Year: 2016 | Month: September | Volume 61 | Issue 3
Institutional innovations in technology transfer- Mobile agro advisory services and its impact in adopting improved cultivation practices
DOI:10.5958/0976-4666.2016.00066.8
Abstract:
The rising spread of mobile phone shows it’s potential as a source of information for providing farmers the timely and right information which enable him to respond to different types of risk, market incentives and competition more efficiently. The hypothesis of this study is that providing information about improved cultivation practices through mobile phones may accelerate the process of adoption of new technologies by the farmers. In order to provide agro advisory services through mobile phones, fifty five farmers from two villages under the project “Cyber Extension Model for Agricultural Development: An Action Research” i.e. Sidhauli and Kasmanda blocks of Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh was selected purposively. In selecting the sample for this research, mobile phone ownership was kept in mind. To strengthen the information base of the farmers, Short Message Service (SMS) regarding improved cultivation practices of wheat and mustard crops were sent to the farmers. This study shows that majority of the farmers agreed that mobile phone is the best instrument to get timely information (87.0%); to increase the access of information (87.0%); to overcome physical barriers (82.0%). Although, mobile phones play an important role in accessing the information about improved cultivation practices, the farm resources such as inputs, labour, machinery, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, energy, storage facilities, irrigation and affordability by the farmers may become a serious constraint in adopting any particular technology. This study also reveals that permanency of the information and overcoming the illiteracy by SMS and voice calls respectively is equally preferred by the farmers. Both technologies has to be used depending upon the nature of information and literacy level of the farmers.
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