Socio-psychological profile and constraints faced by dairy farmers in utilization of ICT tools in Northern Karnataka

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in dairy farming has transformed the industry by modernizing traditional practices and fostering sustainable growth. The various issues pertaining to dairy production and management, the ICT tools is the only ultimate answer. Keeping this in view, the present investigation was taken up to study the personal, socio-psychological profile and constraints faced by dairy farmers in the utilization of ICT tools in North Karnataka. The study was conducted in Dharwad and Belagavi districts of North Karnataka, a sample of 120 dairy farmers were purposively selected and interviewed with the help of structured pre-tested interview schedule. The data obtained was analyzed employing appropriate statistical tools viz., frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that two fifth (44.16 %) of the dairy farmers were middle age, 33.34 per cent had high school education, 60.00 per cent had high dairy experience and 36.67 per cent had low annual income. Whereas, majority (79.16 %) had small herd size, followed by medium achievement and economic motivation 49.16 and 50.83 per cent, respectively. While, two fifth (45.00 %) had low scientific orientation, followed by medium innovativeness and credibility of ICTs 50.83 and 50.00 per cent, respectively. The results also indicated that, majority (83.33 %) of dairy farmers using ICT tools expressed that inadequate access to ICT tools was a serious infrastructure constraint and 74.16 per cent of dairy farmers expressed traditional belief in existing dairy farming system was a serious socio-psychological constraint. The study emphasizes the need for targeted interventions, such as capacity-building programs, subsidies for ICT tools and region-specific content in local languages, to bridge the digital divide.