tailieunhanh - Assessing the extent of ICT usage by extension professional for sustainable agriculture and society in sub Himalayan region

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be a key enabler and a vital component of the new knowledge-based economy and is capable of revolutionizing the process of information dissemination and knowledge management. In such a resilient backdrop, the present study attempts to assess the extent of ICT usage by an agricultural extension professional for guiding the farming community for sustainable agriculture development and restoring social sustainability. The present study was conducted in two northern districts of West Bengal under Sub Himalayan Region namely Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts. The total number of respondents constitutes by eighty (80) extension professional which included extension personal from State Agriculture University, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, officials from State Department of Agriculture, input dealers and grassroot level extension staff from farmers clubs/ NGOs from these two districts, selected randomly for the present study. These extension professionals are interviewed through a pre-tested, structured interview schedule developed to measure the extent of ICT usage with the help of Google forms. The extent of ICT usage of the extension personal was considered as the predicted variable and sixteen other attributes were considered as the predictor variables for the study. The data were processed with the help of statistical tools like frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, correlation and weighted mean scoring for ranking the ICT tools. The result shows that among the attributes of extension professional the attributes namely social participation, aspiration towards cutting edge technology, annual income and annual expenditure are positively and significantly associated with „Extent of ICT usage‟. | Assessing the extent of ICT usage by extension professional for sustainable agriculture and society in sub Himalayan region