Potential of Mobile Communication for Agricultural Knowledge Sharing: Exploring the Case of Ginger Farmers in the Kurunegala District

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.