Integration of ICT in Agricultural Development:A Study in Chhattisgarh

Agriculture is the primary occupation of a large portion of the Indian population and accountsfor 18 percent of the country's GDP. However, agricultural productivity in India is muchlower than in other countries such as China, Brazil, and the United States. ICT plays animportant role in agriculture in terms of increasing agricultural production and sales. Thestudy investigated the use of ICT tools by farmers, and constraints faced by them in usingICT tools. The data was collected using structured questionnaire from 186 respondents andanalysed using descriptive statistics, and inferential techniques. The study identified ‘mobilephones’ as major ICT tools used by most of the farmers in Chhattisgarh for accessingagricultural information. Lack of confidence in operating ICT tool emerged as majorconstraint among farmers particularly mobile phone applications due to limited exposure touse for their benefit