Abstract:
The present study was conducted in Muzaffarpur and Madhubani districts of Bihar that included a random sample of 120
farmers, 60 each from both the districts. The farmers of Muzaffarpur and Madhubani districts were having varied
perceptions on information needs for most of the aspects in agriculture. However, farmers of both the districts perceived
maximum information needs for their capacity building/ training on different aspects of their farming. The farmers in
Muzaffarpur district attached importance to information needs in a decreasing order with agricultural inputs, agricultural
production technologies, agricultural finance, livelihood diversification options, agricultural marketing and post-harvest
management. While farmers of Madhubani district felt comparatively higher information needs for agricultural finance
followed by agricultural production technologies, agricultural inputs, livelihood diversification options, agricultural
marketing and post-harvest management. Farmers of Madhubani district have perceived five out of seven broad aspects of
agriculture at a less than average level on a 4-point continuum scale that may be attributed to the facts of poor sociodemographic
situation, agricultural backwardness as well as lack of adequate communication infrastructure in
Madhubani district. The step wise multiple regression models revealed that mass media use, education, family size and
household expenditure together have explained 53 per cent variation in farmers' perception on information needs. While,
mass media use, education, annual income, family size and personal localite sources use together have determined 61 per
cent variation in fulfillment of information needs with respect to various aspects of agriculture.
