services in day-to-day management of various farm activities after receiving the messages continuous for six months. Hence, wide coverage of the agromet advisory services may improve the coping capacity of the farming community in changing climatic scenario.