Farmers' Perspectives on Quality of Agricultural In formation Delivery: A Comparison between Public and Private S ources

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing farmers’ responses on quality of agricultural information services provided by public and private sources. Th e study is based on primary survey of 461 farmers in eight districts of Uttar Pradesh, In dia, using a structured questionnaire. Farmers’ responses on quality of agricultural infor mation services from public and private sources were analyzed using Analysis of Var iance (ANOVA) technique. Findings of the study indicate that private sector informati on delivery sources provide significantly better quality information to the farming communiti es as compared to public sector information delivery systems. The results have far reaching implications for designing successful information and extension delivery model s by the public, private or by collaborative efforts of the public and the private sector for better extension services delivery. Keywords: Agriculture, Decision-making, Extension services, e-Choupal, India, Public and private sources.