Impact of information and communication technology on marketing of rice: A study of Uttar Pradesh

The lack of proper dissemination of market information is observed as the main reason of poor marketing of the agricultural produce in India. Application of information and communication technology (ICT) can bridge this information gap by means of dissemination of required marketing information specifically targeted at the farmers. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of ICT on marketing of rice in Uttar Pradesh, one of the biggest northern states of India.

As rice is the dominant crop of Uttar Pradesh, the impact of ICT on net price received (NP_f) by rice producers of the state is studied. An attempt is also made to identify the factors that influence the use of ICT. Primary data are collected through a multistage sampling technique. Single, multiple dummy and binary logistic regression models are used in the present work.

A significant difference is observed in the NP_f of the farmers using ICT than that of non-users. Education and land holding type also have a positive and significant impact on ICT use.

In the existing literature, the study related to the impact of ICT on agricultural marketing is almost absent for India in general, and Uttar Pradesh in particular. ICT has created impact in almost all directions of life. It is expected that the implementation of ICT will create a notable impact on the income level of the farmers. The present study will give a direction in this regard. The study is based on primary data and original work of the authors.