Digital Agricultural Journalism in India: A Review of Evolution, Integration with Extension, and Strategies for Strengthening

Abstract

Digital technologies have fundamentally reshaped the landscape of agricultural journalism in India, transforming how agricultural information is produced, disseminated, and consumed across a nation where agriculture remains the primary livelihood for a substantial proportion of the population. This review article traces the historical evolution of agricultural journalism in India, from its colonial origins in print-based farm publications to the contemporary era characterised by web portals, mobile applications, social media platforms, and multimedia content. The article examines the conceptual foundations that underpin agricultural journalism in the digital age, drawing upon theories of development communication, diffusion of innovations, and knowledge systems. A central focus of this review is the increasingly blurred boundary between digital agricultural journalism and agricultural extension services, as both domains converge around the shared objective of disseminating actionable knowledge to farming communities. The review critically analyses the role of government-led digital initiatives, including the Digital India programme, mKisan, e-NAM, and Kisan Suvidha, in augmenting journalistic and extension functions. Furthermore, the article identifies persistent challenges, including the digital divide, linguistic and literacy barriers, content quality concerns, misinformation, and the economic sustainability of digital agricultural media. Drawing upon an extensive review of the peer-reviewed literature published between 2005 and 2026, supplemented by relevant policy reports from international organisations, the article proposes a suite of strategies for strengthening digital agricultural journalism in India. These strategies encompass capacity building for agricultural journalists, public–private partnerships, leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics, strengthening vernacular content ecosystems, and fostering institutional integration between journalism and extension systems. The review concludes that a coherent, multi-stakeholder approach is imperative to harness the full potential of digital agricultural journalism as an instrument of rural development and agricultural modernisation in India.