Ronald E. Ostman (ed). Communication in Indian Agriculture. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 1989.319 pp.Bibliography. Price: Rs 225.00.

Abstract

The editor of the book under review divides the process of agricultural development into three crucial stages. The first two stages, i.e., the basic scientific research to develop the crops, birds and animals and the development of the technology to process the increased yields, are essentially productivity-enhancing in nature and are generally available in most developing countries or can be transplanted. However, the third and most crucial stage is the transferring of this knowledge from the educational centres to the farmers' fields, which is generally neglected. This is, often, the greatest single impediment to agricultural development. A host of complex sociological, cultural, attitudinal, educational, economic, and evolutionary factors have a direct bearing on the development of this stage. It is this stage that is the focus of the book. There are several areas where effective agricultural communicators can playa key catalytic role in streamlining the eventual translation of new knowledge to the farmers' fields. At the practical applied level, their role lies in helping to improve communication with the government, university, or research institute and between the research institute, the government planners, and the farmers. At the theoretical and research level, their role lies in the evaluation of the effectiveness of various communication strategies in terms of the overall objectives, and in the search for ways to improve interpersonal, organizational, and mass-scale communications. Effective communicators also have a key role in the dissemination of the results obtained at the research level about the most expedient methods of communication amongst the users.