Title: A Study of Prioritisation of Information Related Needs of Farmers. A Study of Prioritisation Plugging information gaps through ICTs
Author: Sapna A. Narula
Source: i4d Magazine
Publisher: Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies
Date (published): January-March 2010
Date (accessed): 21/04/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
ICTs offer great potential for economic growth and social empowerment of farmers by linking agricultural supply chains to national and global markets.

ICTs offer a promising potential for social and economic empowerment of rural people in India especially those involved in agriculture (Narula, 2010). However, the opportunities in this field are not limited to agriculture, but are extended to health, education and e-governance as well. Most of the ICT models including both private sector as well as public sector have been launched with agricultural applications as their prime focus. These models are providing a range of services to fulfill the information deficit our farmers are facing in agricultural production, input-supply, agricultural extension, market information/intelligence and price discovery(Narula and Sharma, 2008; Narula, 2009). Inspite of all these initiatives, it has been felt that there is a huge gap existing between what is being offered and what is being demanded.(Cecchini and Raina, 2004; Chetley, 2006; Parmar, 2007; Narula, 2008, Narula, 2009b, Saith and Vijaybhaskar, 2008). The information modules which are too generalised irrespective of the region, crop, farmer, agro-climatic zone can not really fulfill the strategic objectives of these ICT interventions. (Jain et al, 2008; Parmar et al, 2007). Hence, a strong need has been felt to explore important issues pertaining to this gap such as assessing the information-supply gap, finding out the impact assessment of information modules, design and development of client-centric initiatives and enhancing adoption and use of ICT services by target beneficiaries. This article is a part of a larger study conducted in district of Udham Singh Nagar of Uttarakhand, India pertaining to the use of ICTs by farmers. In this article, an effort has been made to address issues related to the prioritisation of informational needs of the farmers in the district and the possession level of ICTs among the target group so as to further explore the potential of ICTs such as computers, the Internet and mobile phones among the rural folk/farmers.