9 pages., Via online journal., In a world where the notion of ‘sharing of knowledge’ has been gained much prominence in the recent past, the importance of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to promote sustainable agriculture, especially when combined with mobile and open source software technologies is discussed critically. On this rationale, this study was carried out to explore the applicability of the concept of converging ‘Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)’ to promote sustainable knowledge sharing amongst the agricultural communities in Sri Lanka. A multi-stage community consultative process with a set of designated officials (“Sponsors”) and a series of semi-structured questionnaire survey with a cross section of smallholder agriculture farmers (n=246), were carried out in the Batticaloa, Kurunegala and Puttalam districts to gather the baseline data. This was followed by a number of field experiments (“Campaigns”) with the farmers (n=340) from same geographical areas. The two FOSS, namely: (1) “FrontlineSMS” for ‘Text Messaging’ and (2) “FreedomFone” for ‘Interactive Voice Responses’, were applied to evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge sharing within the farming communities. It was found that FOSS intervention increases the ‘Text messaging’ and ‘Voice Call’ usage in day-to-day agricultural communication by 26 and 8 percent, respectively. The demographic factors like age and income level of the farmers has positively influence on the knowledge sharing process. And also the ‘Mobile Telephony’ was the most extensive mode of communication within the communities. The outcome of analysis, as a whole, implies that, with a fitting mechanism in place, this approach can be promoted as a “drive for positive changes” in agriculture-based rural communities in developing countries like Sri Lanka, and those in South and East Asia with similar socio-economic and cultural perspectives.
Singh, Lakhan (author), Bishnoi, Rajesh (author), Bihari, Bankey (author), Madan, S. (author), Malik, Anil Kumar (author), Shrimali, S. S . (author), Kadam, M. D. (author), and Singh, Raman Jeet (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-02
Published:
India
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10368
7 pages., Via online journal., The effectiveness of an extension system referred to its ability to meet the fanner 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 mKRISHI (R) 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 mKRISHI (R) 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 mKRISHI (R) PAWS were found to be highly effective by majority of the farmers. 34.58% fanners perceived that the mKRISHI (R) PAWS was very highly effective as a mean of getting their information needs.
14 pages., Via online journal., During recent years, one of the most familiar name scaling new heights and creating a benchmark is Internet of Things (IoT). It is indeed the future of communication that has transformed Things (Objects) of the real world into smarter devices. The functional aspect of IoT is to unite every object of the world in such a manner that humans have the ability to control them via Internet. Furthermore, these objects also provide regular as well as timely updates on their current status to its end user. Although IoT concepts were proposed a couple of years ago, it may not be incorrect to quote that this term has become a benchmark for establishing communication among objects. In context to the present standings of IoT, identification of the most prominent applications in the field of IoT have been highlighted and a comprehensive review has been done specifically in the field of Precision Agriculture. This article evaluates contributions made by various researchers and academicians over the past few years. Furthermore, existing challenges faced while performing agricultural activities have been highlighted along with future research directions to equip novel researchers of this domain to assess the current standings of IoT and to further improve upon them with more inspiring and innovative ideas.
Eitzinger, Anton (author), Cock, James (author), Atzmanstorfer, Karl (author), Binder, Claudia R. (author), Läderach, Peter (author), Bonilla-Findji, Osana (author), Bartlin, Mona (author), Mwongera, Caroline (author), Zurita, Leo (author), and Jarvis, Andy (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-03
Published:
Germany: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10292
13 pages., Via online journal., Farmers can manage their crops and farms better if they can communicate their experiences, both positive and negative, with each other and with experts. Digital agriculture using internet communication technology (ICT) may facilitate the sharing of experiences between farmers themselves and with experts and others interested in agriculture. ICT approaches in agriculture are, however, still out of the reach of many farmers. The reasons are lack of connectivity, missing capacity building and poor usability of ICT applications. We decided to tackle this problem through cost-effective, easy to use ICT approaches, based on infrastructure and services currently available to small-scale producers in developing areas. Working through a participatory design approach, we developed and tested a novel technology. GeoFarmer provides near real-time, two-way data flows that support processes of co-innovation in agricultural development projects. It can be used as a cost-effective ICT-based platform to monitor agricultural production systems with interactive feedback between the users, within pre-defined geographical domains. We tested GeoFarmer in four geographic domains associated with ongoing agricultural development projects in East and West Africa and Latin America. We demonstrate that GeoFarmer is a cost-effective means of providing and sharing opportune indicators of on-farm performance. It is a potentially useful tool that farmers and agricultural practitioners can use to manage their crops and farms better, reduce risk, increase productivity and improve their livelihoods.
19 pages., Article 3945, Via online journal., Information communication technology (ICT) has changed the traditional agricultural extension service mode worldwide. This paper examines the effects of the Rural Distance Education Project (RDEP) on the household income, agricultural productivity, and off-farm employment of farmers in peri-urban areas in Beijing. Using the survey data of 783 randomly selected farm households from 54 villages in three Beijing peri-urban districts in 2014, and the propensity score matching method (PSM), we find that the RDEP has a significant and positive effect on agricultural productivity and input use. Meanwhile, the program’s effects are heterogeneous across districts and households. For example, the RDEP has significant impacts on several outcome indicators, such as agricultural labor productivity (at a 5% level of significance), agricultural land productivity (at a 10% level), and input use intensity (at a 1% level) in Tongzhou (an agriculturally more important district, with a more intensive RDEP usage), but none of these effects is significant in Pinggu district. Furthermore, the RDEP is found to have bigger, and statistically more significant effects, for households with junior high school education than for those with either lower or higher than junior high school education. Furthermore, the RDEP is more effective for households with more assets than those with fewer assets. These results point toward the importance of using a rural distance education program as an effective extension service, and the need to take community and individual characteristics into account in the implementation and design of future programs.
14 pages., via online journal., This study sought to identify the information communication technology (ICT) needs of small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data from a sample of 108 farmers. Results revealed that the majority used radio and television and owned mobile phones and video machines. Constraints to use included capacity, infrastructural/technical and logistical problems. The study recommends that the Nigerian government reorient its policies in order to harness the potential of ICTs to contribute to agricultural development and highlights the need to raise awareness of the agricultural uses of ICTs among the government, other national stakeholders, and rural communities.
12 pages., via online journal., This study explores the status of mobile usage among the agriculture community in the North‐Central province of Sri Lanka in relation to interactions with major agriculture stakeholders. The objectives of the study were to study the factors affecting the mobile use by farmers, farmers' willingness to receive agricultural information through mobile communication technology, and awareness on mobile based agriculture information systems. Primary data were collected at two stages using two structured interview schedules (N=390, n=65). According to the findings the access to mobile phone was considerable higher among the study group while age and education had an effect on using a mobile phone. Only a few farmers have yet started using them efficiently for agriculture and other commercial purposes. A considerable number of farmers used the mobile phones to contact input suppliers, buyers, agriculture extension officers and other farmers in the area, mostly those who represent community based organizations.
