Factors influencing the use of mobile phone as an information source for vegetable growers: A Case of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan
Paper Details
Factors influencing the use of mobile phone as an information source for vegetable growers: A Case of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan
Abstract
This study is conducted to determine the factors influencing the use of mobile phone as an information source for vegetable growers in Dera Ghazi Khan. It aimed at addressing some important questions like: (a) How the use of mobile phone enable farmers to obtain information? (b) What are the major problems in adopting mobile phone as an information source? (c) What are those factors that influence the adoption of mobile phone? Specific objectives of this study was to determine the influence of demographic factors on usage of mobile phone. A simple random techniques were adopted for data collection and total 120 respondents were interviewed for obtaining data and information. Data collected were summarized, coded and analyzed by using SPSS. The study found that, most (44.2%) of the respondents were middle-aged, educated (76.7%) and having their own agricultural land (58.3%). Study also found that with the exception of average annual income and size of land holding, all other variables i.e age, education, tenancy status and area under vegetable cultivation were statistically significant at (ρ ≤ 0.001), suggesting that these factors influenced the usage of mobile phone as an information source for obtaining information regarding vegetable production to respondents of the present study. Out dated information, little awareness of mobile phone, electricity, not in local language, no guidance, reluctance to quit traditional practices and weak linkage with agricultural research institute were the main constraints in adopting mobile phone as an information tool.
Adeel M. 2015. Working efficiency of extension field staff with regards to IPM of cotton in district D. G. Khan. M.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis, Depart. Agri. Ext. & Com., PMAS-Arid Agric. Univ. Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Ahmed M, Ali A, Ali J, Raza Q, Fahmid S, Ali N. 2016. Analysis of economic factors affecting working efficiency of agricultural extension field staff in Pishin district of Balochistan (Pakistan). International Journal Advanced Research in Biological Sciences 3, 122-125.
Zaman AS, Baldersheim H, Jamil I. 2003. Talking back! Empowerment and mobile phones in rural Bangladesh: A study of village phone scheme of Grameen Bank. Contemporary South Asia. 12, 327-348.
Aziz R, Siddiqui BN, Ali A, Ali J, Raza Q. 2015. Farmer’s perception regarding “Haryali” and “Kisan Time” programmes telecast by PTV. Academic Journal of Agricultural Research 3, 308-311.
Aziz R, Siddiqui BN, Ali J, Ali A, Fahmid S, Raza Q, Akram MAA. 2018. Relationship between socio-economic aspects of farmers and their awareness and adoption of short agricultural messages telecast on PTV. International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences 5, 25-32.
Burki SJ, Ziring L. 2010. Pakistan. In: Anonymous, Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Ed., Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. United Kingdom. Retrieved from: Accessed On: 10 April 2019. https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan
Frimpong G. 2009. Comparison of ICT knowledge and usage among female distance learners in endowed and deprived communities of a developing country. Journal of E-Learning 6, 167-174.
GOP. 2015-16. Pakistan Economic Survey 2015-16. Finance and Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Finance, Islamabad, Pakistan.
GOP. 2017-18. Pakistan Economic Survey 2017-18. Finance and Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Finance, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Harker D, Akkeren JA. 2002. Mobile data technology for small business: Needs, Uses and Adoption Agriculture. Journal of Information Systems 9, 17-30.
Ilahiane H. 2007. Impacts of ICTs in agriculture: Farmers and mobile phone in Morocco. Paper presented in The American Anthropological Association Conference, Washington, D.C. United States of America. 1-3 December, 2007.
Matsane SH, Oyekale AS. 2014. Factors affecting marketing of vegetables among small scale farmers in Mahikeng Local Municipality, North West province, South Africa. Meditarian Journal of Social Sciences 20, 390-397.
Nymba SY, Mlozi MRS. 2012. Factors influencing the use of mobile phone in communicating agricultural information: A case of Kilolo district, Iringa, Tanzania. International Journal of Information Communication Technology and Research 2, 558-563.
Overa R. 2006. Networks distance and trust: Telecommunications development and changing trading practices in Ghana. World Development 34, 1301-1315.
Rice RE, Katz JE. 2003. Comparing internet and mobile phone usage: digital divide of usage, adoption and dropouts. Journal of Telecommunication Policy 27, 597-623.
Souter D, Scott N, Garforth C, Jain R, Mascarenhas O, McKemey K. 2005. The economic impact of telecommunication on rural livelihood and poverty reduction: A study of rural communities in India (Gujrat), Mozambique and Tanzania’, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization report for UK, Department for International Development.
United Republic of Tanzania (URT). 2010. Tanzania development vision 2025. Government Printers, Dar es Salaam. Retrieved From: Accessed on: 25 March, 2019. www.tzonline.org/pdf/icteducation1.pdf
Verheye W. 2000. Food Production of Food Aid: An African Challenge. “Customer perceived value in banking services”. International Journal of Bank Marketing 24, 266-283.
Syed Mufeed Hadi Naqvi, Badar Naseem Siddiqui, Syeda Amna Huda Naqvi, Muhammad Irfan, 2020. Factors influencing the use of mobile phone as an information source for vegetable growers: A Case of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. Int. J. Biosci., 17(6), 139-146.
Copyright © 2020 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.