A STUDY ON AWARENESS AND USE OF MOBILE PHONE APPS AMONG FARMERS OF AMBALA AND YAMUNANAGAR DISTRICTS OF HARYANA STATE OF INDIA.

This study is an attempt to explore the awareness and use of mobile apps among the farmers of Ambala and Yamunanagar districts of Haryana state of India. This study aimed to determine how different mobile applications were being used by the farmers in agricultural practices. For the present study, survey method was adopted using questionnaire with the aid of interview as a data gathering tool. For data collection, during March-April, 2023, copies of self designed questionnaire were distributed manually on random basis among 300 farmers of six areas/blocks of two districts of Ambala and Yamunanagar. Out of total 300 administered questionnaires, interestingly all the questionnaires were received back and found valid for analysis and thus 100% response rate has been achieved. The study revealed that about 80% of the farmers were familiar with the use of ICT and mobile phone applications in various farming practices. The study also found that 42% of the respondents/farmers find easy to use various mobile apps in farming practices and 75.66% of the respondents were using different mobile phone applications for getting information about pest and disease control in crops. More than 75% of the farmers/respondents were in the opinion that mobile apps are quiet useful in their farming practices to get the required information timely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]