Author(s): Puspendra Kumar Singh, Rupasi Tiwari, Sangeeta Singh, Pankaj Kumar and Saroj Kumar Rajak

Abstract: mKisan services was started by the Government of India in the year 2013. Through this service all the agencies involved from generation of agricultural information, their delivery to farmers and buyers can interact. To be the interaction fruitful through mKisan services, needs of farmers should be known to these agencies. Weighted mean score was used to prioritize the different agriculture information needs of the farmers of Uttar Pradesh. Results revealed that sowing operations (2.20) with highest information need and have 73.22% of information deficiency, trailed by management aspects (2.16), pre sowing activities (2.15), post sowing activities, weed and pest management (2.04), maintaining and retaining soil fertility (2.03), harvesting and storage (2.00) and irrigation practices (1.43) with 71.95, 71.67, 68.00, 67.67, 66.69 and 47.67% of overall information deficiency in the farmers, respectively. In sowing operations domain, major needs were related to high yielding varieties and its seed availability (2.30) and seed preparation practices (2.18). Information about input availability (2.28) and crop insurance (2.27) and marketing of produce (2.15) also found of great concern in management aspects. Farmers have higher information need about soil nutrient deficiency based on soil testing values (2.35) in the domain of pre sowing activities. In post sowing activities, weed and pest management, information about use of herbicides and pesticides (2.26) and symptoms of different prevalent diseases and abiotic stress (2.13) were much needed. In maintaining and retaining soil fertility domain, information need for fertilizers scheduling at different growth stage (2.22) and, organic and green manures (2.13) revealed the highest value. In harvesting and storage domain, information need about methods to control storage losses (2.24) and modernization in harvesting operation (2.11) were with top priority. Significant variation were found among the different aspect of agriculture information need throughout the different agro climatic zones of Uttar Pradesh, revealing uneven distribution of information in the state. Agriculture information deficiency were found highest in North Eastern Plain Zone and Bundelkhand Zone in Uttar Pradesh.

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