Constraints faced and suggestions offered by groundnut growers towards ICT for availing agricultural information in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat

The state of Gujarat produces the majority of groundnuts in India and contributes significantly to the agrarian economy. This necessitates a more responsible approach to sustainable groundnut cultivation, as well as empowering farmers to achieve optimal farm goals. Timely availability of information through networks, mobile devices, services, and applications that support the processing, management, and exchange of data, information, or knowledge within the farming ecosystem are examples of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in agriculture. Through educational processes, ICTs help farmers raise the social and educational standards of rural life while also enhancing farming practices and productivity. This raises their standard of living. Thus, it has become essential to know the various constraints faced by the Groundnut growers and the remedies suggested by them which can aid in further improvements. The study was conducted in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Four districts were selected purposively out of eleven districts and a total of 160 groundnut growers were selected randomly as respondents. Garrett's ranking technique was employed to analyze the constraints as perceived by farmers. It can be inferred that ‘lack of training on ICT’ ranked first among the constraints, ‘high cost and lack of funds for equipment’ were ranked second, and ‘Lack of farmers' interest in ICT-based transfer of technology’ was ranked third. The important suggestion endorsed by the respondents was that adequate and timely training on ICT should be given to (64.37%) of the respondents.