Exploring the Use of Modern Sources of Information in Agriculture: Usage and Perception of Sri Lankan Farmers
Downloads
Sri Lanka has made many interventions to promote ICT in Sri Lankan agriculture over the last couple of decades but those initiatives have not been able to make a significant impact. This study explored the present level of use of modern information sources by the Sri Lankan farmers and their perceptions. Data were collected interviewing 275 vegetable farmers using a structured questionnaire. The findings showed that a high percentage of farmers use mobile phones (87 percent) but smartphone usage is significantly low (8 percent) due to the high cost, low functional abilities, operational difficulties, and poor reception. The usage rates of mobile mediated agri-information systems (13 percent) and the internet (9.5 percent) for accessing agriculture information were reported as very low. It further revealed that the majority of farmers believed that mobile phones (60 percent) and mobile mediated agri-information systems (65 percent) could be useful to access the required information for their farming activities. Further, the farmers disclosed their willingness to adapt (75 percent) and their confidence (77 percent) in the modern information sources. The study suggests facilitating the farmers to use smartphones by deploying necessary financial, technical, and emotional support which would promote the use of modern information sources.
Adereti, F. O., Fapojuwo, O. E., & Onasanya, A. S. (2006). Information Utilization on Cocoa production Techniques by Framers in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. European Journal of Social Science, 3(1), 1–7.
Adikari, M. P. (2014). Usage of mass media by farmers in Sri Lanka. Developing Country Studies, 4(4), 2–5.
Aker, J. C. (2011). Dial “A” for Agriculture: A Review of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries. SSRN Electronic Journal, 42(6). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1942954
Aldosari, F., Al Shunaifi, M. S., Ullah, M. A., Muddassir, M., & Noor, M. A. (2019). Farmers’ perceptions regarding the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Pakistan. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences, 18(2), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2017.05.004
Aubert, B. A., Schroeder, A., & Grimaudo, J. (2012). IT as enabler of sustainable farming: An empirical analysis of farmers’ adoption decision of precision agriculture technology. Decision Support Systems, 54(1), 510–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2012.07.002
Awuor, F. M., Rabah, K., & Kimeli, K. (2013). E-Agriculture framework: Modelling stakeholders’ competing and conflicting interests. International Journal of Agricultural Policy and Research, 1(6), 172–179.
Bhagachand, N. (2012). Information Needs of the Rural Farmers: A Study from Maharashtra, India: A Survey. Library Philosophy and Practice (E-Journal). http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/866.
Bodhikotuwa, T. B. K., Mahindarathne, M. G. P. P., & Kumara, W. A. G. S. (2012). Feasibility Study on Use of Mobile Technology for Agriculture in Sri Lanka. Proceeding of the Research Symposium of Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka, 581.
Brewster, C., Wolfert, S., & Sundmaeker, H. (2012, October 17). Identifying the ICT challenges of the Agri-Food sector to define the Architectural Requirements for a Future Internet Core Platform. Proceeding of the Challenges Conference. October 17-19, Lisbon, Portugal.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka. (2020). Central Bank of Sri Lanka Annual Report - 2019. Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
De Silva, H., & Ratnadiwakara, D. (2010). ICT Policy for Agriculture Based on a Transaction Cost Approach. International Journal of ICT Research and Development in Africa, 1(1), 51–64. https://doi.org/10.4018/jictrda.2010010104
De Silva, L. N. C., Goonetillake, J. S., Wikramanayake, G. N., & Ginige, A. (2012). Towards using ICT to enhance flow of information to aid farmer sustainability in Sri Lank. 23rd Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS), 1–10.
Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka. (2019). Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka. Statistics.gov.lk; Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka. http://www.statistics.gov.lk/
Dialog Tradenet – GGS Partnership set to Revolutionise Agri Market Access. (n.d.). Www.dialog.lk. Retrieved July 28, 2021, from https://www.dialog.lk/news/dialog-tradenet-ggs-partnership-set-to-revolutionise-agri-market-access/
Dissanayeke, U., & Wanigasundera, W. A. D. P. (2014). Mobile Based Information Communication Interactions among Major Agriculture Stakeholders: Sri Lankan Experience. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 60(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00422.x
Edeoghon, C., & Okoedo-Okojie, D. (2015). Information Needs of Youths involved in Urban Agriculture as Strategy for Checking Unemployment in Epe Lga of Lagos State, Nigeria. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 19(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v19i1.5
Evans, O. (2018.). Digital Agriculture: Mobile Phones, Internet & Agricultural Development in Africa. Actual Problems of Economics, 7, 76–90.
Ganesan, M., Prashant, S., & Jhunjhunwala, A. (2012). A Review on Challenges in Implementing Mobile Phone Based Data Collection in Developing Countries. Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries, 6(1), 366–374.
Gamage, P., & Halpin, E. F. (2007b). E‐Sri Lanka: bridging the digital divide. The Electronic Library, 25(6), 693–710. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470710837128
Gunawardana, A. M. A. P. G., & Sharma, V. (2007). Personal characteristics of farmers affecting the information seeking behaviour on improved agricultural practices in Udaipur District Rajasthan, India. Tropical Agricultural Research, 19.
HARTI. (n.d.). Mobitel Agri Price Information Index. Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute; Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from http://www.harti.gov.lk/index.php/en/news-events/mobitel-6666-agri-price-information-index
Jayathilake, H., Jayaweera, B., & Waidyasekera, E. (2010). ICT Adoption and Its’ Implications for Agriculture in Sri Lanka. Journal of Food and Agriculture, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.4038/jfa.v1i2.1799
Kaila, H., & Tarp, F. (2019). Can the Internet improve agricultural production? Evidence from Viet Nam. Agricultural Economics, 50(6), 675–691. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12517
Kante, M., Oboko, R., Chepken, C., & Hamunyela, S. (2017). Farmers’ perceptions of ICTs and its effects on access and use of agricultural input information in developing countries: Case of Sikasso, Mali. 2017 IST-Africa Week Conference (IST-Africa). https://doi.org/10.23919/istafrica.2017.8101973
Kabir, K. H., Roy, D., Sarker, A., & Kuri, S. K. (2014). Information Seeking Behaviour of the Farmers to Ensure Sustainable Agriculture. European Academic Research, II(3), 37233734.
26.Khalil Moghaddam, B., & Khatoon-Abadi, A. (2013). Factors affecting ICT adoption among rural users: A case study of ICT Center in Iran. Telecommunications Policy, 37(11), 1083–1094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2013.02.005
Khan, N. A., Qijie, G., Ali, S., Shahbaz, B., & Shah, A. A. (2019). Farmers’ use of mobile phone for accessing agricultural information in Pakistan: Ciência Rural, 49(10). https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20181016
Kumar, M. (2012). Information Seeking Behaviour of the Farmers in Unchahar-Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh: A Survey. Global Journal for Research Analysis, 3(3), 74–76. https://doi.org/10.15373/22778160/mar2014/25
Kughur, P. G., Daudu, S., & Akua, E. M. (2014). Different sources of information on adoption behaviour of farmers in Logo local area Government of Benue State, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Biological and Life Sciences, 3(2), 133–136.
30.Lasanthi, N. C., Goonetillake, J. S., Wikramanayake, G. N., & Ginige, A. (2013). Farmer response towards the initial agriculture information dissemination mobile prototype. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 7971 LNCS (Part 1), 264–278.
Mohammad, A. A., & Shweta, S. (2014). Agriculture information needs of farm women: A study in State of north India. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 9(19), 1454–1460. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajar2014.8503
Omoregbee, F. E., & Banmeke, T. O. A. (2014). Information needs of cassava farmers in delta state of Nigeria. Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 12(2), 20–25.
Pavitrani, A. D. S., Cooray, K. K. H., Sivatharshini, S., & Ekanayake, Y. (2011). The effectiveness of existing ICT modules in addressing issues of Farming community in Sri Lanka: Empirical Study. National Information Technology Conference, 40–46.
Qaisar, T. M., khan, Mohd. M. A., & Alam, S. (2011). Innovative Agricultural Information Services by ICT Projects in India. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 2(4), 276–279. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijtef.2011.v2.116
Sharma, A. K. (2014). Farmer’s Satisfaction with Information Sources and Services: A Study on Farmer’s Opinion. International Journal of Information Research, 3(4), 346–359.
Shepherd, A. W. (2000). Understanding and using market information. Food And Agriculture Organization of The United Nations.
Sruthy Madhavan, S. M. (2017). Agriculture Information Needs of Farmers, An Overview. International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research, 7(6), 209–216. https://doi.org/10.24247/ijasrdec201728
Starasts, A. (2015c). “Unearthing farmers” information seeking contexts and challenges in digital, local and industry environments. Library & Information Science Research, 37(2), 156–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2015.02.004
Walisadeera, A. I., Ginige, A., & Wikramanayake, G. N. (2015b). User centered ontology for Sri Lankan farmers. Ecological Informatics, 26, 140–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.07.008
WEF. (n.d.). World Economic Forum - Home. Www3.Weforum.org; World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved July 15, 2021, from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GITR2019/WEF_GITR_Full_Report.pdf
Wijekoon, R., Emitiyagoda, S., Rizwan, M. F. M., Rathnayaka, R. M. M. S., & Rajapaksha, H. G. A. (2007). An Information and Communication Technology Initiative for Agriculture and Rural Development in Sri Lanka. A Technical Paper. Food and Agriculture organization of United Nations. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/kce/Doc_for_Technical_Consult/SRI_LANKA_CYBER_EXTENSION.pdf.
