Effectiveness of WhatsApp Messages on Knowledge Gain of Sugarcane Cultivation Practices among the Farmers

Information and communication technology in agriculture provides solutions to agricultural challenges. The present study was conducted in Athani taluk of Belagavi District in Karnataka state. ‘Before-After’ without control group experimental design was used to determine the effectiveness of WhatsApp messages on knowledge gain of sugarcane cultivation practices among farmers. WhatsApp messages on “Sugarcane cultivation practices” was the subject matter selected for the study and tested for their effectiveness. WhatsApp messages acted as treatment for the study. 50 Sugarcane growers were selected for the treatment on the basis of random sampling. The effectiveness was studied in terms of knowledge gain for WhatsApp messages. The results revealed that highest mean differences 2.50 was observed in case of integrated disease management followed by weed management (2.38), micronutrients and inter cultivation (2.10). The mean knowledge score of WhatsApp messages of the respondents before exposure was 20.52 and after exposure it was 50.52, thus there was mean knowledge gain of 30.00. Farming experience, land holding, extension contact, Innovative proneness achievement motivation and Management orientation were found to be positive and significant relationship with knowledge gain. Hence, WhatsApp messages are effective to disseminate the information among the farmers.