Umair Talib, Ijaz Ashraf, Aqeela Saghir, Gulfam
Hassan
Institute of Agri. Extension & Rural
Development, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
 |
| Survey to assess the ICTs use in Agriculture and Rural Development |
According PTA known as Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Pakistan is ranked 5th
in mobile use in Asia as more than 123 million people use cellular phones in the
country. ICTs application in agriculture started after 2000. World Bank
declares Pakistan 1st in telecommunication facilities in south Asia.
Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are an important part of modern
technology performing
multifarious duties in different fields such as education, agriculture, health and entertainment. These are the physical infrastructure developed for facilitating the performance of teaching and learning process. ICTs have the potential to provide an opportunity to the masses for effective communication which was not possible through traditional media. For the ICTs incorporation into the system, there are many factors which are responsible for the success and failure of this process including timing, feasibility of information, comprehensiveness and quality competency of teachers, methods of teaching, funding and the most important-the provision of technology. The use of ICTs in developing countries is gaining importance but still in Pakistan, ICT literacy is not up to the mark and it is the most neglected area which needs to be addressed. Pakistan is facing many problems in effective use of ICTs especially in the field of agricultural extension.
multifarious duties in different fields such as education, agriculture, health and entertainment. These are the physical infrastructure developed for facilitating the performance of teaching and learning process. ICTs have the potential to provide an opportunity to the masses for effective communication which was not possible through traditional media. For the ICTs incorporation into the system, there are many factors which are responsible for the success and failure of this process including timing, feasibility of information, comprehensiveness and quality competency of teachers, methods of teaching, funding and the most important-the provision of technology. The use of ICTs in developing countries is gaining importance but still in Pakistan, ICT literacy is not up to the mark and it is the most neglected area which needs to be addressed. Pakistan is facing many problems in effective use of ICTs especially in the field of agricultural extension.
Extension is an instrumental tool for upbringing of crops
and animals through modern production, protection and management practices using
multiple channels of communication. Organizations and personnel’s engaged in agricultural
extension undertake range of diversified socially acceptable and technically
valid activities with the purpose to widen and improve the abilities of farmers
and professionals.
Modern
extension services can only produce enough quality and quantity of food. In
Pakistan farmers are facing numerous problems relating to health of crops and animals
specially. The coverage of agricultural advisory services is limited in
Pakistan due to lack of professionals in the field. The
mobile phones can be used as catalyst to enhance connectivity of extension
field staff (EFS) with farmers for two way flow of information. The mobile app
can ease out all the processes from production to marketing in the EFS.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, in the field of
agriculture and rural development there was an increasing trend of software
application for keeping record of crops and animal disease and treatment
history. Since then, it is continued at
increasing rate and is now applied in all lanes of agriculture and rural
development practices. Still there is a huge gap between potential and actual
meat, poultry, dairy, milk and cereal crops productivity. Main constraint in
improvement of agricultural production is unawareness of farmers about new
breeds and varieties. Yield can be increased through bridging the serious gaps that
exist in transfer of technology system. This gap can be overcome by an
effective extension system.
In Pakistan, agricultural advisory services are using
multiple communication channels for transferring of improved practices to the
end users. The limitations of extension system in the country like other
developing countries are: low funds allocation, limited technical and
locomotive capacities of extension staff, large area and number of farm families,
poor access to marginal and small farmers and low literacy rate of farming
community. The most appropriate and feasible solution in 21st
century is E-Extension. The most approachable E-instrument is mobile phone in
farming community.
Ø Mobile phones can bridge existing information
asymmetry and complement the existing information sources such as radio,
television and newspapers.
Ø
Mobile
phones have the potential to significantly reduce communication and information
search costs.
Ø Phone calls and SMS can also replace the need for
face-to-face interaction thereby reducing travel costs.
Ø
Extension
field staff uses mobile phones for exchanging agricultural information through
different stages of agricultural value chain.
Ø
Mobile
phone is significantly used in exchanging market information.
Ø Finally,
mobile phone can reduce the awareness gap among farmers, augmenting the
capabilities of extension field staff and strengthen the
research-extension-farmer liaisons.
Therefore in recent years demand for
information delivery via mobile has increased. So far, all the mobile operating
companies are providing agricultural information through SMS or Robocall to
their registered customers. Followings are the mobile phone services available
to farmers:
- Kisan
Mobilink services 700
- Tele
kisan 1350,
700
- U
kisan 700
- Zong
Kisan Portal 700
- Warid Kisan Line 2244
Farming
community considers these services as less reliable and thereby do not attract
much attention of the farmers. Therefore, various public institutions have
developed their helplines, which are follows:
- Agi.
Punjab 0800-15000,
0800-29000
- Liv.
and Dairy Development 0800-78686,
0800-78685
- PARC 0800-84420
- FAP 0472-35710862
- Dairy
Care Pak 0300-4130636
In many countries Mobile-based advisory services are
being used to deliver information to farming communities relating to all
aspects of agriculture. The scope of mobile phone usage is extremely useful in
countries having more number of small farmers with diversified information
needs. This tool can transmit information to the farmers within limited time
and resources. In the rural areas mobile phones are very effective and
interactive in making connectivity with experts.
Informative
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