ICT Adoption and Utilization in Groundnut Farming: A Comprehensive Study of Exposure among Growers in the Saurashtra Region

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are a set of tools and services that aid in the processing, management, and exchange of data, information, or knowledge within the farming ecosystem. These tools include networks, mobile devices, services, and applications that help farmers improve farming methods and techniques, increase production efficiency and income, and enhance their quality of life. This, in turn, elevates the social and educational standards of rural life. A study was conducted in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, where four districts were selected out of eleven. A total of 160 groundnut growers were randomly selected as respondents. The results showed that mobile advisory services were used for the longest duration, with 61.25 percent of groundnut growers using them for over 15 hours per week. Additionally, 34.37 percent of groundnut growers used television for 10-15 hours per week. It was also observed that web-based agricultural information portal utilization ranked highest in the 05-10 hours per week category, while the utilization duration of e-newspapers topped in the 1-5 hours per week category.