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COMPENDIUM, IEEC-2023   ( ISBN : 978-81-967860-4-5 )
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Theme-4: Advances in Social Management in Agriculture and Allied Sciences

Role of ICT Tools in Entrepreneurial Development among Livestock Farmers

Krushna Adwe, Adhiti Bhanotra and Manish Sawant

Department of Veterinary and A.H. Extension, Mumbai Veterinary College, Parel, Mumbai-400012, MAFSU, Maharashtra, India
kadwe62@gmail.com

Abstract

Livestock farming has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural families. The COVID-19 pandemic presents many challenges, it also created opportunities for digital tools to better serve the farmers and to prefer new livestock/animal husbandry needs that arise. The present study was carried out in the Thane district of Maharashtra. Thane district has 7 blocks, out of which four blocks were randomly selected. From each block, five villages were selected and from each village, six respondents who were using ICT tools and having at least 03 milch animals at the time of study were selected randomly. Therefore, a total of 120 livestock-rearing farmers were selected for the present study. The respondents were interviewed, individually, at their homes. Statistical measures used during this study include frequency, percentage, Cumulative square root frequency (CSRT) and Garret ranking technique. The majority of livestock farmers i.e. 55.84 per cent agreed that ICT provided information on locally available markets, prices and demands of livestock products. 50.83 per cent of livestock farmers agreed that ICT tools provided information on insurance, and government schemes for livestock farmers. 56.67 per cent of livestock farmers agreed that ICT provides sources of financing and credits for livestock farming in rural areas, and 57.50 per cent of livestock farmers responded that ICT guided them about government policies regarding livestock farming. 52.50 per cent of respondents experienced that ICT provided information about various sources of marketing. The livestock farmers of the study area were inclined towards the use of various ICT tools for livestock farming during covid-19 pandemic. The farmers of the study area were mostly dependent on mobile phones as the main ICT tool.

IEEC-2023 at RARI (SKNAU, Jobner), Jaipur, Rajasthan organised by Society of Extension Education, Agra, India