ICT an Important information Tool for Sustainable Agriculture Productivity
Paper Details
ICT an Important information Tool for Sustainable Agriculture Productivity
Abstract
Recently ICT tools have a critical role to deliver extension services to the farming communities on time. The current research was carried out in the District Lodhran, Pakistan–an ideal area for sustainable crop production due to its prevailing irrigation system and fertile soils. The survey study was conducted to assess the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on the productivity of main crops i.e. wheat, cotton, chilies and cucumber. The data were collected randomly selecting 193 farmers and through a validated, pre-tested and well- structured questionnaire. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS-21. The findings of the study revealed that ICT had a positive and significant impact on crop productivity of wheat, cucumber and chilies. However; ICT has not a significant impact on cotton productivity due to water shortage and pest infestation in that year. The main barriers preventing the adoption of ICT possibly could be lack of infrastructure, low education and English proficiency and power shortfall. Therefore, it would be appropriate to further investigate into reasons that prevent farmers, to use ICT.
Anandaraja N, Rathakrishnan T, Philip H. 2006. July. Dissemination of agricultural technologies through interactive multimedia compact disc (IMCD): an innovative approach. In 4th World Congress Conference on computers in Agriculture and Natural Resources 2006 (5-8). https://doi:10.13031/2013.21839
Asenso-Okyere K, Mekonnen DA. 2012. The importance of ICTs in the provision of information for improving agricultural productivity and rural incomes in Africa. African Human Development Report. UNDP Sponsored research Series.
Babu S, Glendenning C, Okyere K, Govindarajan S. 2012. Farmer Information Needs and Search Behaviour. Case Study in Tamil Nadu India, IFPRI.
Baig MB, Aldosari F. 2013. Agricultural extension in Asia: Constraints and options for improvement. The Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences 23(2), 619-632.
Burrell J. 2008. Livelihoods and the mobile phone. in rural Uganda. [Grameen Foundation USA. Retrieved from http://www.grameenfoundation.applab.org/section/ethnographic-research].
Casaburi L, Kremer M, Mullainathan S, Ramrattan R. 2014. Harnessing ICT to increase agricultural production: Evidence from Kenya. Harvard University.
Chavula HK. 2014. The role of ICTs in agricultural production in Africa. Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 6(7), 279-289. https://doi.org/10.5897/JDAE2013.0517
Hayrol AMS, Salleh Md, Bahaman AS. 2009. Level of Agro-based Website Surfing among Malaysian Agricultural Entreprenuers: A Case Study of Malaysia. Journal of Agriculture and Social Science 5, 55-60.
Houghton D. 2009. Cell phones and cattle: The impact of mobile telephony on agricultural productivity in developing nations (Doctoral dissertation, Duke University).
Kalusopa T. 2005. The challenges of utilizing information communication technologies (ICTs) for the small-scale farmers in Zambia. Library Hi Tech, 23(3), 414-424. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830510621810
Kenny C, Keremane R. 2007. Toward universal telephone access: Market progress and progress beyond the market. Telecommunications Policy, 31(3), 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2007.01.005
George T, Bagazonzya H, Ballantyne P, Belden C, Birner R, Del Castello R, Treinen S. 2011. ICT in agriculture: connecting smallholders to knowledge, networks, and institutions. Washington, https://doi.org/10.1596/12613 DC: World Bank.
Lio M, Liu MC. 2006. ICT and agricultural productivity: evidence from cross‐country data. Agricultural Economics 34(3), 221-228. https://doi: 10.1111/j.1574-0864.2006.00120.x
Musingafi MC, Zebron S. 2014. The role of information and communication technology in rural socio-economic development in Africa. International Journal of Public Policy and Administration Research 1(2), 38-46.
Nair M, Han GS, Lee H, Goon P, Muda R. 2012. Antecedents to mobile phone diffusion in a developing economy: The case of malaysia. International Journal of Management 29(1), 205.
Okello J, Kirui O, Njiraini G, Gitonga Z. 2012. Drivers of use of information and communication technologies by farm households: The case of smallholder farmers in Kenya. https://doi: 10.5539/jas.v4n2p111
Spearman C. 1904. “General Intelligence,” Objectively Determined and Measured. The American Journal of Psychology, 15(2), 201-292. https://doi.org/10.2307/1412107
Muhammad Waqar, Siddig El Tayeb Muneer, Fahad Owis Aldosari, M.B. Baig, Xue Xiong, Yasir Niaz, Muhammad Sameem Javed, Muhammad Mohsin Waqas, Nividita Varun Chand, 2021. ICT an Important information Tool for Sustainable Agriculture Productivity. Int. J. Biosci., 18(2), 39-44.
Copyright © 2021 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.