Constraints faced by farmers by utilizing ICT tools in agricultural production

The present investigation is conducted in Marathwada region of the Maharashtra state during 2021-2022 with the objective to study “Attitude of farmers towards use of information and communication technology on agricultural production and marketing”. Parbhani district was selected randomly from Marathwada region. Three talukas from Parbhani district and five villages from each talukas were selected randomly for the study. From each selected village, ten farmers were selected randomly on the basis of awareness about ICT tools to acquire farm knowledge in this way total 150 respondents were considered for the study. An Ex-post-facto research design was followed for the study. Data was gathered using a well-structured interview schedule created with the study's objectives in mind. The collected data was analysed, classified and tabulated. Statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and coefficient correlation were used to interpret findings and draw conclusions. Among the 150 selected farmers various constraints faced by respondents while using the ICT tools and techniques were, Lack of awareness of proper functioning about ICT tools (69.33%), Lack of training of the farmers towards use of different ICT tools (68.00%), Inadequate internet supply (67.33%), Lack of uninterrupted power supply (66.00%), Difficulty in understanding the content language of ICT gadgets (66.67%), Lack of local language in handling and understanding of software (66.67%), Poor mobile/internet connectivity in rural areas (66.00%) and beyond this some other constraints also faced by farmers.

Introduction

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can revolutionize Indian farming sector and can benefit all farmers including small landholders. Agriculture is the most important sector with the majority of the rural population in developing countries depending on it. The traditional approaches of agriculture being adapted, has numerous challenges in terms of production, marketing, profit etc. In developing countries, ICT in agriculture provides farmers with vital information pertaining to sowing, crop protection, and improving soil fertility that enables them to improve agricultural productivity. Weather-related advisories and alerts help them prepare for sporadic events such as floods, drought, or even pest and disease outbreaks, thus preventing significant crop loss. ICTs also provide them with a reliable channel to seek the best market price in the local markets and other daily updates for their produce to ensure they receive fair returns. The increasing penetration of budgetfriendly mobile phones and the internet is an added advantage for farmers living in remote areas in several emerging nations. Access to inexpensive mobile devices has now made it easier for them to acquire additional information and services that enable informed decisionmaking. The challenges of the traditional agriculture are addressed significantly by using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that play an important role in uplifting the livelihoods of the rural small landholder farmers. ICT helps in growing demand for new approaches. It also helps in empowering the rural people by providing better access to natural resources, improved agricultural technologies, effective production strategies, markets, banking and financial services etc. to know the awareness of farmers on ICT and its impact on marketing and economic conditions in agriculture with the following objectives. Specific objectives of the study-1. To study the profile of respondents. 2. To know the constraints faced by respondents for use of ICT tools and obtain their suggestions.

Materials and Methods

The present study is conducted in Marathwada region of the Maharashtra state during 2021-2022. In Marathwada region Parbhani District of Maharashtra State is selected due to the reason of Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth is situated in the Parbhani district and it is a hub for agricultural training programs for the farmers to implement various improved agricultural practices. There are nine talukas in Parbhani district out of which three talukas namely, Parbhani, Manwath, Sailu selected for present study. From each of the selected taluka, five villages were selected randomly. Thus fifteen villages were selected for the present study. From each selected village, ten respondents were selected randomly, those having mobile www.extensionjournal.com phones with internet facilities and engaged in agricultural operations were selected, in this way total one hundred fifty respondents were considered for the present study. "Expost-facto" research approach was used for study. Data was gathered using a well-structured interview schedule created with the study's objectives in mind. The collected data was analysed, classified and tabulated. Statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and coefficient correlation were used to interpret findings and draw conclusions.

Education

Most of the respondents i.e. 24.00% of the respondents were educated up-to middle school level, while 16.00 percent of the respondents educated up-to primary school level followed by 12.67 percent of respondents were able to read and write only. Very few respondents were illiterate i.e. 9.33 percent.

Occupation

Maximum no of the respondents i.e. 24.00% of the respondents were educated up-to middle school level, while 16.00 percent of the respondents educated up-to primary school level followed by 12.67 percent of respondents were able to read and write only. Very few respondents were illiterate i.e. 9.33 percent.

Family size

Most of the respondents i.e. 40.00% belonging to large sized family, followed by small sized family 33.33 percent and then medium sized family i.e. 26.67 percent.

Farming experience

Most of the respondents having high level of farming experience (51.33%), followed by medium level i.e. 28.00 percent and remaining respondents had low level of farming experience i.e. 20.67 percent.

Utility of ICT in extension

Most of the respondents utilize ICT daily (76.77%), followed by utility once in a week i.e. 12.67 percent and then 10.67 percent respondents utilized occasionally.

Methods of learning ICT skills

Most of the respondents get awareness about new technologies from e-learning, followed by workshops i.e. 35.33 percent and very few respondents get from conferences i.e. 17.33 percent. www.extensionjournal.com

Sources of awareness about ICT

Most of the farmers (77.33%) had medium source of awareness about ICT, followed by high level of awareness i.e. 16.67 percent and very few respondents near about 6.00 percent had low level of awareness about ICT.

Knowledge

Most of the respondents had medium level 60.67% of knowledge about ICT tools followed by low level of knowledge i.e. 33.33 percent and then high level of knowledge about 6.00 percent. [4] , Jamdhade (2015) [1] and Mittal and Mehar (2016) [2] . Nowadays some other problems beyond the common one also faced by respondents like Sometimes possibility of misleading information transmitted through internet (66.00%), Lack of uninterrupted power supply (66.00%), Faulty communication between seller/operators and farmers about use of ICT tools (65.33%), Untrained operators (64.00%), Inadequate infrastructural facilities for maintenance of ICT tools (62.67%), Lack of sufficient skills in usage of ICT tools by rural communities (60.00%), High cost of ICT tools like computers, smartphones etc. (58.67%), Lack of belief on e-sources (57.33%). also, the above findings was in accordance with Naik (2018) [3] .

Conclusion

The major constraints faced by the farmers were lack of awareness of proper functioning about ICT tools, lack of training of the farmers towards use of different ICT tools, inadequate internet supply, lack of uninterrupted power supply, difficulty in understanding the content language of ICT gadgets, poor mobile/internet connectivity in rural areas. To overcome the constraints the major suggestions provided by farmers were provide uninterrupted power supply in rural area, agriculture marketing related information should be provide in local language, affordable cost of ICT gadgets like smartphone, computer etc, provide free of cost internet/wifi service in rural area. According to the study, the major constraints were lack of training on uses, inadequate internet supply, and difficulty in understanding the language of electronic gadgets and so on, that's why it is necessary to arrange the training programme and also the supply of uninterrupted power supply.

Figures and tables from the paper

Sr. No.	Constraints	F	%	Rank
A) Socioeconomic Constraints
1.	High cost of ICT tools like computers, smart phones etc.	88	58.67	ⅩⅣ
2.	Lack of sufficient skills in usage of ICT tools by rural communities.	90	60.00	ⅫⅠ
3.	Poor economic condition of the rural people.	101	67.33	Ⅳ
4.	Lack of belief on e-sources.	86	57.33	ⅩⅤ
5.	Difficulty in understanding the content language of ICT gadgets.	100	66.67	Ⅴ
B) Infrastructural Constraints
1.	Poor mobile/internet connectivity in rural areas.	99	66.00	Ⅶ
2.	Lack of awareness of proper functioning about ICT tools.	104	69.33	Ⅰ
3.	Inadequate infrastructural facilities for maintenance of ICT tools	94	62.67	Ⅻ
4.	Inadequate internet supply.	101	67.33	Ⅲ
5.	Lack of uninterrupted power supply.	99	66.00	Ⅸ
C) Technical Constraints
1.	Lack of training of the farmers towards the use of different ICT tools.	102	68.00	Ⅱ
2.	Untrained operators.	96	64.00	Ⅺ
3.	Lack of local language in handling and understanding of software.	100	66.67	Ⅵ
4.	Faulty communication between seller/operators and farmers about the use of ICT tools.	98	65.33	Ⅹ
5.	Sometimes the possibility of misleading information is transmitted through the internet.	99	66.00	Ⅷ

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1. Mittal S, Mehar M. Socio-economic factors affecting adoption of modern ICT by farmers in India-Analysis using Multivariate Probit model. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. 2015;22(2):199212.
2. Agrarinformatika. Journal of Agricultural Informatics. 2015;6(3):24-41.