Revealing the challenges experienced by farmers while using the Uzhavan application and their suggestions to overcome them in Dindigul district

The adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in agriculture has gained significant momentum in India, with mobile applications playing a vital role in disseminating information to farmers. The Uzhavan app, launched by the Government of Tamil Nadu, serves as a digital platform providing agricultural services, including market prices, weather forecasts, subsidy information, and pest alerts. Despite its usefulness, farmers face numerous challenges and constraints in its usage. This study aimed to identify challenges and gather user suggestions to enhance the app’s effectiveness. Using an ex-post facto research design, data were collected from 120 randomly selected farmers of Dindigul District of Tamil Nadu, India during May 2024 through a structured interview schedule. The findings revealed that the absence of video and photo gallery features (73.33 per cent) emerged as a significant limitation, alongside the lack of a voice assistant (68.33 per cent) and the high costs associated with internet data usage (60.83 per cent). Conversely, participants suggested various enhancements for the application, notably the incorporation of voice-activated features (81.66 per cent), the expansion of agro-advisory services (77.50 per cent), the provision of offline access (65.00 per cent), and the promotion of the application via social media channels (70.83 per cent).These findings emphasize the necessity for a user-centered redesign of the app to enhance its accessibility, inclusivity, and usefulness for the farming community.