ICTs for Agricultural Extension: A study in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, India

This study describes an assessment of attitudes of farmers from the Lanja tehsil of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra in order to understand the information seeking behavior and reasons for the farmers seeking this agricultural information through different sources. To meet the objective of the study, a structured questionnaire and interviews were conducted to gather information on number of aspects related to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) from 100 randomly selected framers. Additional semi- structured questionnaire and checklist was provided to the key stakeholders. The farmer based questionnaire sought demographic data, information requirement data and uses of ICT data. Key stakeholders were also asked similar information and information related to their job position, their work experience and what further knowledge they would require to improve their work performance. This paper reports on the analysis of demographic data, educational qualification, family background, income range, land ownership, use of ICT, source of getting information, belief on the sources of getting the information and the information required by the farmer. The study provides an insight into information needs of the villagers and their attitudes to whether the information may facilitate better decision making about their agricultural activities

Mobile Applications for Indian Agriculture Sector: A case study

Government, private agencies and the general public are often interested in the decisions made by the Indian farmers as they have large influences beyond the farm boundary. Over many years, the process of adoption of new technologies and policies in the Indian agricultural sector has received considerable academic attention highlighting the role of many social, financial and other influences on their decision making. The Indian government and other development agencies promote income generating projects as a way of encouraging growth through increased agricultural production and the protection of the natural resource base. The impact of new technology to economic growth can only be realized when the use of these new technologies is widely diffused. In this paper the overview of agricultural mobile technologies and applications have been discussed and the challenges faced by the farmers to utilize them effectively. The advantages to farmers, traders and producers by introducing mobile applications and services in agriculture to improve decision making will also be examined. Two existing agricultural mobile application eMandi and Mandi Trades for trading of commodities will be described and evaluated

Role of ICTs in improving drought scenario management in India

Drought is a natural phenomenon that affects social, economic and environmental sectors. It is caused due to low or no rainfall in the specific region and for some duration of time. Reduced soil moisture and ground water level are the other causes for drought. Based on its intensity, drought has impacts on various sectors like agriculture, transportation, forest fire, environment and many more. Agriculture is the major sector being affected by drought resulting in low crop production and having great detriment to economy of the country. In this paper, an attempt is made to study the different causes and effects of drought, their impact on agricultural sector, various strategies for drought monitoring, prevention and management keeping the focus on Indian Agricultural Sector. This study examines the extent of use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for drought assessment, prediction, preparedness and management scenario in India. The paper aims in portraying how the application of ICT in drought events is helpful in managing drought and thus helpful for researchers and farmers as well

Assessing impact of seasonal rainfall on rice crop yield of Rajasthan, India using association rule mining

Developing countries which are highly dependent on agriculture have shown growing concern that climate variability will further impact on food security. It is important to have a deeper understanding of the impact of this climate change on crop production and food security. This paper assesses the impact of distributed seasonal rainfall on rice crop yield of Rajasthan state, India through data visualisation and application of association rule mining techniques. The dataset considered for the present study was of twenty nine districts of Rajasthan state for forty three years from 1960 to 2002 depending on the data availability. Three divisions were made for the rainfall in Kharif season from June to November. Beginning of the season was considered as June and July, Middle of the season as August and September and End of the season as October and November. The effect of variation in the rainfall at the beginning, middle and end of season on the rice crop yield was investigated and some interesting results are reported