Abstract:
Mobile phones can play an important role in advancing knowledge sharing, particularly in an
agricultural context, mainly because it is seen as commonly available, easily assessable an^ reasonably
affordable technology for farming communities. This paper presents the current status of use of mobile
communication for information sharing by ginger farmers in the Kurunegala district in Sri Lanka. Data
were collected through a face-to-face interview, which were supported by a pre-tested structured
questionnaire prepared based on the 'LIRNEasia Teleuse at B0P4’ instrument, from a sample of ginger
farmers (n=42) during April-July, 2014 from four Grama Niladhari Divisions (Dambahera, Madahapoala,
Omaragolla and Panliyaddha) in the Kurunegala district, those were registered farmers of the North
Division of the Department of Export Agriculture (DOEA). The collected data were analyzed using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The outcome of analysis showed that more than 90 percent of ginger
farmers in the Kurunegala district, in general, use mobile phone as a source of information sharing in
their day-to-day life. It was observed that the level of income_(i.e. ability to use) did not act as a barrier
for this purpose however, effective information sharing was hindered by the level of education of
farmers (i.e. capacity to use). This highlights that mobile phones can be promoted with appropriate
training and on correct usage, to disseminate vital information on farming practices to the farmers on
time. This highlights the importance of developing appropriate packages targeting farming community
with right mix of market-based and regulatory incentives to facilitate information sharing and
knowledge mobilization.
