Attitude of Farm Youths towards Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu
M. Dhanush *
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
P. P. Murugan
Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore–641 003, India.
N. Anandaraja
Training Division, Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore–641 003, India.
A. Janaki Rani
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Patil Santosh Ganapati
Department of Physical Sciences & IT, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The agricultural sector holds significant importance in India and stands to gain substantial benefits from the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Therefore, it is crucial to encourage widespread adoption of Information Technologies (IT) solutions at the grassroot level to facilitate the dissemination of technological advancements. The primary focus of the research was centered around the attitude of farm youths towards Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Ex-post facto research design of social research was used in this present study, as the phenomenon has already taken place. Proportionate random sampling method was used to select 120 Farm youths from the four selected Blocks of Coimbatore district. The findings revealed that a predominant majority of farm youths (70.83%) held a favourable attitude towards ICTs, while a smaller percentage (08.33%) exhibited a highly favourable attitude, and the remaining group (20.83%) displayed a less favourable attitude towards ICT. The outcomes from the multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the collective influence of all thirteen independent variables accounted for 52.80 per cent of the overall variability in farm youths' attitudes towards ICT. Factors such as interaction with extension agencies, achievement orientation and decision making all played a notable role in fostering a more favourable disposition towards attitude regarding Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Keywords: Attitude, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), farm youths