Constraints Faced by Farmers and Suggestions for Effective Utilization of ICTs in Mitigating Climate Change Effect in Agriculture: A Study of Eastern Dry Zone of the Karnataka, India

Abstract

The study was conducted to reveal the constraints faced by the farmers of Bengaluru rural and Chikkaballapura districts of Karnataka to access various ICTs for mitigating the effect of climate change in agriculture. Purposively selected two rural districts (Bengaluru Rural and Chikkaballapura) based on the desirable criteria that one district (Bengaluru Rural) was very close to the urban area (Bengaluru) and another district (Chikkaballapura) was a bit far away from the urban area. To know about the problems the farmers faced during access and use of ICTs in mitigating climate change it is necessary to understand the profile characteristics of the respondents because of this reason the 18 independent variables as selected to know about their conditions. The farmers of both districts felt that the main constraints which hamper the effective use of icts tools to mitigate climate change in agriculture, are Cautious about new technologies as the main constraint in the category of social constraints followed by High call rates in mobile calling as their main constraint in the category of economic constraints, lack of adequate skills to use ICTs as the main constraint in the category of technical constraints. To overcome these barriers and effective use of ICTs in mitigating climate change effects in agriculture farmers suggested that there was a need for training for the proper use of ICTs followed by the Government should initiate awareness programs about available new ICTs tools and their applications in climate change the main suggestions as given by the farmers of Bengaluru Rural and Chikkaballapura district.