Assessment on consequences and benefits of the smart farming techniques in Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka

Abstract

ICT in agriculture (e-Agriculture) is an emerging field focused on improving agricultural production and rural development. The study was aimed to identify the consequences, promotion and benefits of farmer community towards the e-agriculture. Therefore, primary data were collected from the randomly selected 158 farmers by means of a well designed questionnaire survey during the period of February to April, 2019. The demographic characteristics of the farming community showed that only 5.1% of respondents were illiterate in this area. According to the study, 36.1% of respondents used telephone as ICT tool for agriculture.0% of respondents used any ICT tools. Consequences index (CI) ranged from 114 to 586, where 114 indicated that the farmers strongly disagreed that there would be some consequences by not using ICT and 586 indicated that the farmers accepted that they would suffer in the future by not using ICT in their agricultural activities. Promotion measures index (PMI) ranged from 508 to 618, where 508 indicated the farmers’ response on the provision of a computer, Internet access, and technician to each village was comparatively less whereas 618 indicated that the farmers accept the provision of incentives and finance may promote the use of ICT by a greater extent. Benefits of usage index (BUI) ranged from 86 to 140, where 86 indicated that the response of farmers on the option “cheaper” was less and 140 indicated that the farmers accepted the use of ICT in Agriculture helps them to acquire timely information related to their particular agricultural activities. Limiting factors index (LFI) ranged from 100 to 454, where 100 indicated that a high number of farmers strongly disagreed on “no perceived economic benefit” by using ICT and 454 indicated that a high number of farmers accept that the lack of training is the main limiting factor of using ICT in their agricultural activities.