Awareness of ICT usage by extension personnel: Knowledge and purpose

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT) is defined as a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share or exchange information. ICT is an emerging centre in agriculture to enhance agriculture and rural development in India. Progress in ICT is meant to provide the farmers with appropriate knowledge and services related to agriculture. Thus, in this time of information revolution, agricultural extension scientists should be encouraged to use ICT so that efficiency and effectiveness of information communication system could be increased. Keeping all this in mind a study was conducted to investigate the knowledge and the basic purpose of utilization of ICT by extension personnel at KVK’s in Haryana. Given the urgent need for current agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS) to farmers, the use of conventional communication channels such as farm/home visit, personal letters, and use of contact farmers, for disseminating agricultural information is counterproductive. This calls for the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by both researchers and extension workers to transmit relevant information to farmers in a most efficient way. The socio-demographic profile of extension personnel from all the KVKs of Haryana state revealed that majority of the respondents (56.2%) belonged to the age group of 29-40 years, were males (75.0%), Subject Matter Specialists (78.7%), had a service experience of 1-5 years (37.5%), majority of the respondents were PhD with NET (97.5%) and were from the discipline of agronomy (25.0%). Cent per cent of extension personnel had availability of ICT with them. Majority of the respondents (90.0%) had basic purpose of utilization of ICT as gaining/updating knowledge and printing/ publication (printed online), cent per cent of extension personnel had knowledge regarding ICTs improve communication process and coordination among KVKs, research institutes and SAUs followed by the role of ICT in agriculture knowledge management (98.7%). Index showed that 81.8% of the extension personnel had knowledge regarding information communication technology.