Constraints and obstacles perceived by extension personnel in application of information and communication technology in agriculture

Abstract

SUMMARY :In India about 760 millions of farmers are engaged in agriculture. According to an estimate more than 60 per cent of the farmers have no access to any source of modern agriculture information. Reaching to these unreached farmers is a great big challenge before the extension system. To achieve growth rate more than four per cent in agriculture, ICT revolution in India must be preceded by the next generation of technology and infrastructure development. Application of ICTs in agriculture should be increased. ICT must be used to reach small and marginal farmers, who are the vast majority of Indian farmers and often unable to access agriculture informations. Presently extension personnel of both government and non-government organisations are using various information and communication technologies for transfer of agriculture technologies among the farming community but they are facing many constraints and obstacles in ICT application. Therefore, the entire study was carried out in Udaipur district of Rajasthan state to identify the problems and obstacles perceived by extension personnel in use of information and communication technology. A total of 160 extension personnel (80 from GO and 80 from NGOs) were selected from One GO and eight NGOs. To study constraints being faced in ICT application five commonly used ICT tools namely computer, Internet, mobile phone, Kisan call centre and information kiosks were selected. Data from the respondents were collected through face to face interview technique with the help of developed instrument. The findings of the study revealed that more than two-third of the extension personnel perceived either medium or higher level of the constraints regarding ICT application in agriculture, It was also found that extension personnel of government organisation faced more constraints than NGOs personnel in the application of computer, Internet, mobile phone, Kisan call centre and information kiosk in agriculture.

Farmers’ use of mobile phone-based farm advisory services in Punjab, Pakistan

“…These findings indicate the efficiency of the private sector in terms of assisting the farming communities and meeting their information needs. These results are in line with a study conducted in India, which also found that farmers prefer to contact private companies and input suppliers because they provide products and inputs in addition to advisory services (Verma et al, 2014).…”

Farmers’ use of mobile phone for accessing agricultural information in Pakistan:

“…Results of our study reported that farmers accessed private agricultural companies and their advisory staff more frequently (87.2%) as compared to public sectors advisory services. These findings are parallel with another similar study reported in India (VERMA et al, 2014) which reported that farmers prefer to consult the private sector's agents as they also provided the required inputs in addition to the advisory services. In this way, the private sector's dealers and suppliers remain connected through the cell phone because of selling their products.…”

“…The literature is evident that farmers' characteristics of mobile phone use such as their possession duration and skills and aptitude are closely linked with its adoption and use in agriculture (QIANG et al, 2012). Farmer 's understandings and their basic skills regarding mobile phone use are also considered as mandatory factors for its successful utilizing, as the higher aptitude of mobile phone use increase tendency of accessing agricultural information and hence the farmer's efficiency (VERMA et al, 2014). Our study in this regard has identified the mobile phone usage related characteristics , which included farmers ownership duration and aptitude of the mobile phone.…”

Use of Information Communication Technologies among Agricultural Extension Officers in Lesotho

“…Addressing constraints to the use of ICT will encourage more extension officers to use them in their personal and professional duties. Verma et al, (2014) also reported that government and non-government extension officers in India experience some challenges in the use of ICT at different levels. This confirms that constraints to the use of ICT in information dissemination by extension agents is worldwide, though it is more serious in some areas than others.…”

“…The author, thus, concluded that the results have far-reaching implications for designing successful information and extension delivery models by the public, private or by collaborative efforts of the public and the private sector for better delivery of extension services. Verma et al, 2014 concluded that public extension officers were more affected by constraints to ICT use than non-government extension officers.…”