Information Management Behavior among Small and Marginal Maize Farmers in Bihar, India

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important source of food, feed for animals, and industrial material. Information Management Behaviour (IMB) of farmers include how they look for, assess, retain, utilise, and share information. Despite the significant contribution of maize cultivation to Bihar’s agricultural economy and the increasing emphasis on information-driven farming, there remains a critical gap in understanding how  farmers actually manage agricultural information at the grassroots level. The present study aims to analyze the IMB of maize farmers in Bihar. An exploratory research design was adopted for the investigation. Among the 38 districts of Bihar, two major maize-producing districts, Muzaffarpur and Samastipur, were purposively selected based on their significant contribution to maize production. A sample of 120 respondents was drawn, with 30 farmers selected from each village using appropriate sampling procedures. Primary data were collected through personal interviews using a structured schedule. The collected data were systematically analyzed using statistical tools such as correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis with the help of IBM SPSS. The results of the study revealed that the majority of maize farmers in Bihar exhibited a moderate level of IMB, with 56.67 percent of respondents falling under the medium category, followed by 23.33 percent in the high category and 20.00 percent in the low category. The findings offer important implications for policymakers, agricultural institutions, and extension agencies to design need-based, farmer-centric information dissemination strategies. Strengthening these systems can improve farmers’ knowledge, support better decision-making, and ultimately enhance agricultural productivity and resilience in Bihar.