Constraints faced by young farmers in adopting ICT tools in Agriculture: a case study of district Sargodha

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/07/2020
Views (485) Download (40)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Constraints faced by young farmers in adopting ICT tools in Agriculture: a case study of district Sargodha

Muhammad Yaseen, Muhammad Luqman, Muhammad Umer Mehmood, Muhammad Kaleem Abid
Int. J. Biosci.17( 1), 13-23, July 2020.
Certificate: IJB 2020 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

In the modern ages, application of ICTs has not been negated by anyone due to its promising role as information source and in digitalizing of agricultural business. This study was focused on determination of constraints being faced by the young farmers (rural youth) in Sargodha. Descriptive study was administered by the interview schedule, having open ended and close ended questions. Multistage probability (simple random) sampling method was used for the selection of study respondents. Data were collected from 225 randomly selected young farmers who used to do farming for their livelihoods. For reaching on an authentic decision, recorded data were analyzed using SPSS. Data showed that majority of the respondents were adult and mature farmers, having small size of landholding. Monthly family income of majority of respondents was medium. Different kinds of information sources were being prominently used by the respondents. Lack of awareness, language barrier, stereotype behavior and content irrelevancy are some of the major social constraints highlighted by the farmers. Among the economic constraints, poor ICTs infrastructure is the one to whom they blamed. Coming to technical constraints, their inability to use ICTs, internet coverage, authenticity of information and lacking in skill set were major constraints. Authors have recommended to establish sustainable ICTs network for productive channelizing of information to reach the target of “highest proportion of population mean rural youth”. For engaging young farmers in Agriculture using ICTs a policy framework comprises of four major segments is suggested.

VIEWS 48

Abbas M, Sheikh AD, Muhammad S, Ashfaq 2003. Role of Electronic Media in the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies by Farmers in the Central Punjab–Pakistan. International Journal of Agriculture & Biology 5(1), 22-25.

Afolabi M. 2012. The Use of Information and Communication Technology in Agricultural Research in Nigerian Universities. PNLA Quarterly, the official publication of the Pacific Northwest Library Association, 1-12.

Ahmad A, Iftikhar M, Shahbaz B, Khan GA. 2018. Marketing chain of cotton in Pakistan: Skill gap analysis of Farmers. Journal of Agricultural Research 56(3), 215-220.

Aker JC. 2011. Dial “A” for agriculture: A review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries. Agricultural Economics, 426631647.

Aker JC, Isaac M. 2010. Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives 24(3), 207-232.

Awan SH, Ahmed S, Hashim MZ. 2019. Use of Information and Communication Technology ICT in Agriculture to Uplift Small Scale Farmers in Rural Pakistan. American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 4(1), 25-33.

Belay K, Abebaw D. 2004. Challenge facing agricultural extension agents: A case study from South Western Ethiopia. African Development Review 16, 139-168.

Butt TM, Qijie G, Luqman M, Hassan MZY. 2017. Mode of ICTs application in plant production and protection technology in rural Punjab-Pakistan. Transylvanian Review 13, 122-131.

Chaudhry A, Afzal Y, Chaudhary KM, Amir RM, Naheed S. 2017. Self-perceived needs of rural youth in Pakistan. Journal of Agricultural Research 55(4), 699-705.

Chhachhar AR, Hassan MS. 2013.  The use of mobile phone among farmers for agriculture development. Communication 2(6), 95-98.

Deloitte. 2012. eTransform Africa: Agriculture Sector Study: Sector Assessment and opportunities for ICT. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/Resources/282822-1346223280837/Agriculture FullReport.pdf

Food and Agriculture Organization. 2014. Youth and Agriculture: Key challenges and concrete solutions. Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, Rome, Italy. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3947e.pdf

Government of Pakistan. 2019. Economic Survey of Pakistan, Finance Division, Economic Advisor’s Wing, Islamabad. http://www.finance.gov.pk/

Government of the Punjab. 2019. Punjab Development Statistics. Bureau of Statistics Punjab, Lahore. http://bos.gop.pk/system/files/Dev-2007.pdf

Guillaume FF, Giselle FK, Martial MN. 2019. Role of Radio in agricultural advisory service in Western region of Cameroon. International Journal of Agricultural Extension 7(3), 197-206.

Hassan MZY, Luqman M, Ashraf S, Yasin M, Raza MM. 2016. Constraints of rural youth involvement in agricultural activities in the Punjab, Pakistan: Redefining you policy. Journal of Agricultural Research 54(4), 861-871.

Hosseini SJF, Niknami M, Chizari M. 2009. To determine the challenges in the application of ICTs by the agricultural extension service in Iran. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development 1(1), 27-30.

Kemal AA, Yan L. 2015. Mobile Banking Adoption and Diffusion: Enabling and Constraining Social or Financial Inclusion among Poor Women in Pakistan. In Educational Collaborative for International Schools. https://doi.org/10.18151/7217380

Lin, Chien-Hsin, Shih, Hsin-Yu, Sher PJ. 2007. Integrating technology readiness into technology acceptance: The TRAM Model. Psychology & Marketing 24 (7), 641-657.

Nachmias FC, Nachmias D. 1996. Research Methods in the Social Sciences. Fifth Edition, Arnold, London. https://doi.org/9780340662267

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 2015. Labour force survey of Pakistan. Statistics division. Government of Pakistan, Islamabad. http://www.pbs.gov.pk/labour-force-publications

Rashid SMM, Islam Md. R. 2016. Problems faced by farmers in application of e-Agriculture in Bangladesh. Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development 3(1), 079-084.

Raza MH, Khan, GA, Shahbaz B, Saleem MF. 2019. Emerging trends of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for agricultural information dissemination in the Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Agricultural Research 57(2), 129-126.

Riaz W, Durrani H, Shahid S, Raza AA. 2017. ICT Intervention for Agriculture Development: Designing an IVR System for Farmers in Pakistan. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, 1-5.

Shanthya MS, Elakkiya S. 2017. Constraints Encountered by Famers in ICT Utilization – an Analysis. International Journal of Agriculture Innovations and Research 6(2), 346-347.

Singh J, Kumar P, Singh A. 2018. Constraint analysis of traditional methods of extension communication in adoption of scientific dairy practices. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 7(8), 4522-4532.

Usman S, Saghir A, Chaudhary KM, Ashraf I, Rani A. 2019.Assessment of multi-actor stakeholder’s role in conflict resolution in Punjab, Pakistan. International Journal of Agricultural Extension 7(3), 207-214.

Waqar M, Gu R, Nie F. 2018. Mapping ICT Use along the Citrus (Kinnow) Value Chain in Sargodha District, Pakistan. Sustainability 10(12), 4743.

World Bank. 2011. ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions. E-Source Book, Report Number 64605. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1002-2

Yamane T. 1967. Statistics: An Introductory Analysis, 2nd Edition, New York: Harper and Row. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F001316446402400434

Zahedi SR, Zahedi SM. 2012. Role of Information and Communication Technologies in Modern Agriculture. International Journal of Agriculture & Crop Sciences 4(23), 1725-1728.

Zhang Y, Wang L, Duan Y. 2016. Agricultural information dissemination using ICTs: A review and analysis of information dissemination models in China. Information Processing in Agriculture 3(1), 17-29.