• NEHA SAROJ

ICT devices have penetrated into all spheres of our lives. Hence, the study focusing on the interaction between ICT and humans becomes necessary, especially when ICT based developmental approaches are being used. It becomes pivotal to study whether there is any kind of usage at the ground level. Therefore, this paper attempts to study ICT usage patterns, in terms of frequencies and devices used, and reasons for usage along with the platforms used by the farmers in the state of Punjab. A review of literature was done to build a primary data collection tool. The primary data was collected using a schedule, from a sample size of 360 farmers, from nine districts of Punjab, chosen randomly. The usage was studied by recording the frequencies of usage of ICTs on a scale of ‘daily’, ‘weekly’, ‘fortnightly’, ‘monthly’ and ‘beyond a month’ as parameters. Also, reasons for ICT usage were recorded on three popular social media platforms. It was found that a majority, i.e. 88% of the farmers was daily users, 62% used smart phones, 34% used it for socializing and 58% used Whatsapp. The content of this paper is original and is part of my ongoing PhD research.

Information and Communication Technology, ICT usage, ICT and Farmers, Frequency of ICT usage

"ICT USAGE BY FARMERS OF PUNJAB", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.692-695, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906J36.pdf

"ICT USAGE BY FARMERS OF PUNJAB", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp692-695, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906J36.pdf