Development of e booklet for apple growers: A study in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand Negi Rahul, Kandpal Arpita Sharma* Department of Agricultural Communication, College of Agriculture, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263145 *e-mail: sharmaarpita615@gmail.com
Online Published on 28 December, 2023. Abstract Uttarakhand rank third in the country in production of Apple and produces 57,753.49 metric tonnes of apples annual. Majority of apple growers are categorized under medium to low socio- economic status because of the constraints faced by them. The extension worker and farmers ratio are quite less and shows a huge information gap. As a result, there is a need for alternatives that can bridge the information gap. This is ICTs era and there are various media available such as print and electronic which can be utilized to bridge the information gap. Out of all these media, e-booklet an electronic form of a small size book and gives us information about a certain subject was used for this study. Present study was conducted in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Four villages namely Harsil, Jhala, Sukhi and Dharali were selected randomly from the Bhatwari block. A total sample of 120 respondents was selected by PPS sampling method. Pre and post experimental research design was used. Data collection was done by using a pre-tested structured interview schedule and knowledge test. Split Half method and Content validity was used for knowledge test. The finding of the present study indicated that majority of the respondents (72.5%) belonged to middle age group, had education upto intermediate level (32.5%) and had medium family size (92.5%), were in medium annual income (67%), having medium size of apple orchard (65%), ten to thirteen year of experience in apple farming (44.16%), medium information seeking behaviour (59.16%), medium risk orientation (69.17%), owned mobile with internet (100%), have medium mass media exposure (65.84%). All the respondents (100%) needed information regarding plant protection measures. Based on information needs an e-booklet was designed. Regarding the design, name, content, utility, accuracy, clarity, readability, need-based information and overall look found most satisfactory by most respondents. The mean gain in knowledge score of respondents was significantly higher in post-test than in the pre-test. It was found that the e booklet for apple growers was significantly effective in terms of gain in knowledge. Top Keywords Apple growers, e-booklet, Effectiveness, Information gap. Top |