Folk Media for Agricultural Extension: A Study of Yakshagana – A South Indian Folk Theatre
Abstract
Agricultural extension is an important prerequisite of agricultural development in developing countries like India. Studies have proved that folk media play a significant role in agricultural communication, especially in extension activities. The present paper examines the role of Yakshagana in agricultural extension from the perspective of Diffusion of Innovations. Yakshagana is a 500-year-old south Indian folk theatre, popular in the coastal districts of Karnataka. Because of its flexibility, Yakshagana is being used for disseminating different development messages for the past many years. Using an exploratory method, the present paper attempts to identify major milestones in using Yakshagana for agricultural extension. The changing role of Yakshagana in looking at the changing approaches to agriculture has also been examined.
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Keywords: Agricultural extension, Development communication, Diffusion of innovations, Folk media, Folk theatre, Yakshagana.
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