Communication and Innovation in Indian Villages

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Sources of inforimationi vary \-ith the farnmers' socioeconiomilic status anid type of p)ractice for which information is sought. When the farmers are divided into three groups-innovators, early adopters, and late adopters-according to inmmediacy of response to an innovation-the innovators are found to utilize institutionalized sources, while late adopters rely more upoin noninstitutionalized sources. The position of early adopters is intermediate. This relationship was tested by interviewing 246 farm families of Baraset region in West Bengal, India, about their sources of information for nine improved agricultuiral practices. T he study of comimunication and the adoption of imiiproved farm practices has received miiuch attention from rural sociologists during the last 20 years. Most of these studies have been made within the Western cultures, especially in the United States.1 Few studies carried out in nonWestern cultures have been reported. In this stucly the sources of infor-mation about farming practices used by farmers in India are investigated. It was considered useful to investigate and ascertain whether, in a traditional society like India, a similar situation, as found in Western cultures, prevailed. There are differences of culture and level of education between Western countries and India. How do they influence the flow of communication regarding improved practices? An attempt has been been made in this study to find answers to the following questions relating to farm practices: What are the different sources of information which are generally utilized by the farmers ? What is the coIllparative inmportance of institutional and noninstitutional sources of information? Is there any relationshlip between socioeconomic status of the far-miiers and their utilization of different sources of information? To what extent do sources of information vary with the type of practices for which informiiation is sought? Foor this purpose a series of hypotheses have been set up with the background of knowledge of simiiilar studies in WNestern cultures. These hypotheses have been systemiiaticallv tested.