International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Soma Biswas and Souradeep Chatterjee

abstract
The Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers (DAESI) program aims to provide scientific knowledge and skills to input dealers to serve village community. The study was conducted in the Birbhum and Purba Bardhaman focusing on the knowledge of DAESI input dealers. The research involved 120 agricultural input dealers, holding DAESI diplomas the objectives were to study socio-economic profile of DAESI trained input dealers; to find the knowledge level of DAESI trained input dealers from different socioeconomic and management aspects; A score of dependent variables i.e. knowledge level and 20 independent variables have been executed to study their multilevel interaction to predict and isolate the dominant for DAESI trained respondents. Statistical analysis like coefficient of correlation, stepwise regression analysis was done. The research highlighted that for DAESI trained input dealers, there is a significant correlation between knowledge level and different independent variables like education, business experience, and risk orientation, mass media exposer, cosmo politeness. From stepwise regression analysis it has been found that out of 20 independent variables 11 variables exert more than 65% of total effects on knowledge level of DAESI trained input dealers.