A STUDY ON EXTENT OF ICT FACILITIES USED BY RURAL YOUTHS IN YADGIR DISTRICT OF KARNATAKA

K.K. SHASHIDHARA¹*, KRISHNA S. MARADDI^2
1Department of Agricultural Extension Education, College of Agriculture, Bheemarayangudi, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, 584104, India
²College of Agriculture, Bheemarayangudi, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, 584104, India
* Corresponding Author : agrishashi@gmail.com

Received : 20-09-2016     Accepted : 05-11-2016     Published : 18-11-2016
Volume : 8     Issue : 56       Pages : 3064 - 3066
Int J Agr Sci 8.56 (2016):3064-3066

Keywords : Youths, ICTs, Agriculture, Rural, Community
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The authors greatly appreciate to University of Agricultural Sciences Raichur for their co-operation in conducting research and support to make this paper.
Author Contribution : The first author has made conception or design of the work, data analysis and interpretation, drafting the article, Critical revision of the article and final approval of the version to be published and second author who involved in collection, analysis a

The importance has been given on transfer of agriculture technology providing little attention on rural youth development and communication requirements. Presently, the high accomplishment on agricultural research has led to a large pool of new agricultural technologies, which are yet to be disseminated to rural youths, particularly those in the core rural areas. A study was carried out during 2014-15 in four villages of Yadgir district on extent of ICT facilities used by rural youths. A sample size of 50 rural youths was selected from each village by simple random method, which constituted a sample size of 200 rural youths. A structured schedule was developed to collect the data. The main objective of the study was to know the extent of Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities used by rural youths in Yadgir district and to know the areas in farming where the information was sought by rural youths. It was found that majority of the rural youths (91.50 %) used mobile phone services for getting information on agriculture. Whereas, land line telephones were used by only 10.50 per cent. The study also revealed that the major areas in farming where the information was sought through ICT facilities were, Land record certificates (100 %), Crop cultivation (44.50%), Agriculture input sources (40.50%), Income generating activities (26.00%) Credit facilities at nationalized bank/co-operative banks (19.50%), New technology in agriculture (17.50%) and Market information (Daily price, marketing news, marketing events) (14.50%) in the order of priority. The problem encountered by rural youths were Operating difficulty (84.50%), Non-cooperation of staff (44.50%), Low computer literacy (34.50%), Too many search engines (25.50%), High rental rates (22.50%) and Computer breakdown due to electricity failure, service problem etc (17.50%).