Science and Technology Mailing List Archive

["Dick Tinsley" <<address removed>>]

A few day ago someone was promoting the use of radio as a means of 
communicating price information to remote smallholders.  Well how about radio 
for promoting extension information.  How effective would that be?

This would again depend what is being extended and how much needs direct 
individual contact with smallholders and how much can be done indirectly.  It 
also depends on to what extent the beneficiaries are knowledge limited as 
extension implies or resource limited as I have emphasized.  

I carefully noted the member in Bangladesh indicating that new varieties when 
available are perhaps the most important thing needing extension and it did not 
require an extensive direct contract extension infrastructure to extend it.  I 
agree that new varieties are the most important information needed and the rest 
of the agronomic details included in extension programs extensively interact 
with the limited resources available to the farmers forcing the farmer to 
reject them or extensively fine tune them.

I still get concerned with promoting either research or extension programs that 
can not be sustained with revenue funds and thus destined to stall.

How about getting some pictures transmitted with the message and use TV.  At 
this point you might want to separate ownership of TV, which few smallholder 
outside Thailand my do, from access to TV which could be a substantially larger 
number.   With satellite TV service reaching the most remote areas, and your 
local recreational facilities, either tea houses or bars, having a vested 
interest in providing their patrons with TV service as an enticement to enter, 
you might be able to reach a very sizeable audience of smallholder 
beneficiaries with TV promotions.  I notice the chemical people have little 
problem with such promotions in many areas.

Just something extra to think about as we look for more cost effective means of 
reaching smallholders.

Dick