Extent of Awareness of Farmers on ITD Methods Implemented by Different Agricultural Institutions in Kerala

Innovations in Technology Dissemination (ITD) is part of the agricultural extension system that holds key to rapid development and transformation of rural society and it is greatly influenced by the linkage between the research subsystem, extension subsystem and client subsystem. In Kerala, several linkage mechanisms are existed at the state and regional levels to provide strong ties between research and extension system. The study was conducted in Kannur district of Kerala to identify the extent of awareness of farmers on ITD methods implemented by different agricultural institutions in Kannur district. Thirty farmers each from four selected grama panchayats (Ezhome, Kankol- Alapadamba, Kadannapalli- Panapuzha and Mayyil) of Kannur were identified using simple random sampling and a total of one hundred and twenty respondents were included in the study. A well-structured interview schedule was used for collecting the data from the respondents. The data were tabulated and inferences were drawn from the appropriate statistical analysis. The result shows that majority of the farmers were aware of the ITD methods like training programmes by ATMA (68.33%), ATMA newsletter (58.33%), LEADS activities (53.33%) and training and workshops by Department of Agriculture (66.67%). Most of the farmers lack awareness about the innovations by NGOs and farmers clubs formed by different banks.