Title: IMPACT OF DIGITAL FORMATS ON FARMERS' KNOWLEDGE OF SUGARCANE CULTIVATION

Authors: Rahul Pawar, Devendrappa S. and Nithya Shree D. A.

Publisher: The President, Society of Extension Education Gujarat

Keywords: impact, knowledge gain, sugarcane cultivation practices and different digital formats

Volume: 40

Issue: 2

Year: December 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56572/gjoee.2025.40.2.0008

Abstract: The present experimental study was carried out in Athani taluk, located in the Belagavi District, Karnataka. It employed a 'Before-After' without control group experimental design to assess the impact of digital formats on farmers' knowledge of sugarcane cultivation. The subject matter focused on "Sugarcane Cultivation Practices," and three digital formats were developed: a Mobile App, a Video, and a WhatsApp message, all containing similar content. These formats served as treatments, which were administered to the sugarcane growers over a period of 15 days. Three villages were randomly selected, and from each village, 50 sugarcane farmers were chosen through random sampling, thus total sample size of 150 participants. The study assessed the impact of digital formats on knowledge gain. The results showed that the mean knowledge gain was highest for the Video format (30.00), followed by the Mobile App (25.30) and the WhatsApp message (22.20). All formats were effective in enhancing knowledge, although there were notable differences in their effectiveness. There is a significant difference in knowledge acquisition resulting from the use of different digital formats.