Mass Media utilization pattern of farm Women

ndia lives in villages and among the total village, a large number are situated in remote areas where little developmental activities have taken place because of several factors viz, illiteracy, poverty, lack of information facilities etc. The development of rural areas is the first challenge for the nation builders. The major thrust of rural development has been towards changing behavior of village people in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Contribution of women in modern times in unlimited both at home and farm. They have been a definite strength in the nation's building process. Women possess have knowledge of the latest technologies which could be made possible with use of various mass communication channels. In Our country we have a vide range of mass media ranging from satellite broad casting to the print media. These media include newspaper, magazines, books, radio, television etc. Mass media could enter the calculus of development and offer the great possibilities for effective action through its capability of disseminating technical expertise and useful knowledge among millions of villagers, particularly cultivators living in far flung areas. It aims at promoting national integration, dissemination of message, educating people, providing healthy entertainment and dissemination of essential knowledge to stimulate agricultural production. Mass media is undoubtedly an important tool in bringing about large scale directed social change and modernization in developing nation for transmitting knowledge, disseminating facts and directing various emotional appeals to influence public opinion. The mass media has assumed vital importance in the economic, social development of the nation. The simplest effect of the mass media is to make people aware of the events, persons or possibilities beyond their direct experiences. Efforts with all the possible media of communication are being made in order to reach rural masses with varied characteristics, living in different parts of the country. Mass media have been termed as hidden persuades which selectively reflect social reality and thereby create a reality in the minds of audience. Among the mass media, radio is the cheapest, fastest and farthest reaching mass medium, successfully cutting the barriers of literacy and distance. Television is now a very popular and effective means of information, communication, entertainment and instruction. Reading literature is an important part of self study, newspaper/farm magazine are the commonly used media for dissemination of news and current events. They also serve as educational and entertainment media apart from disseminating agricultural information to the farmers. Mass media play a significant role in development. It can establish the climate in which development can take place. It plays a vital role in making the people in the urban as well as rural areas to realize the need for adopting new practices. Thus, mass media bring the voice of the nation to the village, creating a sense of working towards common economic and national goals; they spread literacy and new skills, they promote an attitude of mind conducive to economic growth, which involves the orientation of future prosperity. A good amount of work is though available regarding impact of Mass media on farmer's attitude, gain of knowledge, but very few researches are available on mass media utilization by rural women and this type of study is new to this area. Women have a key position in the family. Hence transfer of appropriate home and farm technologies to rural women is of immense importance. Although there has been tremendous development and expansion of mass media, we still do not know to what extent rural women utilize these media, thus present study is an effort/attempt to assess mass media exposure of farm women and factors associated with it.