FARMERS' PROBLEMS IN USING CELLPHONES TO ACCESS AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION

The purpose of this study was to find out what challenges farmers had
when using cellphones to get agricultural information. The study was conducted in
Charjamalpur village of Bayra union of Manikganj district of Bangladesh during January to February, 2016 using an interview
schedule. In order to measure the variables, appropriate
scales were constructed. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard
deviation, range and percentage were used to describe the variables under
consideration. The majority of cell phone users were farmers
with a secondary education (51.5%), 38.2 percent had a primary education, 2.1
percent had a higher degree, and 8% were illiterate. The majority of the
farmers were middle-aged (56.7%), with 26.8% and 16.5 percent of the
respondents comprising young and old, respectively. About 14.5 percent of the
farmers had low problem compared to 30.9 percent of them having medium problem
and 54.6 percent having high problem. Thus, the majority (85.5
percent) of the farmers had faced medium to high problem. The cell phone users
faced such major problems as: Lack of Knowledge, High cost of Cell phone, High
call rate, Inefficiency of Information Service Provider. In fact, for farmers to use mobile phones
effectively for agricultural activities, infrastructure with capacity building
approaches should be offered in rural region.