Effectiveness of mKRISHI® Personalised Advisory on Water and Soil (PAWS) in dissemination of agricultural information in north-western Himalayan region

LAKHAN SINGH; RAJESH BISHNOI; BANKEY BIHARI; D M KADAM; MADAN SINGH; ANIL KUMAR MALIK; S S SHRIMALI; RAMAN JEET SINGH

doi:10.56093/ijas.v89i2.87014

Authors

LAKHAN SINGH Director and Principal Scientist (Agricultural Extension), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
RAJESH BISHNOI Scientist (Agricultural Extension), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
BANKEY BIHARI Principal Scientist (Agricultural Extension), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
D M KADAM Scientist (Fruit Science), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
MADAN SINGH Scientist (Agricultural Extension), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
ANIL KUMAR MALIK Senior Research Fellow (SRF), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
S S SHRIMALI Senior Scientist (Computer Application in Agriculture), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195
RAMAN JEET SINGH Scientist (Agronomy), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 195

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v89i2.87014

Keywords:

Effectiveness, ICT, mKRISHIÂ® PAWS (Personalised Advisory on Water and Soil), Northwestern Himalayan region

Abstract

The effectiveness of an extension system referred to its ability to meet the farmer needs in providing the new technology which suits to their conditions and results in better production. Recently the demand for information on agricultural practices and technology among the farmers is increasing day by day but fulfilment of these demands exclusively by public agricultural extension system is limited. To address this challenge, information communication technology (ICT) has the immense role in supplementing the extension system. Among the ICT tools, mobile phone, because of its affordability, accessibility, minimum skill requirement, widespread network etc., has emerged as important tool for information and knowledge dissemination to the smallholder and marginal farmers. But it is necessary to study how effective they are in achieving the respective objectives.The present investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of mKRISHIÂ® PAWS (Personalised Advisory on Water and Soil) in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand state. An ex-post facto research design was used for this study. Total 136 messages were sent to the respondents. The data was collected from 240 beneficiary farmers of the north-western Himalayan region. The effectiveness of the mKRISHIÂ® PAWS in technology advisory and delivery services were measured by developing an effectiveness index for the purpose. Results showed that 93.8% of farmers perceive that quality of information regarding the latest NRM technologies in soil and water conservation was excellent and 83.75% of the farmers felt that the information regarding the latest NRM technologies in soil and water conservation was appropriate to their condition. The study revealed that the extension services delivered by mKRISHIÂ® PAWS were found to be highly effective by majority of the farmers. 34.58% farmers perceived that the mKRISHIÂ® PAWS was very highly effective as a mean of getting their information needs.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Afroz S and Singh, Rashmi. 2013. Effectiveness of participatory video in dissemination of farm technology: A case of Digital Green. MSc thesis, Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi.

Balaji V, Meera S N, and Dixit X. 2007. ICT-enabled knowledge sharing in support of extension: Addressing the agrarian challenges of the developing world threatened by climate change, with a case study of India. SAT e Journal 4 (1): 18.

Batchelor S. 2002. Using ICTs to generate development content. IICD Research Report 10, International Institute for Communication and Development, The Hague.

Chapman, R and Slaymaker T. 2002. ICTs and rural development: Review of the literature, current interventions, and opportunities for action. ODI Working Paper 192, Overseas Development Institute, London.

Hanumankar. 2005. Effectiveness of Kissan Call Centre for Agricultural Information Delivery, pp 143–50. Sarvanan C and Indira Devi T (Eds), New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi.

Heeks. 2002. Information systems and developing countries: Failure, success and local improvisations. Information Society 18: 101–12.

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. 2017. Annual report. Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmer Welfare. http://agricoop.nic.in/agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/Annual_ rpt_201617_E.pdf

Mittal S. 2012. Modern ICT for agricultural development and risk management in smallholder agriculture in India. SocioEconomics Working Paper 3,: CIMMYT, Mexico D F. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle Mittal S and Mehar M. 2012. How mobile phones contribute to growth of small farmers? Evidence from India. Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 51(3): 227–4.

Meera S N, Jhamtani, Anita and Rao. D U M. 2004. Information and communication technology in agricultural development: A comparative analysis of three projects from India. AgREN Network Paper No.135, ODI, January 2004. 20 p.Available at: www.odi.org.uk/agren/papers/agrenpaper_135.pdf

Mukherjee A and Bahal R. 2011. Privatized agricultural technology delivery system: An analytical study on Tata Kisan Sansar in Uttar Pradesh, MSc thesis, Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi.

NSSO. 2016. Annual report. Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, Government of India. http://www.mospi.gov. in/national-sample-survey-office-nsso

Qiang C Z, Kuek S. C, Dymond A and Esselaar S. 2011. Mobile applications for agriculture and rural development. ICT Sector Unit, World Bank, p 106.

Ragasa, C Ulimwengu, J Randriamamonjy, J and Badibanga T 2013. Assessment of the Capacity, Incentives, and Performance of Agricultural Extension Agents in Western Democratic Republic of Congo. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01283. IFPRI, Washington.

Rao N H. 2007. A framework for implementing information and communication technologies in agricultural development in India. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 74: 491–518.

Saravanan R. 2010. ICTs for Agricultural Extension. Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences. New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi.

Sulaiman R, Hall A and Suresh N. 2005. Effectiveness of private sector extension in India and lessons for the new extension policy agenda. Network Paper 141, Agricultural Research and Extension Network, London.

www.icar.org.in/files/ICAR-Vision-2030.pdf (ICAR vision 2030).

World Bank. 2012. Mobile applications for agriculture and rural development.: World Bank Group Washington DC. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/167301467999716265.