image

Content

image

Type : Other Article

Mobile Use Pattern of Sugarcane Growers in Kamareddy District, Telangana State

T. Rajula Shanthy, C. Vijay Bhaskar Rao and Jitendra K. Chauhan

Abstract

This study tries to figure out an understanding of mobile use pattern of sugarcane growers in Kamareddy District, Telangana state in terms of their socioeconomic profile, information needs through mobile app, perceived benefits of information delivery on sugarcane through mobile app and the possible constraints involved by interviewing 60 growers from the command area of Gayathri Sugars, Telengana. Demographic profile indicated that they were mostly middle to old-aged with secondary to graduate level of education, had a rich farming experience of more than 25 years and majority owned 3-5 hectares of arable land. Over three-fourth of the respondents had mobile phones with internet facilities and most of them had owned mobile phones for the last 5-10 years. Majority of them got mobile phones to communicate with their family members, relatives and friends, wherein they were using mobile phones to disseminate information related to family matters etc. and hardly use mobile phones to share information on agriculture. The most important information need for the sample farmers was on fertigation schedule, maintenance of drip irrigation system and mechanization to overcome labor problem. All the respondents perceived the benefits of mobile app as access to information any time, time saving as we can get the information at home itself, information can be stored in mobile and referred as and when needed, easy to store information in the mobile phone and can repeatedly browse the information. All the respondents felt the necessity to carry the mobiles always, has to be charged quite often as it would run out of battery, fear of theft of mobile sets and loss of all the information stored if mobile phone is lost. When it comes to using mobile apps for educational purpose, the major constraints experienced by all the respondents are the need for internet connection for using mobile apps, slow internet connectivity and have to recharge for internet connection.

Keyword: Sugarcane; Mobile use pattern; Mobile Apps; Perceived benefits; Constraints.

Full Text