LBEF RESEARCH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT(LRJSTM)

Author(s):Gaurav Shrestha, Dr. Sandeep Kautish

Abstract:Although there is a high potential in improving livelihood of farmers through the use of ICT, the use of ICT is poor in developing countries, including Nepal. Only few studies have been conducted to understand the use of ICT tool and its effect on farmers. Therefore, this study aims to understand the effects of ICT in agriculture among farmers living in sub-urban town, Dhulikhel, Nepal. This is a quantitative study conducted among 201 participants. Participants were selected randomly and were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data were cleaned in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS software. Chi-square test, t-test and ANOVA tests were applied for the analysis. The study showed that only 39% had heard of ICT tools and the main source of information are radio and television. Similarly, 71% of the respondents had ICT tools. The mostly owned ICT tool was mobile phones. There was a significant association between respondent’s age and gender with knowledge of ICT tools However, the study did not show association between respondent’s educations and knowledge of ICT tools. The study showed a significant association between demographic variables (age, gender and education) with ICT tools possession as well as with the attitude towards ICT. The biggest barrier to the use of ICT tool was lack of knowledge on ICT tools and the main facilitating factor reported was easy access to use ICT tools. Given that the participants had low level of ICT knowledge it is recommended to increase ICT awareness among people by using different media like mobile phones, radio and televisions. It is also suggested to build required infrastructures to increase people’s access to ICT tools.

Keyword(s):ICT, Agriculture, ICT Tools in Agriculture, Knowledge of ICT.