Assessing the Role of Digital Platforms in Strengthening Agricultural Extension Services: Advisory to Empowerment
A survey of 400 Uttar Pradesh farmer households finds that regular users of digital advisory platforms — WhatsApp groups, YouTube, apps — score significantly higher on knowledge, empowerment, and yield than non-users, even after controlling for income and education.
Key findings
- ▸Digital platform users had significantly higher empowerment scores (31.4 vs 25.8 out of 45), wheat yields (48.6 vs 43.1 q/ha), and net farm income (₹34,500 vs ₹28,400/ha) than non-users, even after controlling for socio-economic factors.
- ▸Each one-point increase in digital platform usage intensity raised the odds of adopting at least three recommended farming practices by about 30%.
- ▸WhatsApp groups (71.7%) and YouTube channels (54.6%) were by far the most-used digital channels among users, well ahead of formal apps or call centres — and 86% of users received advice in their local language.
- ▸40% of farmers remained non-users, concentrated among those lacking smartphones (20%) or internet access (12.5%) — digital extension risks widening inequality without deliberate inclusion measures.
Abstract
Purpose: To explore the contribution of digital platforms in strengthening agricultural extension services and empowering farmers in Uttar Pradesh, India. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey of 400 farmer households, selected by stratified random sampling, compared digital platform users and non-users on knowledge, empowerment, technology adoption, yield, and income, using validated multi-item scales, t-tests, chi-square tests, logistic regression, and multiple regression. Findings: Even after controlling for socio-economic and extension variables, digital platform users had significantly higher knowledge, empowerment scores, adoption indices, yield, and net farm income than non-users. Digital use influences empowerment both directly and indirectly through knowledge and information self-efficacy. Practical implications: Findings highlight the need for hybrid digital-traditional extension systems for inclusive empowerment and equity of farmers. Originality/Value: The study provides the first direct empirical evidence linking specific digital-platform usage intensity to a multidimensional empowerment construct among Indian smallholder farmers, situating the transition "from advisory to empowerment."
Originally published in the Indian Journal of Extension Education, Vol. 62, No. 2 (April-June 2026), pp. 47-53, DOI: 10.48165/IJEE.2026.62208. Republished here with attribution; see the original journal for the full formatted article.
Cite this paper
Abhilash Singh Maurya (2026). Assessing the Role of Digital Platforms in Strengthening Agricultural Extension Services: Advisory to Empowerment. Agri Research Journal. https://agriculturejournals.com/papers/digital-platforms-agricultural-extension-services-advisory-empowerment
Read the story
The 40% of Farmers WhatsApp Left Behind
A 400-farmer survey in Uttar Pradesh finds regular users of digital platforms score measurably higher on knowledge, income, and confidence — but the farmers still outside that world aren't randomly distributed. They're exactly the ones extension systems were supposed to help most.