Agriculture is the mainstay of Bangladesh’s economy, accounting for 15.89% of its GDP and 45.1% of its labour employment. Efficiency of economic activities in agriculture crucially depends on the flow of information relating to farming decisions, as well as on demand for such information by farmers. This study examines the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of small-scale farmers in rural Bangladesh. Opinions and feedback of farmers were collected through mini–focus group discussions (MFGD) and in-depth interviews (IDI) in seven districts across Bangladesh. The study finds that many farmers lack awareness of where and how to obtain agro-information. The priority areas on which farmers typically seek information include seeds, fertilisers, agriculture credit, irrigation, disease and pest management. The information-seeking behaviour of the farmers depends on two variables: the nature of the crisis and the reliability of the information available. Farmers rely on personal experience and informal networks when the nature of crisis is familiar or non-critical; they rely on multiple external sources when the nature of crisis is critical and personal knowledge proves inadequate. The use of information and communications technology (ICT) (such as Union Digital Centers and Agricultural Helplines) in this regard is minimal, and the potential of utilisation of the office of agriculture extension remains untapped. The major constraints faced by the farmers in seeking information using modern ICT include farmers’ prevailing norms and perceptions (e.g., resistance to change and adoption of new technology), relatively high costs of and low awareness regarding agro-information, poor infrastructure to be able to support ICT services, spatial inconvenience, in terms of location and availability of ICT facilities, and low literacy among the farmers.

This study was carried out to understand the effects of addition of supplemental feed nutrients such as high protein (feed 1) and low protein (feed 2) diets on the natural food web in twelve tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) ponds at Dumuria of Khulna district, Bangladesh. During this study, water temperature ranged from 32.23 -32.61 o C and 32.29 -32.44 o C in case of feed 1 and feed 2 treated ponds respectively. On the other hand, salinity, pH and transparency were more or less stable and similar in both treatment ponds. In high protein supplemented feed 1 ponds, dissolved oxygen (DO) varied from 5.51 -5.68 mg/l and in low protein feed 2 ponds, DO varied from 5.53 to 5.67 mg/l. During this study period, 13 taxa of phytoplankton under six classes were recorded. Most dominated class was Coscinodicophyceae (42.02% in feed 1 and 42.26% in feed 2 ponds) whereas minimum quantity of phytoplankton belonged to the class Dianophyceae (1.86 and 2.17%). On the other hand, a total of 29 taxa of zooplankton under 3 groups were recorded. In ponds treated with feed 2 phytoplankton abundance was slightly higher than that of ponds treated with feed 1. Whereas, abundance of zooplankton was higher in ponds treated with feed 1 than in ponds fed with low protein feed 2. As phytoplankton is the important factor for the production of zooplankton and also for natural food web, any addition of feed was found to be improving nutrients and enhancing the natural productivity of tiger shrimp ponds.