Success of a Radio-based IPM Campaign in North Dakota: A Report on Team Effectiveness, Program Costs and Campaign Outcomes
ISSN 2158-9429
Volume 3, Issue 1 - June 2010
Editor: Linda Chalker-Scott
Abstract
Radio is a powerful mass communication medium for the transfer of agricultural information to crop producers. Radio campaigns can be more impactful if information is synchronized with other communication channels like newsletters and Websites. This article describes an Extension integrated pest management (IPM) campaign conducted in North Dakota during 2007 and 2008 that aimed at combining radio-based information delivery system with paper and Internet publications for weekly diffusion of IPM recommendations to farmers. Several Extension Agents participated in the weekly radio broadcasts in order to report pest outbreaks, crop scouting observations, and IPM recommendations that were adopted by farmers. Success of the radio-based IPM campaign was indicated by the strong financial support that the campaign generated via sponsorships ($4,000+) and the doubling of broadcast time due to requests from farmers. Based on the information compiled after one full year of IPM campaign, the cost of radio broadcasts was approximately $1.26 per listener per year with a 15% increase in IPM adoption rate. This is the first study in United States that documents the cost effectiveness of radio for Extension IPM campaigns.
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