This cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the extent of use of mobile based ICT tools by dairy farmers and constraints faced by them while its use. Respondents were randomly selected from two districts of western Maharashtra namely Satara and Pune and study was undertaken during June – November, 2020. A total of 120 respondents (60 each from Satara and Pune districts) were randomly selected and interviewed with the help of structured schedule. Analysis of data was done and frequency and percentage were calculated accordingly. Almost all the variables studied like age group (68.32%), family size (39.17%), land holding (48.33%), herd size (45.00%), experience (69.17%), social participation (75.84%), extension contacts (70.00%) and knowledge level (72.50%) could be grouped under medium level. Dairy farmers were mostly aware about voice calls (90.83%), whatsapp (82.50%) and financial apps for e-transaction (65%). However, they were totally unaware about use of Twitter, Skype, Instagram, Bluetooth and GIS applications. Similarly, most of the respondents never used video calls (73.34%), SMS facility (70.84%), and mobile for taking photographs (64.16%) related to dairy farming. Whats app found to be used on daily basis, and mobile based ICT tools were used primarily for social purposes with less involvement for its use in order to improve dairy farming activities. Major constraints faced by dairy farmers were unavailability of relevant information in local language, lack of reliable, useful and location specific contents, lack of repairing services and centers in the village. Based on the observations, it is concluded that actual utilization of mobile based ITC tools by dairy farmers is poor in terms of its use for the purpose of dairy related activities. There is need to popularized use of mobile based ICT tools and impart competence and skills in its use among the dairy farmers.

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The region of Satara district experiences summer from March to May, with maximum temperature ranging from 35°C to 43°C and the warmest month is May (43°C) whereas, the monsoon lasts from June to September with moderate to high precipitation during which temperature ranges from 28°C to 32°C along with 80% to 90% relative humidity. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of THI on the HSP70 gene expression pattern during summer and rainy seasons in Deccani sheep at LFC, KNP College of Veterinary Science, Shirwal, Dist. Satara (Maharashtra). The meteorological variables like temperature and relative humidity were recorded for calculating THI and whole blood samples (06 ml each) of eight non-pregnant, non-lactating and apparently healthy Deccani sheep were collected for HSP70 gene expression pattern during peak summer (month of May) and peak rainy (month of August) seasons in the year 2019. The significantly (P less than 0.01) higher THI was recorded during summer than rainy season. The relative mRNA expression of the HSP70 gene during the peak summer season was found 1.79 folds more as compared to peak rainy season during the present study.