Benefits and Constraints of Mobile Phone Use as an ICT Tool by Dairy Entrepreneurs

Headnote

Received: 20 Sept., 2017 Revised: 11 Dec., 2017 Accepted: 13 Dec., 2017

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra to identify and prioritize the benefits and constraints of mobile phone use as an ICT tool by dairy entrepreneurs. For this study, 120 dairy entrepreneurs were selected from six villages of three blocks namely Karveer, Kagal, Hath-kanangle who had at least two milch animal and also having 3-4 years of dairy experience at the time of investigation. The data was analysed with the help of Garret Ranking Technique. The study revealed that "use of mobile phone leads to easy access to veterinary expert" was the most important benefit followed by "mobile phone reduces time and distance barrier" as a second most important factor that determine the high use of android and non-android mobile phone or use of ICT by dairy entrepreneurs'. The reason for high use of mobile phone by dairy entrepreneurs was timely reliable information, easy access to marketing information, easy contact with customers, promote interpersonal relationship, update knowledge, and increase dairy efficiency. The result of study revealed that "high cost of mobile phone and internet services" was the most important perceived constraint followed by "low network connectivity as second most important factor that determine the low use of mobile phone or low use of ICT by dairy entrepreneurs. The reason for low use of mobile phone by dairy entrepreneurs was language barrier, lack of knowledge and confidence, unavailability and shortage electricity, complex technology.

Keywords: Information and communication technology, mobile phone, benefits, constraints, dairy entrepreneurs, garret ranking technique

The role of Information and Communication (ICTs) as an instrument for progress and development has been widely acknowledged in this 'Global Information age', and it has been observed that people with all walks of life are being impacted by the ITC sector directly or indirectly. Among other Information and Communication (ICTs), mobile telephony has emerged as the technology of choice of the majority of the urban and even the rural masses (Ansari and Pandey, 2013). In India, dairying at micro level provides regular work, steady income and keep the rural population employed throughout the year. However, to meet the emerging demand for livestock based products, both in domestic and global markets, information...