Farmers’ perceptions of ICT use regarding agricultural crop production in district Mansehra (A case study of Himalayan region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan)
Paper Details
Farmers’ perceptions of ICT use regarding agricultural crop production in district Mansehra (A case study of Himalayan region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan)
Abstract
ICT in agriculture is a rising field concentrating on the improvement of agriculture and rural growth. Keeping in view the importance of agriculture for our economy and in order to better understand the use & effectiveness of ICT in mountain agriculture extension system in Pakistan, the focus of the this research study is “To analyze famer’s perceptions of ICT use for better communication regarding agricultural crop production in district Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan”. For the purpose of data analysis, a sample size of 188 was selected randomly in the area. Five point Likert scale, percentages, and in majority of cases scores/ranks were used. It was observed that majority of the respondents were having farming (64%) as a major source of livelihood in the study area. Results also reveal that majority of the respondents (57%) in the study area were small farmers (less than 5 acres of land). Findings further suggest that majority of the farmers believed that that they are using ICT tools as source of information in agricultural practices with Television (26%) and Radio (24%) mostly used for this purpose. Moreover, findings indicate that various services like weather related information and Climate Change adaptation services, as the most needed services in the study area can further be strengthened through ICT. It is recommended that an ICT centre, comprising of FM Radio facility, call center and SMS service facility may be established in the area for a greater coverage regarding advisory services to the farmers in the Himalayan region of Pakistan.
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Abdus Salam, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, 2019. Farmers’ perceptions of ICT use regarding agricultural crop production in district Mansehra (A case study of Himalayan region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan). Int. J. Biosci., 15(4), 289-295.
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