The agriculture sector plays an important role in the Indian economy contributing 52 percent to the employment and 15 percent to the gross domestic product. In most of developing countries, much of the agricultural information is traditional and sometimes outdated and not applicable to small farmer's needs. The timely availability of right information for its right purpose in its proper utilization of major inputs required for farming. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can act as a direct force in the agricultural development process (Chahal et al., 2012). The information facilitates the farmers to decide what and when to plan, when to cultivate. Therfore, Mobile phones can act as a catalyst to disseminate agriculture knowledge through Short Message Service (SMS) to the farmers. The KVK Udupi started the use of SMS services to the farmers from December 2012. A study was conducted during June 2015 to know the impact of KVK free SMS services sent to the farmers of Udupi District. It was found that about 73.00 percent of the registered users were Marginal and Small farmers. Results from the primary data showed higher share of SMS beneficiaries in the age group of 18–35 years (64.00%). Further, Cent percent of the farmers were educated, who had impressed satisfactory about the SMS information received in local language. It was interesting to note that about 88.15 percent of the beneficiaries had shared the technical information with other farmers. Further, majority of the farmers (93.00%) opined that disseminated information was simple, timely, easily understandable and accurate which helped them to get better yield in their farms. The results of study provide useful insights to the policy makers to enhance the benefits as well as further improvement of the service delivery.
economy, SMS, beneficiaries, policy makers
