Information Sources Utilized and Their Degree of Credibility as Perceived by the Fish Farmers in Manipur

The study was undertaken to analyze the information sources utilized and their degree of credibility as perceived by the fish farmers in three districts of Manipur viz., Imphal East, Imphal West and Thoubal. These districts were purposively selected following an ex-post-facto research based on the prevalence of fish farmers. A sample of 60 fish farmers were selected randomly from the districts; twenty (20) from each district. A structured interview schedule was used to collect the information through personal interview. Information sources were categorized broadly into three scores: 3-Regularly’, ‘2-Occasionally’, ‘1-Rarely’ and their credibility as 3-Highly Credible; 2-Moderately Credible; 1-Least Credible. The study revealed that among all the personal contact methods, majority of the respondents sought information from friends and neighbours, followed by contact with progressive fish farmers & opinion leaders, and contact with line departments with mean scores of 2.46, 2.32 and 1.67 respectively. Among the group contact methods, group discussion & meeting was the most frequently used information source by the fish farmers with mean score 2.74 followed by discussion with fish farmers and training programmes with mean scores of 2.54 and 1.77 respectively. Among the mass contact methods, radio was the most frequently used source of information with 2.88 mean score followed by newspaper and television with mean scores of 2.21 and 1.97 respectively. Friends and neighbours, contact with progressive fish farmers & opinion leaders and personal contact with faculty/ scientist were perceived as the most credible sources of information among all the personal contact methods with 2.98, 2.38 and 2.34 mean scores respectively. Among the group contact methods, group discussion & meeting was perceived as the most credible information source by the fish farmers with 2.76 mean score. Discussion with fish farmers served as the second most frequently used source with 2.53 mean score followed by training programmes with mean score 1.77. Among the mass contact methods, radio was the most frequently used with 2.84 mean score followed by television and internet with mean scores of 2.39 and 2.19 respectively.