COMMUNICATION AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION

Khurana GS, Arneja CS, Atwal HS and Bhalla JS

Sustainable agriculture production is very much in focus both in highly industrialized countries as well as developing and under-developing countries. There are several problems which can be solved by the extension educationists by developing clear perspectives about the communication policies and strategies to be used for fulfilling the needs and solving the problems of the farming community. There is a need for the critical role to be played by the extension educationists for sustainable agriculture production because extension educationists and workers can convince the farming community to use the recommended technologies by contacting them with the use of different means of communication. Sustainable agriculture production is the successful management of the sources to satisfy the change in human needs and maintaining the quality of environment and conserving natural resources. The paradigm of sustainability is based on technological, economical, social, cultural and ecological factors. For doing this, it will require effective communication, delivery system and supportive policy of the government because we have to think on the basis of the needs of the world considering the whole intellectual challenges. As we know earlier communication process was a one step flow of information from the extension agencies to different farmers. Later on it became two step flow i.e. from research to the extension education agencies and then to the farmers. Thus communication strategy in terms of providing suitable technology, marketing facilities, training and upgrading of skills have to be provided to make the farming a success.

Sustainable agriculture production should involve the successful management of resources to satisfy the changing human needs and this requires a systematic system of communication in which appropriate strategies and approaches could be planned accordingly. Scientific management of water, better use of soil, setting up of small scale agro-processing industries in the villages for sustainable rural economy which becomes more important by which sustainability of the agriculture production can be maintained or increased. Sustainability in agriculture production can not be maintained or increased without planning the effective communication system because the farmers are to be informed about the use of improved farm technologies and the farm technologies need to be communicated through the integrated communication system by using print media, television, radio, campaigns, demonstrations, farmers' fairs, exhibition etc. When the recommended technologies are not widely adopted, then the extension workers and extension educationists are blamed in general. The search in appropriate sustainable agriculture development strategies, should, therefore, rely on holistic approaches for delineating the dimensions of various problems and finding out the possible solutions. For example some of the recommended measures to prevent the environmental degradation will involve collective actions for which the priorities are to be given to the sustainable agriculture development. Communication will, therefore, be needed to be planned in such a way that the information should reach to each and every farmer by the best use of various ways and means of communication methods. Extension workers, therefore, would need to be more clear about the appropriate use of extension teaching methods for making the communication more effective. The research work in communication should also be undertaken keeping in view the sustainable agriculture production. This can help in developing the effective communication system.

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