Constraints faced by the farm youth in utilization of information and communication technology (ICT) tools

The research study was conducted in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu in twelve villages which were selected based on the maximum number of farm youth involved in farmer interest groups of ATMA. A sample size of 120 respondents was selected from twelve revenue villages based on random sampling method. The major constraint faced by farm youth was poor internet connectivity (71.66%). Farm youth highlighted that the connectivity was very slow and had limited access to internet networks. Lack of awareness on ICTs was the constraint expressed by about three-fifth (60.83%) of the respondents. Lack of training programmes was the next constraint expressed by majority of the respondents (57.50%). Out of fifteen independent variables studied four variables viz farm size, information sharing behaviour, social participation and innovativeness showed a positive and significant relationship with the utilization of ICT tools. The first and foremost suggestion given by majority of the respondents was that the information should be in local language (73.33%) followed by marketing information should be provided through ICT tools (65.83%).