Effectiveness of Interactive Video Conferencing through Village Resource Centres of Karnataka, India: Farmers’ Feedback

Interactive video conferencing through satellite is an effective means of transferring the latest technologies to farmers. A study on the effectiveness of interactive video conferencing with farmers through VRCs for agriculture information dissemination is very much important to decide a massive replication of this model of communication. The study was conducted at Karnataka state of India. Twenty farmers who frequently visited the VRCs were selected randomly from each VRC, thus constituting a sample size of 200. Personal Interview and case study method was used for data collection. From the personal variables, it is evident that VRC programmes attracted more of young (33.3%) and middle age groups (38%). Among the participants 63% were male. Irrespective of the educational qualification, all of them had participated in VRC programmes. It was observed that social participation was low for more than half of the respondents (54%) and 40 per cent of them had low cosmopoliteness. The case studies had revealed that farmers felt greater satisfaction as they could interact with the experts directly and could solve their problems, could save money and time, could find new enterprises that are profitable to them. Among the constraints the highly scored one was regarding the timing and duration of the programmes (69.5%). The prominent suggestions included regarding inculcation of experiences of progressive farmers and more success stories (89%). The study was ended with the conclusion that the technology transfer to farmers through this modern method of communication can empower the rural farmers in developing countries, enhance ecological and livelihood security and accelerate human development and quality of life.