Human Communication. A Publication of the Pacific and Asian Communication Association. Vol. 15, No. 1, pp.1 - 11.

Role of television in agriculture development of Sindh, Pakistan Abdul Razaque Chhachhar1*, Mohd Nizam Osman2, Siti Zobidah Omar3 Department of Communication, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Corresponding author Email: razaque_mc@hotmail.com

Television In Agriculture Development

Abstract Pakistan is predominantly an agriculture country. Sindh is the second important province which constitutes about 25% of the Pakistan's total agricultural land contributing to the Agricultural economy. The lack of expansion of information technology decrease the economic benefits to farmers and the economy in large in general and in Sindh as well. The main objective of this study was to analyse the role of television channels on agriculture development on the general public, specifically farmers in Sindh, Pakistan. In terms of the research design to collect the primary data of the study, the quantitative approach by means of survey questionnaire has been adopted to generate the primary data of the study where a total of 200 respondents, comprising of male farmers from the District Matiari, Sindh province in Pakistan have been selected as the main respondents of the study. The study has revealed a number of important findings which reveal that the majority of the respondents (41%) preferred to watch agriculture related television programmes as compared to other programmes on television. Apart from this, the findings of the study have also revealed that most of the respondents (87%) own television set. Most of the respondents (75.5%) felt that television is the best medium in terms of disseminating agriculture-related programmes. Key Words: Pakistan Television, Agriculture, Agriculture development, Sindh,

Abdul Razaque Chhachhar, Mohd Nizam Osman & Siti Zobidah Omar

Television and radio is one of the most powerful media which disseminate information about agriculture, education, health and rural development. According to Ekoja (2003) television and radio play very important role in dissemination the information about agriculture for the farmers and similarly different newspapers which publish articles and periodicals about agriculture. Agriculture development mostly depends on sharing the knowledge and information about new agricultural technology transfer among farmers which are not too expensive. Nowadays the farmers have needed to be timely informed about use of new technologies and upcoming warnings regarding pesticides and other diseases by media. (Prathap, 2010). The advantage of information and skills of technologies are not accessible to majority of the population in the world. There is a need to build a knowledge based society to transfer the information and integrating all the socio-cultural dimensions. Furthermore government could select the priorities in different field including empowering people by providing access to the information and knowledge about agriculture, education, health and rural development.(McPhail, 2009) The significance of ICT cannot be denied in agriculture development of Pakistan. The application of latest technologies is increasing day by day among farmers and people are getting full advantage from this new advanced technology. It provides profit, access and knowledge to rural poor. However government is also serving to adjust the current state of affairs at a lower rate. Therefore, Pakistan is largely a pre-paid market and poor people simply can Purchase these technologies such as mobile, radio and television. Though the use of ICT in agriculture sector is not a new effort in Pakistan almost every Cell phone company launched agricultural related programs. Television is one of the most influential channels of the communication, which could spread the information very fast about agricultural related technology transfer among the farming community. It could be said that most important communication tools present today is mass media through which information can be transferred easily to the farmers (Irfan, Muhammad, Khan, & Asif, 2006). Statement of Research problem The farmers are facing many problems in rural areas where they could not receive proper information about agricultural related issues. Due to unawareness and lack of information, farmers have no idea about trade their goods and services in the market. Illiteracy is also a big problem among farmers. They could not have knowledge about fertilizers and usage of new technology in farming. Communication technology is diffusing very fast. But non- availability of infrastructure in rural areas people could not know how to use these technologies in proper way. It was reported that information and knowledge could be basic resource for development, even though the essential information is available, but due to non-availability and non-connectivity of information and mass media people were facing many problems and hindrances in access to new technologies. There are many sectors in society which are better informed than others. This difference is more observable in developed and under developing countries. It has been perceived that flow of information could not connect with rural people to provide global network information (Kularatne, 1997). Television is one of the widespread media as 88% of respondents indicated that television is their first preference. Nowadays television could consider vital which could extensively provide different information to different communities such as farmers, fishermen, doctors and teachers. Furthermore, researchers highlighted that television change from other mass media in the way it could combine different kinds of information. But it has also been proved that in many rural areas people have no accessibility and approach to get

Television In Agriculture Development

current information especially farmers in the third world countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan (Upadhyay, Kumar, Raghuvanshi, & Singh, 2011). Therefore the study was conducted to determine literacy rate for using television for development in the agricultural sector of Sindh, Pakistan and to examine the problems in terms of accessibility to television for development in the agricultural sector of Sindh, Pakistan. Materials And Methods With regards to the research design to obtain the primary data of the study, the main method of generating the data was done by means of the survey research whereby the respondents of the study were interviewed based on the questions in the questionnaire survey and their responses were recorded by the researcher. A total of 200 respondents from District Matiari Sindh, Pakistan were interviewed based on the quantitative approach to obtained their perceptions and views about the role of television channels in agricultural development in Sindh, Pakistan. This approach is believed to be more effective because it enables the respondents to provide recommendations, suggestions and to identify the particular television programmes in the areas of agricultural sectors apart from getting the perceptions and views of the respondents of the study. The quantitative data which were obtained from the questionnaire survey were analysed using the SPSS software version 18th while the in-depth personal interviews were analysed manually based on the main data which were keyed into the computer system to be analysed for the findings of the study. Results and Discussion This section of the article presents the results and discussion on the main findings of the study, which is based on the data collected from the survey questionnaire on the following main points: i) respondents demographic information, ii) respondents television viewing habits, iii) respondents preference on watching television programmes,( iv) respondents perceptions on the effectiveness of television in disseminating agricultural-related information and (v) respondents perceptions on whether agricultural-related television programmes have increased respondents productivity and income. Respondents Demography In terms of respondents demography, the data presented in Table 1 illustrated the distribution of the respondents gender, marital status, age group, highest level of educational achievement and total household monthly income. This demographic information is seen to be very important and significant in the study because the demographic variables identified above were assumed to have a significant relationship with the extent of influence of television viewing habits among the respondents of the study, especially with regards to the respondents extensive consumption of agricultural-related development programmes which were transmitted by satellite television channel in Sindh, Pakistan. The data presented in Table 1 clearly indicated that the respondents of the study were comprised of mainly male respondents. This is because farmers in Sindh, Pakistan were mostly comprised of male adults; therefore it would be relevant to include only male respondents as the main subject of the study. With regards to marital status of the respondents the data presented in Table 1 showed that majority of the respondents of the study were married, comprised of 167 individuals (83.5%) who were married as compared to 33 individuals (16.5%) bachelors. Marital status of the respondents was seen as a significant and an important variable of the study because there may be a significant difference in terms of choosing television programmes to watch between respondents who were married and those who were single. In the context of the study, it is assumed that respondents who were married may not have complete control on choosing which television programme to watch due to the interest of their wives who may be

Abdul Razaque Chhachhar, Mohd Nizam Osman & Siti Zobidah Omar

interested to watch other programmes as compared to watching agricultural-related development programmes on television. Table 1 Respondents demographic data. Respondents Demographic Variables Gender Male Female Total Single Married Total 15-20 years old 21-30 years old 31-40 years old 41 years and above Total Primary education Elementary education High School College Graduate Total Less than 5,000 rupees More than 5,000 rupees Total Number 200 0 200 33 167 200 11 99 71 19 200 170 16 13 1 0 200 132 68 Percentage (%) 100 0 100 16.5 83.5 100 5.5 49.5 35.5 9.5 100 85.0 8.0 6.5 0.5 0 100 66.0 34.0

Marital Status

Age Group

Highest level of Educational Achievement

Total Household Monthly Income

200

100

In terms of the age distribution of the respondents the data presented in Table 1 showed that a majority of the respondents are aged between 21 33 years old where a total of 99 respondents (49.5%) were in the category of this age group. This is followed by respondents between the age of 31 40 years old, comprising of 71 respondents (35.5%). A significantly lower number of respondents were aged 41 years and above (9.5%) while only 11 respondents were aged between 15 20 years old (5.5%). It is quite common to find low number of respondents who were farmers in the 15-20 years age category because people in this age category would either be at school or they would preferred to work in the industry or organization, as compared to working on the fields as farmers. In spite of this, it is also rather common to find a rather high number of young adults who were between 21 30 years old who were working as farmers on the fields. This could probably be due to the scarcity of employment opportunities in Pakistan where these people may not have too many employment opportunities to choose from, apart from working on the fields as farmers. As for highest level of educational achievement, the findings were presented in Table 1 reveal that a majority of the respondents had only primary level education, comprising of 170 individuals (85.0%). This represents a large number of respondents with the most basic level of education, as compared with those with higher level education, specifically at the College level where only 1 respond (0.5%) had achieved this level of education. There were no respondents at all who had achieved the level of graduate level education. In spite of this,

Television In Agriculture Development

there were some respondents, comprising of 16 individuals (8.0%) who had elementary education while a total of 13 respondents (6.5%) had high school education as their highest level of educational achievement. The findings of the study clearly revealed that the level of education of most of the respondents of the study were at the lowest stage of the educational categories. This could partly be due to poverty and low economic situation which are significantly high among families residing in most rural parts of the country. Furthermore, formal education was not seen as an important requirement for survival in the rural parts of the country, as compared to acquiring skills related to farming, hunting and fishing which are seen significantly more important for survival among the village communities. This finding clearly indicated that most of the respondents of the study were not educated and therefore, may find it difficult to understand the information which being conveyed to them by the government about agricultural-related development programmes which are aired on satellite television in Pakistan. Consistent with the findings of the study concerning highest level of educational achievement, the data presented in Table 1 also indicated that majority of the respondents comprising of 132 respondents (66.0%) earned a total household monthly income of below 5.000 rupees, as compared to a significant lower number of the respondents with the total household monthly income of more than 5,000 rupees a month. This once again indicated that the majority of the respondents income level was at the lower range and this probably explains why some respondents of the study may not even afford to purchase television sets or other forms of information and communication technologies in their homes. Respondents Television Viewing Habits In terms of the respondents television viewing habits, the discussion presented in this section of the paper were mostly focused on respondents ownership of television at home, the extent of television viewing on a daily and weekly basis among the respondents programmes which are accessed by the respondents of the study as well as agricultural-related television programmes which were aired on satellite television stations. In terms of the ownership of television sets at home, the findings of the study as presented in Table 2 indicate that a majority of the respondents, comprising of 174 respondents (87.0%) revealed that they own at least 1 television set at home, however a small number of the respondents, comprising of 26 respondents (13.0%) indicated otherwise. As for the allocation of time to watch television daily, most of the respondents of the study, comprising of 119 respondents (59.5%) spent between 4 6 hours per day watching television, followed by 44 respondents (22.0%) said they watch television more than 6 hours per day while 37 respondents (18.5%) said they watch television daily between 2 4 hours. Based on the findings of the study as revealed in Table 2 and given the rather high number of respondents, comprising of 119 respondents (59.5%) who said they watch television between 4 6 hours per day, this is indeed a good indication of a rather high extent of television viewing habits among the farmers in Sindh, Pakistan. Furthermore, the findings of the study, as revealed in Table 2 also revealed that a majority of the respondents, comprising of 71 individuals (35.5%) who said they watch television between 6-7 days per week. This is again a strong indication of high accessibility rate of television viewing among the respondents of the study. In relation to this, the government and television stations should capitalise on this point and should therefore focus more on introducing more agricultural-related development programmes on television. This would certainly benefit the farmers who would be gaining knowledge on the different agricultural-related information which are being broadcasted in the content of the television programmes. Similar results were obtained by (Muhammad, Butt, & Ashraf, 2004).

Abdul Razaque Chhachhar, Mohd Nizam Osman & Siti Zobidah Omar

Table 2 Respondents television viewing habits Television Programmes Ownership of television set at home Not owning television set at home Watch television between 2 4 hours per day Watch television between 4 6 hours per day Watch television 6 hours or more per day Watch television between 1 2 days per week Watch television between 3 5 days per week Watch television between 6 7 days per week No. (%) of respondents 174 (87.0%) 26 (13.0%) 37 (18.5%) 119 (59.5%) 44 (22.0%) 25 (12.5%) 104 (52.0%) 71 (35.5%)

Respondents Preferences on Watching Television Programmes The data presented in Table 2 indicated that respondents preference in terms of watching television programmes which they like to watch. The findings of the study, as presented in Table 3 clearly indicated that agricultural-related programmes were the respondents most preferred television programme, where a total of 82 respondents (41%) said that they prefer to watch agricultural-related television programmes as compared to other forms of television programmes. This is followed by news-related television programmes where a total of 36 respondents (18%) have indicated preference on watching this forms of television programmes as compared to other forms of television programmes. The findings of the study as presented in the Table 3 also revealed that the respondents of the study have also indicated that they like watching drama-related television programmes where a total of 32 respondents (16%) have indicated their preference on watching drama programmes on television. Other forms of television programmes which were preferred among the respondents of the study include educational related television programmes (29 respondents, 14.5%), entertainment-related television programmes (11 respondents, 5.5%), documentary-related television programmes (9 respondents, 4.5%) and sports-related television programmes (1 respondent, 0.5%). The findings of the study, as presented in Table 3 clearly showed that a majority of the respondents preferred to watch agricultural-related programmes as compared to other types of programmes aired on television. This evident were presented in the Table 3 which revealed a total of 82 respondents (41%) of the study indicating they liked watching agricultural-related programmes over other programmes. This once again was an important indication that the majority of the respondents comprising of farmers residing in Sindh, Pakistan were preferred to watch agricultural-related programmes over other programmes on television. Table 3 Respondents preference on watching television programmes No. (%) of Television Programmes respondents Prefer to watch educational-related programmes Prefer to watch drama-related programmes Prefer to watch entertainment-related programmes Prefer to watch agricultural-related programmes Prefer to watch news-related programmes Prefer to watch documentary-related programmes Prefer to watch sports-related programmes 29 (14.5%) 32 (16%) 11 (5.5%) 82 (41%) 36 (18%) 9 (4.5%) 1 (0.5%)

Television In Agriculture Development

Based on these findings, the government should once again capitalise on this important information and should therefore take the appropriate steps and actions to encourage more productions of agricultural-related programmes to be aired on national television channels. Some of the steps that can be taken by the Pakistani government to formulate policies to ensure the number of agricultural-related television programmes were given special focus and attention by television stations. Apart from this, the Pakistani government can also ensure the content of agricultural-related television programmes should be more focused on providing agricultural-related information so as to benefit farmers collectively in Pakistan. Another step that can be taken by the Pakistani government were to ensure all television stations comply with the television programmes ratio of perhaps 3:2, where for every 5 programmes shown on television, 3 of the programmes must be more focused on agricultural-related programmes. This is where the focus of agricultural-related programmes can be more concentrated on providing useful information to farmers in Pakistan. Punjab Pakistan where 47% of the population were aware about different agriculture programs which were produced on television. Meanwhile 42% were not knowledge about the names of programs. It was also indicated that only 30% respondents were regularly watching the agriculture related program and 60% of the respondents were watched hardly agriculture programs in Punjab Pakistan. The figures were also supported by Cartmell, Orr, & Kelemen, 2006) for USA. Respondents Perceptions on the Effectiveness of Agricultural Programmes on Satellite Television Channels The data presented in Table 4 focused on the respondents perceptions on whether television were the best medium to disseminated agricultural-related information to the general public, specifically farmers in Pakistan. The findings of the study, as revealed in Table 4 clearly indicated that a majority of the respondents, comprising of 141 respondents (70.5%) felt that television is indeed the best medium of disseminating agricultural-related information to the Pakistani general public. This represented a significantly large number of respondents who indicated such reaction, as compared to a significantly lower number of respondents comprising of only 5 respondents (2.5%) who felt that television were not the best medium to disseminate agricultural-related information to the general public. In spite of this, a total of 54 respondents (27.0%) however seemed not too sure about this issue when they reacted that sometimes television were the best medium in disseminating agriculturalrelated information to the general public while during other times, television may not be a good medium to disseminated agricultural-related information to the Pakistani general public. Table 4. Respondents perceptions to television as the best Source to disseminate agricultural-related information No. (%) of Television Programmes respondents Yes, TV is the best source for agricultural-related information No, TV is NOT the best source for agricultural-related information Sometimes TV is the best source for agricultural-related information 141 (70.5%) 5 (2.5%) 54 (27.0%)

The findings of the study, as presented in the Table 4 were a clearly indicated of the positive views of the respondents on the effectiveness of television as a medium to disseminated agricultural-related information. In relation to this finding of the study, a number of questions should be raised. Firstly, why not capitalise on television as an important medium of disseminating government-related projects and activities, including agricultural-

Abdul Razaque Chhachhar, Mohd Nizam Osman & Siti Zobidah Omar

related programmes. Secondly, why not use television as a medium to educate and inform the general public about important issues and events happening in the country, including information about agricultural-related matters such as weather forecast, market prices on crops, information about wholesale purchasers, pests and insecticides and others. Given the significantly large number of the respondents who felt that television is an effective medium to disseminate agricultural-related information to the general public, the government should therefore fully exploit television, especially the content of television programmes in disseminating key and important information to the general public. This is where the non-governmental organization and the television stations could play a vital role in facilitating and assisting the government in materializing this aspiration. Respondents Perceptions on the Effectiveness of Agricultural Programmes in Increasing Agricultural Income In terms of the extensiveness of television in increasing agricultural income among the farmers in Sindh, Pakistan, most of the respondents, comprising of 161 respondents (80.5%) felt that television was moderately extensive in increasing agricultural income among the farmers in Pakistan, as compared to 11 respondents (5.5%) who felt that television was very extensive in terms of increasing agricultural income among the farmers in the country, while 28 respondents (14.0%) felt television is not extensive at all in increasing the agricultural income among the farmers in Pakistan. A number of assumptions can be made based on the findings of the study on respondents perception regarding the extensiveness of television in increasing agricultural income among the farmers in the country. Firstly, the agricultural income of the farmers in Pakistan were spread across a period of 1 year (12 months) where there may be certain months in the year when the farmers received higher income as compared to other months in a particular year. This could partly be attributed to seasonal crops produced which obviously may be dependent on the weather and other contributing factors. Therefore, it would be rather difficult to measure the extensiveness of television programmes in increasing the agricultural income of the farmers in Pakistan. Secondly, the content of television programmes may not be devoted fully on agricultural-related programmes, therefore farmers only obtain partial information about agricultural-related information such as crops prices, weather information, and government allocation of financial assistance to farmers and others from television. Thirdly, farmers income is largely dependent on the commitment of the farmers in working on the fields. Therefore, the more committed the farmers are towards their work, the more likely they will be getting higher income as compared to those who are less committed towards their work. Another survey report indicated by (Dieden, Cheng, Haslev-Hansen, Hinostroza, & Mackenzie, 2007). That 90% of the respondents thought that TV was a great source of news and information about agriculture, health and education. The determinants of time spent listening to radio or watching television electricity had positive impact on farmers. as did, for radio listening, education and the number of toddlers in the household. Meanwhile television was not effectiveness in increasing income of the farmers in developing countries. Table 5. Respondents perceptions on the effectiveness of television in increasing agricultural income No. (%) of Television Programmes respondents Very effective in increasing agricultural income Moderate effective in increasing agricultural income Not effective in increasing agricultural income 11 (5.5%) 161 (80.5%) 28 (14.0%)

10 Television In Agriculture Development

Conclusion Results showed that majority (87%) of the respondents have their own television sets. Meanwhile 41% of the respondents prefer to watch the agricultural related programs on television and 70.5% of the respondents believed television as a main source of information about agriculture. However only 5.5% of the respondents said that television programs enhanced their source of income. The contribution of TV towards the dissemination of information about agriculture was high in the study area.

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