SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND USE OF MOBILE PHONES IN MAJOR SEED SPICES GROWING STATES

Abstract

The present study attempts to know the effective sources of agricultural information and usage of mobile phones by seed spice growers. The total 450 respondents were interviewed from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during 2018-19. The results found that sixty-six percent of the respondents approached private agencies whereas forty-four percent farmers relied upon government sources. A large group of medium farmers approached to input dealers, whereas small and medium farmers preferred government agencies. Further, we found that ninety-five percent of the farmers owned mobile phones, and ninety percent of them used it to access agricultural information. Eighty-nine percent of smart phone owners were using social media platforms to share and access agricultural information. Logit analysis of socio-economic factors influencing farmers� access to information sources found that literacy considerably enhanced the likelihood in favor of government sources over private ones due awareness to various government programs and services. The size of landholding and was prime factor for contacting government agencies specially Kisan Call Centre for their queries. This paper highlight's potential role of mobile phones as a tool for information and communication to reach resources constrained geographical isolated seed spice growing areas.