Development of Scale to Assess the Attitude of Farmers towards Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s) in Mitigating Climate Change

Abstract

Indian agriculture continues to face major risks due to unpredictable climatic conditions, which makes timely and trustworthy information essential for farmers to make resilient decisions. In this context, ICT tools have become valuable resources by offering alerts, advisories, and practical solutions that support farmers in dealing with climate-related challenges. To understand farmers’ attitudes toward using these tools, a Likert summated rating scale technique was used to develop an attitude scale. Using insights from extension experts and previous research, 80 statements were initially drafted. After applying Edwards’ criteria to refine the items, 15 statements were deleted, leaving 65 statements for further evaluation. These 65 items were then rated for relevancy by a panel of 100 judges. Based on their ratings, Z-values were calculated, resulting in the selection of 32 statements. These 32 items were subsequently administered to 60 farmers in Prakasam and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh and the farmers responded using a five-point agreement scale. Item analysis was conducted by computing t-values for all statements. 18 statements with t-values greater than 1.75 were identified as strong discriminators and therefore included in the final scale, consisting of 13 positive and 5 negative statements. The split-half reliability coefficient (r = 0.74) and cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.78 was significant at the required level, confirmed that the scale is reliable for assessing farmers’ attitudes toward ICT tools.