22 INTRODUCTION Information gaps were one of the most important reasons for low levels of income among farmers. The opportunities to access to information were not fully realized by farmers due to lack of technical and extension expert support. Farmers need access to information on technological innovations and similar to make proper decisions about their crop and livestock and its marketing (Dharanipriya and Karthikeyan, 2019). Intensity of information needed in agriculture and allied sectors is at an increasing pace and access to information has become the fundamental issue to be addressed (Jonathan, 2016). Media plays a paramount role in imparting Animal Husbandry information thereby awareness among cattle owners. Newspaper, radio, and television are very much popular in the state of Kerala and the higher literacy of people has facilitated access to Communication Source Utilization Pattern of Dairy Farmers’ Pertaining to Foot and Mouth Disease in Kerala Subin K Mohan# and P J Rajkamal College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala, India-680651 ABSTRACT A study has been conducted among the dairy farmers in Thrissur district to assess the communication source utilization regarding Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). The exposure of dairy farmers to diferent communication sources and their relative preference as a source of information of FMD was assessed using the ranking method. Interpersonal channels were the efective sources of obtaining information about FMD followed by mass media and trainings. Majority of the dairy farmers used still used newspaper as the source of information, television occupied only second position. Veterinary surgeon was the most important source of information among interpersonal channels followed by neighbours and friends. Only about forty percent of the dairy farmers prefer to attend lecture classes than seminars or group discussions. First-hand information about communication source utilization will be much helpful for the extension agents and policy makers to implement appropriate disease mitigation strategies in the afected area which can be imbibed easily by the farmers. Key Words: Communication, Source Utilization, FMD, Dairy, Farmer, Kerala them. Diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), a highly infectious and acute viral disease of cloven hooved animals can be controlled efectively if a strong awareness of it is created among dairy farmers, which can be achieved through print and electronic media besides interpersonal channels, even social media. First-hand information about the communication source utilization pattern about dairy farmers is of immense value to policy makers in planning appropriate extension education programmes. In the above circumstances, such a study pertaining to FMD was studied among the dairy farmers of Thrissur district, Kerala State. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in Thrissur district in Kerala where epidemics of FMD were reported. A total of 120 respondents were selected using Corresponding Author’s Email: subin.mohan@kvasu.ac.in # Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala, India-680651 email- subinkmohan@gmail.com Retired Professor & Major Advisor, Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala, India- 680651 email- rajkamal3333@gmail.com J Krishi Vigyan 2022, 11 (1) : 22-25 DOI : 10.5958/2349-4433.2022.00098.8 J Krishi Vigyan 2022, 11 (1) : 22-25