Information Source Utilization Pattern of Pack Animal (Equine) Owners in Uttarakhand State of India

Abstract

The present study was conducted purposively in Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts of Uttarakhand state of India because of the dependency of local people on Equine rearing. A total of 80 pack animal (equine) owners were selected, using snowball sampling technique, 40 from each district and their information source utilization pattern was studied. The most preferred information sources and their level of utilization are important to know for the effective and speedy transfer of information to the equine owners. The information sources were categorised as informal, formal and mass media sources. The results revealed that the respondents contacted family members, neighbours, relatives, medical shop owners and other pack animal owners only 'rarely' or 'sometimes'. Among the formal sources, the Veterinary Officer, Livestock Extension Officer and Panchayat personnel were contacted 'rarely' or 'sometimes' for information regarding pack animal rearing. Bank personnel were never contacted. Among the mass media sources, radio, television and mobile phones were 'sometimes' used whereas Kisan melas, exhibitions, kisan call centres were 'rarely' or 'never' used by the pack animal owners.The level of informal informational source utilization by pack animal owners was 'medium' and that of formal and mass media sources was found to be 'low'. Independent sample't' test analysis reveals that there was highly significant difference between mass media source utilization by pack animal owners in the two districts.