Harnessing demographic dividend has become the greatest challenge before India which has aroused the demand for skilled youth especially in agriculture sector. Information technology has revolutionized Indian agriculture by opening door of enormous opportunities by playing a crucial role in scientific farming. Communication can help in motivating youth to take agriculture as a vocation by giving them right and customized information timely and location specific. The present study investigated communication behaviour of rural youth in Udham Singh Nagar District of Uttarakhand state, India. Data was collected through stratified random sampling with proportionate allocation for selecting 120 respondents of the study area. The study revealed that majority of respondents had medium level mass media exposure. Television was used mostly for entertainment, political and agricultural purpose in their own homes at night time. Majority of them were found satisfied with the information shown in the television via different agricultural programs and therefore inclined towards accepting that information. Mass media usage had a significant and positive relationship with education, innovativeness, achievement motivation, leadership ability and Cosmo politeness. The analysis of qualitative data indicated youth keenness to use information through mass media. The present study recommended that mass media infrastructure should be encouraged and utilized by rural youth in the rural areas to facilitate customized information delivery in a right time.

Keyword: Demographic dividend; Communication behaviour; Vocation; Rural youth; Mass media usage