Information source utilization for organic waste management with special reference to digital technologies: A qualitative study on dairy farmers of district Ludhiana, Punjab

Abstract

The current study was conducted to analyse the sources of information utilized by dairy farmers of rural Punjab for obtaining information on organic waste management. A total of 80 farmers (40 each, small and large) were selected for the study. Results revealed that small farmers had a low level of information source utilization whereas, large farmers had a medium level of utilization. Pooled data revealed that the utilization of information sources by farmers is of medium level, but ICT utilization was found to be the highest for obtaining information. The Mann-Whitney U value was found to be highly significant (p < 0.01) between groups. Furthermore, education, information source utilization and knowledge level were found to be having a highly significant and positive relationship with ICT usage. As in the present study, ICT utilization among farmers was high, therefore, more ICT tools should be developed for efficient organic waste management, which will not only hasten information dissemination but also strengthen extension delivery in rural areas.