Use of source of information and mass media exposure among cotton growing farmers

In the present study an attempt was made to examine the use of source of information and mass media exposure among cotton growing farmers in the Vidarbha region of the Maharashtra state. Total sample size of 120 farmers was selected using stratified random sampling technique. The results revealed that nearly 88 per cent of the cotton growing farmers were using the cosmopolite communication source of Agricultural Service Centers on an occasional basis. Among the interpersonal localite sources of information neighbours, contact farmers, and progressive farmers of own village were used by cotton growing farmers as a source of information on cotton farming related issues. About 32 per cent of cotton growing farmers had no exposure to newspaper and about 24 per cent of them had no exposure to agricultural magazines as a source of information. Television (TV) emerged as the most favourite regularly used mass media to obtain information by the respondents (30 per cent, followed by radio (15.83 per cent) and newspaper (11.67 per cent). But overall radio is still the dominant mass media in the area under study as majority of the respondents (91 per cent) used it either occasionally or regularly to obtain information regarding agriculture technology and farming practices.