An Analysis of Knowledge Level of Farmers on Utilisation of Ict Tools for Farm Communication

Abstract

The study was conducted in Karnataka State during 2011 to assess the knowledge level of farmers towards utilisation of ICT tools in farm communication and to find out the relationship with socio-economic characteristics of farmers using these tools. Bangalore rural, Chikkaballapura and Kolar districts were selected purposefully because these districts are nearer to Bangalore which is the hub of IT and most of farmers of these three districts are receiving Multi Message Services (MMS). The respondents selected for the study include 120 farmers from 12 villages of three districts. The findings of the study revealed that nearly 70 per cent of farmers had high to medium level of knowledge about utilisation of ICT tools and 30.83 per cent had low level of knowledge about ICT tools. Variables such as material possession, social participation, extension participation, mass media exposure and cosmopoliteness had positive and significant relationship with knowledge of farmers about ICT tools at one per cent level of significance whereas; education and annual income had positive and significant relationship at five per cent level of significance. As the study revealed, most of the farmers had knowledge about the utility of ICT tools for farm communication, only limitation is the availability. The arrangement for availability of ICT tools could make huge difference in the agriculture sector of the country.