Farmers' Access to Agricultural Market Information Using ICTs: Bangladesh Perspectives

Abstract:

The primary objectives of this study were i) to determine the extent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) use by farmers for receiving agricultural market information, and ii) to identify the factors that influence farmers’ choice of using ICTs for receiving agricultural market information. Attempt was also made to explore the influence of the selected factors to the extent of ICTs use for receiving agricultural market information. A cross-sectional survey methodology was employed. Two villages from Rajbari sadar upazila under Rajbari district were selected as the study area. A proportionate random sampling technique was used to determine the sample size (here, 127) drawn from 620 farm families. Data were collected by the 1st author using a well-structured interview schedule. A multiple regression analysis revealed that ICT ownership, ICT literacy, distance home to market and innovativeness had significant contribution to farmers’ use of ICTs for receiving agricultural market information which explained 81.8% of the variance of ICTs use however perceived usefulness was found to be non-significant to ICTs use.