Attitude of farmers towards i-khedut portal regarding agricultural development in Saurashtra region
Abstract
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has emerged as an important tool for accelerating agricultural development by facilitating timely dissemination of information and improving farmers’ access to agricultural services. In this context, the Government of Gujarat launched the i-khedut portal to provide farmers with information on agricultural schemes, subsidies, weather forecasts, market prices, crop insurance and modern farming technologies. The present study entitled “Attitude of Farmers towards i-khedut Portal Regarding Agricultural Development in Saurashtra Region” was undertaken to assess the attitude of farmers towards the portal and identify the factors influencing their attitude. An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. The investigation was conducted in Junagadh and Rajkot districts of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. A total of 180 farmers were selected through a multistage random sampling technique. Data were collected using a pre-tested structured interview schedule and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, correlation and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that a majority (43.33 per cent) of the farmers possessed a favourable attitude towards the i-khedut portal, while 18.89 per cent exhibited a highly favourable attitude. The multiple regression analysis indicated that the selected independent variables jointly explained 90.90 per cent of the variation in farmers’ attitude (R² = 0.909). Extension contact, utility of ICT tools, achievement motivation, innovativeness and social participation showed a positive and significant influence, whereas age and scientific orientation exhibited a negative and significant influence on attitude. The study concludes that the i-khedut portal has substantial potential to enhance agricultural development through improved access to information and services. Strengthening extension support, digital literacy and awareness programmes may further enhance farmers’ favourable attitude and effective utilization of the portal.
Full Text
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Introduction
Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy and plays a vital role in ensuring food security, employment generation and rural development. According to the 2011 Census, about 68.84 per cent of India's population resides in rural areas, where agriculture and allied activities serve as the primary source of livelihood. In Gujarat, the agricultural sector has experienced significant growth through various innovative initiatives such as Krishi Mahotsav, Soil Health Cards and the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agricultural extension services. Recognizing the importance of digital transformation in agriculture, the Government of Gujarat launched the ikhedut portal in 2014 to provide farmers with easy access to government schemes, subsidies, market prices, weather forecasts, modern agricultural technologies and other agricultural support services (Anon., 2025). The rapid expansion of internet connectivity and smartphone usage in rural India has created new opportunities for delivering agricultural information efficiently. ICT-based platforms such as the i-khedut portal have emerged as effective tools for enhancing transparency, reducing information gaps and improving farmers' access to agricultural services. The portal facilitates online registration for government schemes, crop insurance, agricultural credit and information related to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and other allied sectors. However, the success of such digital initiatives largely depends on farmers' attitudes and willingness to utilize them. Therefore, understanding the attitude of farmers towards the i-khedut portal is essential for evaluating its effectiveness and strengthening its role in promoting agricultural development in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat (Anon., 2025).
Objective
• To study the attitude of farmers towards i-khedut portal.
Methodology
The present study entitled "Attitude of Farmers towards ikhedut Portal Regarding Agricultural Development in Saurashtra Region" was conducted in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat state. An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the investigation. The design was considered appropriate for studying the existing attitudes of farmers towards the i-khedut portal and examining the factors associated with their attitudes. The study was carried out in Junagadh and Rajkot districts of Saurashtra region. These districts were purposively selected due to their accessibility and the widespread use of the i-khedut portal among farmers. A multistage sampling technique was employed for selecting the respondents. In the first stage, two districts namely Junagadh and Rajkot were selected. In the second stage, three talukas from each district were selected randomly, making a total of six talukas. Subsequently, two villages were selected randomly from each taluka, resulting in a total of twelve villages. Finally, fifteen farmers from each selected village were chosen through simple random sampling. Thus, the total sample size comprised 180 farmers. Data were collected through a pre-tested structured interview schedule. The schedule was designed to gather information regarding personal, socio-economic, communicational and psychological characteristics of the respondents along with their attitude towards the i-khedut portal. The independent variables included age, education, farming experience, land holding, herd size, annual income, social participation, sources of information, extension contact, utility of ICT tools, scientific orientation, achievement motivation, risk orientation and innovativeness. The dependent variable was the attitude of farmers towards the i-khedut portal regarding agricultural development.
The attitude of farmers was measured using a standardized attitude scale developed for assessing perceptions towards ICT-based agricultural services with suitable modifications to fit the objectives of the study. Responses were obtained on a Likert-type continuum and scores were calculated to determine the overall attitude level of the respondents. The collected data were classified, tabulated and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to describe the characteristics of the respondents. Pearson's correlation coefficient was employed to determine the relationship between selected independent variables and farmers' attitudes towards the i-khedut portal. Constraints faced by farmers and their suggestions for improving the portal were analyzed through frequency and percentage distribution and ranked according to their importance.
The findings generated from the study provide valuable insights into the acceptance and effectiveness of the i-khedut portal and its role in promoting agricultural development in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.
Results and Discussion
Attitude of farmers towards i-khedut portal
Attitude of a person is the degree of his positive or negative feelings associated with any object or thing and thus it plays an important role in determining his behaviour. Attitude of the farmers towards i-khedut portal under investigation is given in Table 1 and illustrated in Figure 1. The data presented in Table 1 revealed that a considerable proportion (43.33 per cent) of the farmers had favourable attitude towards the i-khedut portal (47.60 to 58.80 scores). This was followed by 32.22 per cent of the farmers who exhibited neutral attitude (36.40 to 47.60 scores). Further, 18.89 per cent of the farmers were found to have highly favourable attitude (58.80 to 70.00 scores), whereas 04.45 per cent of the farmers had unfavourable attitude (25.20 to 36.40 scores). Only a very small proportion (01.11 per cent) of the farmers were observed under strongly unfavourable attitude category (14.00 to 25.20 scores). Therefore, the findings indicate that a majority (43.33 per cent) of the farmers held a favourable attitude towards the ikhedut portal. This positive outlook is a direct result of the platform's practical value in the daily lives of cultivators in the Saurashtra region. The portal provides a convenient and transparent mechanism to access crucial agricultural schemes and financial subsidies. By simplifying application procedures and eliminating middlemen, the platform significantly reduces the financial burden on farmers. Consequently, these tangible economic benefits, combined with the ease of online services, naturally foster a strong, supportive viewpoint among the users.
These observations are closely supported by the recent findings of Asari et al. (2021) [3] , Kushwaha (2023), Ajay (2024) [1] and Dawane et al. (2025) [4] . The data presented in Table 2 reveal that the contribution of selected independent variables towards explaining the variation in farmers' attitude towards the i-khedut portal regarding agricultural development. The coefficient of determination (R² = 0.909) indicated that all the fourteen independent variables included in the model jointly explained 90.90 per cent of the variation in the attitude of farmers towards the i-khedut portal. Further, the obtained Fvalue (117.10) was found to be significant, indicating the goodness of fit of the regression model. The variables namely education, farming experience, land holding, herd size, annual income, source of information and risk orientation were found to be non-significant, indicating that they did not contribute significantly towards explaining the variation in farmers' attitude towards the ikhedut portal under the present study. Thus, it can be concluded that extension contact, utility of ICT tools, achievement motivation, innovativeness, social participation, age and scientific orientation were the major determinants influencing farmers' attitude towards the ikhedut portal regarding agricultural development. These findings are in line with the observations of Manjuprakash and Bellagi (2024) [5] , Mukherjee et al.
(2024) [6] , Nagar et al. (2024) [7] and Shehrawat et al. (2024) [8] , who emphasized the importance of ICT exposure, extension support and innovative behaviour in shaping farmers' acceptance of digital agricultural technologies.
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