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Central Agricultural University, College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Umiam
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ThesisItem Open Access A study on entrepreneurial behaviour of tribal farmers in adoption of improved pig farming practices in Dhalai district of Tripura(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University , Imphal, 2018-08) Debnath, Biswajit; Singha, A. K.Entrepreneurship has now been recognized as a concept not only vital for industries but also in the development of agriculture. Development of entrepreneurship is directly related to the socio-economic development of the society. Pig farming has been recognized as one of the profitable ventures among the rural masses in Tripura, particularly among tribal farmers. It plays a significant role in ensuring livelihood security to the millions of tribal small & marginal farmers, landless labourers and rural folk. This is one of the most profitable entrepreneurial avenues among different livestock farming and gaining momentum under rural backyard condition. Piggery is an important activity that provides opportunity as an income generating activity for small scale farmers, especially in developing countries like India. With the increase demand for meat, fast-growing species like pigs with efficient feed conversion rates likely to solve the meat requirement. The present study was conducted on entrepreneurial behaviour of tribal farmers in adoption of improved pig farming practices in Dhalai district of Tripura during 2017-18. Based on the objectives of the study, Ex-post facto research design was followed. In Dhalai district, two blocks namely Ambassa and Salema were purposively selected and from each of the selected block, three villages were selected purposively based on highest population of tribals in the villages. A total 120 farmers were selected by proportionate random sampling. Data were collected by personal interview method using structured interview schedule and collected data were analyzed by using appropriate statistical tools. The socio-economic profile of the respondents revealed that more number of pig farmers belonged to middle age group. And out of total respondents more number of respondents had up to primary school education (38.30%), medium family size (73.34%), medium level of experience in farming (54.16%), medium economic motivation (50.84%), medium mass media exposure (48.34%), medium extension contact (43.34%) and medium annual income (46.67%). The entrepreneurial behaviour of the respondents revealed that more number of respondents have medium innovativeness, medium achievement motivation, medium decision making ability, low planning ability, medium risk orientation, medium level of co-ordinating ability, medium cosmopoliteness, medium self confidence, medium level of information seeking behaviour. The pig farmers faced multiple constraints in pig farming. The major constraints were high cost of concentrate feed, non-availability of vaccines / medicines / timely health care in the area of study, mortality due to frequent disease outbreak, lack of scientific knowledge and skills in modern piggery / livestock practices, limited awareness and lack of government supports, traditional system of rearing of pigs among the tribal farmers, less availability of good quality piglets, lack of credit facilities to support entrepreneurial venture in piggery, lack of transportation and communication facilities as well as processing units in the district and poor economic condition of tribal farmers to incur initial investment for scientific rearing of pigs.ThesisItem Open Access Ascertaining m4agriNEI farmers' innovations on climate-smart agriculture : a case study(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University , Imphal, 2018-08) Salam Prabin Singh; Rajkumar Josmee SinghClimate change has adversely impacted agriculture in way of variabilities in rainfall, temperature, dry & cold spells, sunshine hours, emergence of new pathogens and diseases to crops & animals. With this sensitiveness and vulgarised problems of the climate change, innovation to its adaption in terms of farmers’ innovations towards Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices become inevitable for the subsistence of small and marginal farmers. CSA is an agricultural approach that sustainably increases productivity, adaptation and reduces greenhouse gases. The collaborative research project - m4agriNEI between CPGS and Digital India Corporation (formerly Media Lab Asia) which is an innovative mix of mobile with Toll Free IVRS based farmer specific advisory system in which the system allows transmitting need based Agro-Advisory Services (AAS) through voice, text, images and videos from both end (farmer to expert and back) encompassed the domains of sustainable crop production intensification, control of pest and diseases of crops, soil and water conservation practices, conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of agricultural crops, livestock production and management, building synergies with local institutions for enhanced crop production etc. which are climate smart in their content. The adaptability of the farmers in their local context, is also an important factors to determine how registered farmers’ acts in coping with the effects of climate change. The relevance of the study creates an originality in knowledge to design societal adaptation practices to adapt and mitigate climate change. Hence, the present study was undertaken with the following objectives :- (1) To identify the Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) Innovations of registered farmers of m4agriNEI; (2) To ascertain the factors of m4agriNEI in enhancing the Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) Innovations of registered farmers; and (3) To prioritize the constraints faced by registered farmers in innovating Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices. The study followed a Case study research design. In the research, the four project districts viz., Ri-Bhoi, East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills were selected purposively. With the criteria being a respondent who have made proactive average calls of 5 times a week and above were considered in the sampling frame and a total of 65 registered farmers were selected. Q-sort method was employed to identify climate smart agricultural innovations. Altogether, 5 Innovations have been identified and documented in the study. Multinomial Logistic Regression analysis was used to determine the factors enhancing the Climate-Smart Agricultural Adaptations by registered farmers. The study revealed, with Cox & Snell R2 and Nagelkerke R2 value of .557 and .633 respectively, determined that 55.7% and 63.3% of the variability on the factors of m4agriNEI viz., Timeliness, Relevancy, Economy and Accuracy of AAS in enhancing the CSA innovations of registered farmers. Paired comparison analysis was employed for prioritizing the problems face by the registered farmers. ‘Poor access to market’ was the most prioritized problem as reported by the respondents meanwhile ‘crop insurance’ did not exist well in the study area . The study concludes that Innovation concepts are no longer metaphors in m4agriNEI, there is necessity for continuous guidance from such AAS, so that farmers can augment their capacity to surge the productivity besides innovating their efforts in local as well as national level.ThesisItem Open Access Agro-advisory effectiveness of m4agriNEI on climate sensitive sustainable agriculture: an evaluative study(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University , Imphal, 2018-07) Hussain, Irshad; Rajkumar Josmee SinghThe complex, diverse and risk prone agriculture of North East India is exposed to challenges caused by climate change. Extreme weather events or inter annual variations in rainfall and temperature results in reduced yields or even the destruction of crops, affecting farmers’ incomes and livelihoods. Mobile-enabled information services have the potential to play an important role in improving the adoption of modern technologies, inputs, and best practices. The collaborative research project - m4agriNEI between CPGS and Digital India Corporation is an innovative mix of mobile and web applications along with Toll Free IVRS based farmer specific advisory system in which the system allows transmitting the Agro-Advisory Services (AAS).The dissertation, in order to examine the AAS effectiveness of m4agriNEI inclimate sensitive sustainable agriculture CSSA, has embodied two research objectives viz., (1) To develop the evaluative indicators of Agro-Advisory Services of m4agriNEI on climate sensitive sustainable agriculture, and (2) To ascertain the effectiveness of Agro-Advisory Services to registered farmers ofm4agriNEI on climate sensitive sustainable agriculture. The Study followed diagnostic research design. Based on agricultural importance two project districts namely the Ri-Bhoi and East Khasi Hills districts were selected purposively. Consequently, two agriculturally important project blocks, one from each district, were selected purposively, further from each selected block three agriculturally important villages having highest registered farmers were selected purposively. Keeping power = 0.95, α = 0.05, effect size of 0.3, a total of 134 respondents were finally selected for the study by following proportionate random sampling without replacement. By performing content analysis from the universe of 104 kinds of SMSs which had been pushed to registered farmers, ten (10) evaluative indicators have been identified. Administering the agro-advisory effectiveness index of m4agriNEI, which has been developed for the study, it was found that high percentage –nearly (44.10%) of respondents claimed that the AAS of m4agriNEI was highly effective pertaining to CSSA. The study also examined the socio-economic, knowledge and adoption profiles of the respondents w.r.t. CSSA. It was noted that more than (55.20%) of respondents were in middle age; majority of respondents with the percentage of about (80.60%) and (68.70%) belonged to marginal farmers and had medium level of annual income, respectively. Higher percentage, about (38.80%) of respondents had education up to high school. Pertaining to the ‘Knowledge on Mitigation and Adaptation of CSSA practices’ and ‘Adoption of CSSA practices’, it was revealed that the respondents belonged to medium category with percentage of about (75.30%)and (56.70%) respectively. On testing the independence, by using chi-square, between ‘Effectiveness of AAS of m4agriNEI on CSSA’ and ten evaluative indicators, it was divulged that all the nine indicators expecting ‘Frequency of calls made by respondents’ were found to be significant at 1% level of significance. The study conclude that AAS of m4agriNEI is an effective tool for disseminating information on CSSA, however the effectiveness can be further enhanced if there were provision for customized decision support systems.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of child poverty in rural farm households of Garo hills, Meghalaya(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University , Imphal, 2018-07) Hegde, Guruprasad Nagesh; Loukham DevaraniPoverty is a multidimensional concept and affects social groups differently of which children are most vulnerable. Many studies have shown that undernourished,uneducated poor children are likely to become undernourished, uneducated poor adults.Since,the common aim of rural extension programmes is the improvement of the lives of the ruralpeople, understanding the situation of the children of the rural farm households is an importantpart of extension. The study was conducted in Garo Hills region of Meghalaya with theobjectives to study the profile of children living in the poor rural farm households and to find outthe dimensions of poverty among those children. From three villages of Tura and Ampati subdivision,60 households were randomly selected. Depending on the number of children of theselected age range of 5-14 years in a household, either one or two children from eachhousehold was selected for the study, a total 80 children selected as respondents of the study.Majority of the children (86.25 %) had their parents as the primary care giverthe number ofsiblings of the selected children ranged from 2-6. Average family size was 6.66 persons with arange of 4-9 members. 88.33 percent of the children lived in nuclear families with both parents.The literacy rate of the mothers was 83.37 per cent and that of fathers was 85.00 per cent. Themean annual household income of the sampled households was ₹. 44,850. Majority of thehouseholds (75.00%) had marginal land holding of up to 1.0 hectare. Highest deprivation ratewas recorded in the indicators safe drinking water (87.50%), cooking fuel (81.80%), housing(71.25%) and access to information (41.25%) respectively. If seen dimension wise, deprivationwas highest in living standard (90.0%) followed by health (71.25%) and nutrition (60.00%).Average deprivation score of the children was 0.34 with a range of 0.03 to 0.79. 77.50 per centof the children were multidimensionally poor of which 18.75 percent were classified to beseverely poor. It was found that parents’ education, parents’ age, family income, land holdingand livelihood diversification were found be important determinants of child deprivation. Theoverall C-MPI (Child Multidimensional Poverty Index) of the study area was 34.00 per cent.Interventions by development agencies in order to aware and educate the parents regardingpoverty alleviation and livelihood linked programmes as well as provide basic amenities for agood living condition of the rural households is recommended.ThesisItem Open Access Adoption behaviour of rice growers on improved rice technology through Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Khowai district of Tripura(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University , Imphal, 2018-08) Das, Debjani; Chauhan, J. K.The KVK as frontline extension system is mandated to assess and refine (if needed) the newly released technologies, demonstrate the proven ones and train farmers and extension functionaries on the same. It has been reported that, some of the KVKs have been effectively contributing to the technology development and promotion process while many are plagued with several problems. Hence, the present study was undertaken to analyze the adoption behaviour of rice growers on improved rice technology through Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Khowai district of Tripura.The objectives of the study were: i) To find out the level of knowledge on improved rice cultivation technologies of farmers. ii) To find out the extent of adoption of improved rice technologies among farmers. iii) To study the problems faced by the farmers in the adoption of improved rice cultivation technologies. It was conducted in four purposively selected villages under KVK, Divyodaya, Chebri Khowai district of Tripura with 120 sample size from the adopted villages selected through simple random sampling with equal allocation. Data collection from the selected respondents was made with the help of structured schedule through personal interview method. Out of 120 respondents, majority were of middle aged (50.83%) with medium education level (45.84%), medium family size (67.50%), and with nuclear family type (61.67%) in case of their personal characteristics. While majority respondents were marginal farmers (68.34%), belonged to medium category of annual income (88.34%), medium farming experience (60.00%) and with medium level of training received (62.50%).The study also revealed that majority of the respondents in KVK adopted villages had medium level of knowledge on improved rice farming practices (54.16%), level of adoption (55.00%), level of productivity (68.34%), annual net income (81.67%), self confidence (58.33%) and materials possession (60.00%). Among the independent variables under study age, education, farming experience, annual income, training received, land holding, were found to be significantly associated with the knowledge and adoption level of improved practices of rice technologies. Inadequate availability of quality seed at proper time, lack of knowledge about scientific cropping pattern, cropping system, method of application, non-availability of improved implements and other critical inputs such as FYM/organic fertilizers, low price of product in local market, lack of storage and marketing facilities, lack of guidelines about seed treatment were the major problems faced by the respondents with respect to adoption of improved rice cultivation practices in the study area. Hence more number of trainings should be organized by KVKs so that it can benefited to more number of rice growers. Different training programmes followed by field demonstration should be organised and imparted so that farmers develop confidence in them to take up improved methods to increase their productivity and improve their socio-economic condition. Strong extension network for effective transfer of latest technologies, Improvement of credit and market facilities and crop insurance are required to solve the problems related to rice cultivation.ThesisItem Open Access A study on entrepreneurial behaviour of the members of women self help groups in West Garo hills district of Meghalaya(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University , Imphal, 2018) Sangma, Chekame A.; Chauhan, J. K.The first Prime minister of Independent India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has rightly said, “You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women.” It is a well known fact that the growth of women in turn develops her family, village and the nation in general since women constitute 48.46% of total population in India as per census data 2011. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are proving to be a helpful instrument for the women empowerment through entrepreneurship development and income generating activities. Keeping this in view, the focus of the study has been put on the SHGs comprising of only women members with the following three objectives:(1) To study the socio-economic profile of members of Women SHGs, (2) To study the entrepreneurial behaviour of members of Women SHGs, and (3) To find out the problems faced by members of Women SHGs and suggest measures for the better management of Self-Help Groups. Descriptive research design was adopted in the study, with eight independent variables, viz., “Age”, “Education”, “Family Size”, “Monthly Family Income”, “Size of Land Holding”, “Social Participation”, “Mass Media Exposure” and “Level of Aspiration”, and one dependent variable, i.e. “Entrepreneurial behaviour”. West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya was purposively selected owing to the highest number of SHGs in the state. Two blocks, viz., Selsella and Rongram, of the selected district were also purposively selected. Women Self-Help Groups were selected proportionally to the total number of SHGs in each of the block by employing random sampling technique. Five WSHGs were selected from Selsella block and three WSHGs from Rongram block. The study highlighted that more number of WSHG members (45.00%) belonged to age group of 35 – 50 years. Highest number of the respondents (41.25%) was educated upto 10th standard. More than half of the respondents (75.00%) had family size ranging from 5 to 9. Most of the respondents (58.75%) belonged to medium monthly income category, and 90.00 per cent of respondents had land holding of less than 1 ha. Majority (70.00%) of the respondents had medium level of social participation. More than two-third of the respondents (68.75%) had medium mass media exposure. More than half of the respondents (56.25%) had medium level of aspiration. 66.25 per cent of respondents had medium level of entrepreneurial behavour. The variables “Education”, “Social participation”, “Mass media exposure” and “Level of aspiration” were found to be significantly and positively correlated with entrepreneurial behaviour. The most serious problem faced by the respondents was found to be “Non-availability of many inputs”, followed by “Tight repayment schedule”, “Borrowers do not repay on time”, “Inadequate loan”, “Lack of electricity”, and “Longdistance of the market”. For better management of SHGs, the study suggests that there should be rotational allotment of leadership, training programmes must be provided to increase self-confidence of the group members, rural development agencies, NGOs and self help promoting institutions must organize exhibitions of agricultural innovations in the local area, organize group discussions, meetings, study tours and field trips to expose the rural women-folk to the outer advanced practices, thereby increase their entrepreneurial behaviour.ThesisItem Open Access A Study on effectiveness of training programmes conducted by Krishi Yigyan Kendra (KVK) West Garo hills of Meghalaya on socio-economic improvement of rice growers(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Imphal, 2017) Medhi, Samir; Singha, A. K.The KVK as frontline extension system is mandated to assess and refine (if needed) the newly released technologies, demonstrate the proven ones and train farmers and extension functionaries on the same. It has been reported that, some of the KVKs have been effectively contributing to the technology development and promotion process while many are plagued with several problems. Hence, the present study was undertaken to analyze the effectiveness of training programmes conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, West Garo Hills of Meghalaya on socio-economic improvement of rice growers. The objectives of the study were; i) To study personal, socio-economic and psychological characteristics of the farmers, ii) To assess the effectiveness of training programmes on improved rice cultivation practices conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) towards socio-economic improvement of the rice growers, iii) To explore the relationship and contributory influence of selected variables of the respondents towards effectiveness of the training programmes on major rice technology in their farming systems, iv) To study the problems faced by the rice growers in the adoption of improved rice technology and their suggestive measures. It was conducted in six purposively selected villages under KVK West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya with 120 sample size from the adopted villages selected through proportionate random sampling. Data collection from the selected respondents was made with the help of structured schedule through personal interview method. The salient findings of the study were - Out of 120 respondents, majority were of middle aged (52.50%) with medium education level (43.33%), medium family size (70.00%), medium level of social participation (54.16%) and with nuclear family type (54.16) incase of their personal characteristics. While majority respondents were marginal farmers (70.83%), belonged to medium category of annual income (87.50%), medium farming experience (52.00%) and with medium level of training received (64.17%). The findings also indicated that in case of psychological characteristics most of the respondents possessed medium level of economic motivation (50.00%), information seeking ability (50.00%), decision making ability (83.33%), innovation proneness (50.00%) and attitude towards KVK (70.00%) of majority of respondents was medium, while market orientation (45.00%) and risk orientation (45.00%) were found in the high category. The study reveals that majority of the respondents in KVK adopted villages had medium level of knowledge on improved rice farming practices(51.67%), level of adoption (50.83%), level of productivity (53.33%), annual net income (85.83%), self confidence (50.00%) and materials possession (50.00%). Majority of the respondents also perceived that KVK training had enhanced the social recognition of the farmers as reported by majority trained respondents of 78.33%. The training effectiveness score reveals that effectiveness score for social recognition was highest followed by materials possession, level of knowledge and skills, economic condition, extent of adoption, productivity and self confidence respectively. Overall training effectiveness score of the training programme was worked out to be 66.45 which indicated that the KVK training can be considered as an effective with respect to the selected dimensions under study. Among the independent variables under study age, education, social participation, farming experience, market orientation, decision making ability, risk orientation, innovation proneness, attitude towards KVK, annual income, training received, land holding, information seeking behaviour were found to be significantly associated with the effectiveness of training programmes dimensions. Inadequate availability of quality seed at proper time, Lack of knowledge about scientific cropping pattern and cropping system and their method of application, Non availabilityof improved implements and other critical inputs such as FYM/organic fertilizers etc. Low price of product in local market, Lack of storage and marketing facilities, Lack of guidelines about seed treatment were the major problems faced by the respondents with respect to adoption of improved rice cultivation practices in the study area. Strong extension network for effective transfer of latest technologies, Improvement of credit and market facilities and crop insurance are required, Organizing as many as awareness and training programme towards improved practices covering more village in the district were the important suggestion made by the farmers to solve the problems related to rice cultivation.ThesisItem Open Access Analysis of innovation system of horticulture in Meghalaya(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU Imphal, 2019) Sangma, Sengmitchi D .; Chauhan, J. K.Meghalaya offers a great scope for growing horticultural crops owing to its varied agro climatic zones and land topography. The state also has a very high potential for commercial floriculture. Today, the state has established 13 horticulture hubs across the different districts of the state which functions on a hub and spoke model within an area of 10-15 km radius forming horticulture clusters of individual farmers, self- help groups and cooperatives. The adoption of hub and spoke business model has successfully brought the government, the service providers and the farmers together towards creating an innovative approach for horticulture development in the state. With these insights the present study was carried out using the innovation system approach as the analytical framework to trace the actors and networks responsible for innovation, technology generation and dissemination. Accordingly the following objectives were framed for the study: 1.To analyze the elements of innovation system in the horticulture hubs. 2. To identify the position of stakeholders of the innovation system in the horticulture hubs. 3. To study the information flow among the stakeholders of thehorticulture hubs. A descriptive research design was followed. Rongram and Upper Shillong Horti-hubs were selected purposively for the study based on their performance. 20 beneficiary farmers each from the two Horti-hubs were selected based on the criteria that they have been the beneficiary of the hub for at least three years. A total of 13 stakeholders were identified from the two Horti-hubs after discussion with the state department officials. Out of which respondents from 9 stakeholder organizations were interviewed. Power interest matrix was used for studying the position of stakeholders. Actor Linkage Matrix was employed to study the linkage among the stakeholders and social network analysis was done using UCINET 6 software. Four types of stakeholder categories were identified viz., government, private, farmers and media. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW, GoI), Directorate of Horticulture (DoH, GoM) and the two Horti-hubs were perceived to be the key players in the innovation system of horticulture in both the districts. Actor linkage matrix revealed Directorate of Horticulture and the horticulture hubs as the stakeholder with maximum linkages in both the districts. The social network measures showed that the per cent absent ties in the sociogram of West Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills districts were 65.45 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively indicating that majority of actors in the network had no link with other actors in the network. Overall the establishment of horticulture hubs has been a great success for horticulture development in the state. The existing policies and support structures in the state has played an important role in horticulture innovation system. The role of Directorate of Horticulture (GoM) has been central to the network influencing other stakeholders of the hub in giving out their resources and maintaining an innovative environment for horticulture development in the state. However, it is recommended that the implementing agency should make an effort to increase the frequency of contact among the stakeholders to strengthened their information flow network and making the farmers’ relationship with the service providers more interactive.ThesisItem Open Access A Study on e-readiness of extension personnel in agricultural institutions in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya(College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University-Imphal, 2019) J., Nikhil; Chauhan, J. K.Meghalaya is one among the North-Eastern States of India that is having major occupation as agriculture. The Indian agriculture has shown a tremendous and decreasing trend of growth rate in a national perspective. The reason being not that there is dearth of research but lack of knowledge among the farming community about the advanced and latest technologies. In the context of climate change, agriculture is highly vulnerable and there is a need to develop strategies and coping mechanisms. The main role to bring this change bestows of the extension personnel, who are mainly embodied with the task and responsibility of transfer of technology, change in knowledge, attitude and belief and effective diffusion and adoption of improved technologies (Chavai et al., 2017). The ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) play a significant role in bridging gap between extension personnel and farmers. Hence the study aimed to study the e-readiness of extension personnel in various agricultural institutions in the Ri-Bhoi district. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The investigation was done in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya state. Sixty extension personnel in eight institutions including ICAR RC NEH Region, KVK and State Government line departments were selected. Interview schedule was developed to collect the data.The collected data from the officers of these agricultural institutions were scored, tabulated and analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, class interval and Pearson correlation coefficient. More than three fourth (81.67%) of the respondents belonged to the middle age (32-48 years) group and 65 per cent of them were male respondents. Little above half (53.34%) of the respondents possessed doctorate degree followed by 28.33 per cent with postgraduation. Majority (70.00%) of respondents had medium job experience with a range of 4-19 years while 41.67 per cent of the respondents’ major job responsibility was teaching. More than half (68.33%) of the respondents had medium level of achievement motivation, 58.33 per cent of them had medium level of innovativeness while 86.67 per cent of the respondents opined that their job performance was medium. All the respondents possessed mobile phones of which 98.33 per cent had smart phones with internet connection. 93.33 per cent of the respondents had a personal laptop/computer of which 90 per cent of them had internet connection. Only 33.33 per cent were undergone trainings in ICTs while 66.67 per cent had not undergone training in ICTs. From the findings it could be seen that majority of the respondents confirmed that their workplace (office/institution) was their major source of information regarding awareness about ICTs, followed by friends. The attitude of the respondents towards ICTs revealed that 88.33 per cent of them had favourable attitude while 1.67 per cent had highly favourable attitude. Three fifth (60.00%) of the respondents had high access to ICTs of which all of them expressed that the purpose of accessing ICTs was mainly for gaining knowledge, 91.67 per cent for storing information, 90 per cent for networking, 81.67 per cent to process and analyse data and 73.34 per cent for sharing information. Findings revealed that most of the ICT tools were used primarily for awareness and transfer of technology. Majority (76.67%) of the respondents had medium level of e-readiness, while 15 per cent had high level of e-readiness. Respondents opined that no assured power supply (33.33%) and lack of availability of advanced softwares (26.67%) as their major problems faced during ICTs.
