India is largely rural with more than 60 percent of our population dependent on
agriculture and allied activities. Ecologically sound agriculture is knowledge intensive.
Farm women and men need dynamic information relating to meteorological,
management and marketing factors as related to crops and animal husbandry,
fisheries, agro-forestry and agro-processing. The new approach to productivity
improvement and employment generation is also information and knowledge intensive.
In the context of globalization of trade, there is need for launching a genetic (i.e. relating
to genetically modified farm products), legal (i.e. IPR and Farmers’ and Breeders’
Rights), quality (i.e. sanitary and phytosanitary measures and codex alimentarius
standards), and trade (i.e. prices in home and external markets) literacy movement.
There is presently a disconnect between what farm families need by way of generic
and dynamic information and what the conventional extension agencies are able to
provide.