Development of a mathematical model for measuring the communication behavior of farmers

Communication maintains and animates the life of human beings. It is helpful to express the social activities and civilization of a society. It leads people from instinct to inspiration, through process and system of enquiry, command, and control. It is helpful to create a common pool of ideas, strengthens the feeling of togetherness through the exchange of messages and translates through into real action. As the world has advanced and become more developed, the task of communication has become more complex. However, unless some basic structural changes are introduced, the potential benefits of technological and communication development will hardly be put at disposal of the majority of population. Communication system and network is the key input in increasing the performance in agricultural production. Therefore, the communication is considered as the most powerful input which brings substantial upliftment in the socio-economic status of individuals. Models can be best used for explanatory purposes only when we are alive to their limitations, as they are by no means a simulacrum of reality, but only a simplified image of it. The present study was conducted in hilly district Reasi of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which was selected purposively. Out of 12 C.D Blocks only 4 C.D. Blocks namely Katra, Reasi, Pouni, and Thuroo were selected randomly. A sample of 25 per cent Gram Panchayats from each selected block was selected randomly. A sample of 25 per cent farmers (150) was selected randomly from the selected villages. The Cobb-Douglas equation was worked out in the following way between the dependent variable (communication behavior) and independent variables X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and X8 (size of land holding, annual income, interpersonal interaction, innovation proneness, value orientation, achievement motivation, socio-economic status, and education respectively). The value of R2 found in case of linear function was lesser than that in the exponential function. So, exponential model (Cobb-Douglas Model) was considered as the best fit. Through the study it was inferred that the communication behavior initially increases with increase in the input behavior (independent variables) but with the decreasing ratio. With the increase in independent variable, communication behavior (dependent variable) also increases but at a certain saturation point communication behavior of the farmers does not increase. The research is useful to assess the communication behavior of farmers. We can change the communication behavior of the farmers accordingly. If the (input) independent variables of the farmers are known then the (output) dependent variable can be found easily by utilizing this model.