Empowerment of farming community through use of ICTs: A study in the Indian Himalayan region

By: V.L.V.Kameswari (India)



Learn about the Project

Research objectives
Main objectives of the study were to:

1. Document the communication behavior of the farming community with specific reference to ICTs in the study area.
2. Enlist the constraints surrounding the use of ICTs for agriculture by farming community.
3. Study the relationship between economic and socio-cultural characteristics of farmers and constraints faced in the use of ICTs for agriculture.
4. Study the relationship between different types of ICTs and constraints faced by the farmers.
5. Develop an ICT based integrated Agricultural Knowledge Information System for the study area.

The study documented the availability, use and information seeking behavior of the farming community with specific reference to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The study highlights the constraints surrounding the use of various media for seeking agricultural information. More importantly, it fills the research gaps by examining what people do with a medium when they have access to it, rather than looking at barriers surrounding use of ICTs and digital divide issues arising due to differential access and capabilities. The study, conducted in a state in North India, provides insights into intentions and factors surrounding the use of various media by the farmers. It highlights the socio-cultural context within which information seeking and use occurs in rural India.

The study was, however, not able to fully achieve objectives number 3 and 4 as range of ICTs available and being used by the farmers was highly limited. Further, majority of the farmers had very small landholdings due to which the relationship between economic and socio-cultural characteristics of the farmers could not be quantified.

Methodology
Indian Himalayan region extends over an area of 5, 31,250 sq.km, which is about 16% of India’s total geographical area. It comprises of states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh besides parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The study was conducted in the state of Uttarakhand which is spread over an area of 55,845 square kms. The state has 13 districts – 11 in hilly region and two in the plains region. Six out of these 13 districts fall in Kumaon division and rest are in Garhwal division. Two hill districts from each division (Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal from Garhwal division and Almora and Nainital from Kumaon division) were selected for the study. As integration with external economy may play an important role in the use of ICTs by the farming community, the divisions were divided into two zones (lower and middle hills). One district was selected from each zone in the division. Further, two villages from each district were selected randomly to meet the objectives of the study. From each village 15% households were selected for in-depth interviews.

In-depth interviews were conducted with farmers in Amritpur and Alchona (Nainital District), Majheda Mafi and Dogra (Almora district), Haripur and Korwa (Dehradun district) and Nisni and Kyark (Pauri Garhwal district) villages. Most of the farm land in the area, as in rest of the country, is legally owned by men. However, as women often contribute more towards agriculture in some parts of the state due to heavy male migration, it was decided to include as many women as possible in the sample. Out of the total respondents 24% were women and the rest 76% were men. Two types of schedules were developed for data collection. Both instruments were pretested in a village in Nainital district and modified to meet the study requirements. Close ended schedule was used to collect data on human, natural, infrastructure and institutional resources in the village. Key informants were interviewed to collect this information. Individual farmers were interviewed using a schedule that had a mix of close and open ended questions. Most of the items related to demographic and socio economic characteristics of the farmers were close ended. On the other hand, items related to media usage, relationship and linkages with agricultural input agencies and information needs were open ended. Information was collected through face to face interviews by the research team.

Accomplishments

1. Papers accepted for presentation at two international conferences.
2. Article under review for publication in an international journal.
3. Article under review for publication in an edited book by Sage publications.

Findings

1. All media owned by the respondents in the area were documented to understand the communication behavior and media ownership pattern. It was found that 80% of the households owned at least one prepaid mobile phone connection. Such large ownership was due to wide network, competitive rates, prepaid and incoming call facility, mobility and less paper work. However, none of the respondents aware of any mobile based agri-information service and mobile phones were primarily being used by the respondents for maintaining social networks (contacting relatives and friends) and for emergencies.
2. Among the conventional mass media, television was found in maximum number of households (68%). Television was mostly used for watching movies, soap opera, religious programs (i.e. entertainment) and news on a regular basis. Radio was owned by 38% households, but was rarely used in the study area. Respondents felt that television provided all the content available on radio with the added advantage of visuals. Hence, it appears that gratifications afforded by radio have been subsumed by television. Ownership of newspapers was limited to 24% households due to high cost. Fixed line phones were confined to 12% households due to lack of infrastructure, nature of billing and extensive paperwork. Computer with internet connection was available in 1.5% households. This is mainly due to technological, cost and infrastructural limitations.
3. Farmers in the study area received agricultural information from a wide range of sources/ channels. People often relied on more than one source/ channel for information. Among these, maximum number of farmers (62%) approached private input dealers (seed and pesticide suppliers)/ middlemen (adti) for information. This heavy dependence on middlemen can be attributed to absence or inaccessibility of formal institutions to farmers. In rural areas, middlemen (adti)/ input dealers not only provide credit at times of need, all inputs required in the farm (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) and but also a ready market to the farmers. As a result, the adti/ private input dealers and the farmers often have a reciprocal arrangement in the absence of other institutions in rural and remote areas.
4. sizeable percentage of farmers (48%) reported getting information from government agencies (district agriculture and horticulture departments). Government agencies were also ranked as highly reliable source due to technical know-how and lack of personal agenda. Friends and relatives were also important and reliable sources of information, especially in remote villages. However, it was observed that only 2% of the respondents reported using TV for seeking agricultural information despite high ownership and regular broadcast of agriculture programs.
5. Farmers made no effort to seek new agricultural information in villages where agriculture was constrained by structural and environmental factors. In these villages, farmers followed traditional cropping pattern and relied on information passed on by their peers or elders. Uncertain nature of the enterprise discouraged them from seeking and using latest know-how. On the other hand, in villages where agriculture was profitable either due to favorable structural and geographical conditions or crop diversification, farmers were proactive in seeking up-to-date and diverse kinds of information.
6. In villages that mainly produced horticultural crops, it was noticed that the farmers used mobile phones for post-sale inquiry rather than negotiating sale price before completing the transaction. Access to ICTs (in this case mobile phone) and ability to use them does not alter the relationship between the producers and sellers in the rural context. Farmers are often forced to accept the price quoted by the middlemen due to perishable nature of the produce, lack of storage facilities, inaccessibility of markets and other institutions.

PI’s Current Progress (To be made available soon)