UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) TOOLS BY VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY- A STUDY IN ANDHRA PRADESH
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Date
2007-09
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SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA
Abstract
ABSTRACT:
Data was collected from 33 organizations which were actively involved in Animal Husbandry activities and elicited through a questionnaire following an exploratory research design on “Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools by various organizations in Animal Husbandry- A study in Andhra Pradesh”. The profile of the organizations was documented. The State A.H. Department which is the flagship of all the organizations in A.H. was established in the year 1920. Majority of the organizations were established since the year 1980. The over all objective of the organizations was development of A.H. sector. The annual budget allocation made by the individual organizations for ICT ranged from Rs. 3 lakhs to 900 lakhs and the use of ICT was started in early 1980s. Regarding the infrastructure availability, all possessed mobile phones, Internet, personal computers and fax. Majority of the organizations agreed that ICT tools are functional at all times, sufficient number of ICT tools are available in the organization, the connectivity is good and access to the ICT tools is always available.
The trends in applicability brought out that all the organizations agreed that ICT tools are useful for retrieving latest knowledge, quick transmission of reports to higher authorities and helps in quick and timely decision making. Majority have indicated that the employees are more dependant on ICT tools, it is difficult to work without the aid of ICT tools, effective utilization of ICT tools is possible and ICTs are mostly used for report submission. Majority of the organizations disagreed to the statements of difficulty in the use of ICT because of its cost and ICTs are not compatible with existing traditional methods while mixed responses was obtained for the statement that they lost natural mathematical or analytical skills after the advent of ICTs. As regards to affordability of ICT tools majority indicated that the organization is able to afford the ICT tools, has sufficient funding for purchase and maintenance of ICT tools, has adequate technical support for maintenance of ICT tools. Responses were varied for the statement that organization is providing loans for the purchase of ICT tools. Regarding the knowledge of computer applications, majority of the users have medium level of knowledge.
Radio was utilized by State A.H. Department and ANTHRA. Further analysis on the extent of ICT tools by organizations revealed that TV was utilized by NIRD, NAARM, State A.H. Department, APLDA, SMILDA, BASIX, PDP, CRIDA, and NRC on Meat, VBRI, SVVU, TK trust Gram Vikas Yojana, NECC and ANTHRA. Video Conferencing was used by State A.H. Department, Commissionerate of Rural Development, APCOB, SBI, NIRD, NAARM, CRIDA, Venkateswara Hatcheries, Sarabhai Zydus Animal Health Limited and Natural Remedies Private Limited. Tele conferencing was used by APCOB, BASIX, NAARM, Suguna Poultry, IndBro Research and Breeding farms, Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited and Sarabhai Zydus Animal Health Private Limited. Multimedia CDs were found to be used by SMILDA, APLDA, NABARD, BASIX, NIRD, NAARM, NRC on Meat, Indian Immunologicals, CRIDA, SVVU, VBRI ANTHRA, Intercooperation Social Development, WASSAN, NECC, Suguna Poultry, IndBro Research and Breeding farms, Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited and Natural Remedies Private Limited. Information kiosk was utilized by only NAARM and BASIX. The other ICT tools utilized by the different organizations were wireless set conferencing by State A.H. Department and Local Area Network by PDP and Poshak Feeds Private Limited. The findings on the areas of A.H. where ICT tools were regularly used revealed that Information dissemination, Administration and Planning were found to be the major areas. 100% of Private Organizations regularly use ICT tools for marketing because their primary motive is the marketing of their products. In the area of project proposal writing, 75% of Educational and Research Organizations were found to use ICT tools regularly. 62.5% of Educational and Research Organizations reported regular use of ICT tools in the area of development programmes. 60% of Service Providers and Private Organizations were found to be regularly using ICT tools for animal management. Regarding the area of animal health care, 60% of Private Organizations reported regular use of ICT tools. In the area of animal feeding, 50% of Private Organizations reported regular use of ICT tools. 40% of the Service Providers and Private Organizations regularly use ICT tools for breeding. Regarding the area of disaster management, 25% of the Educational and Research Organizations were found to be regularly using ICT tools. 50% of Financial Organizations were found to be involved in other areas of A.H. that is providing credit facilities to beneficiaries. The major constraints faced in the use of ICT tools were inadequate technically competent personnel in using ICTs, problems of maintenance or poor maintenance of ICT tools, insufficient budget allocation for ICT tools, interruptions in Internet connectivity, lack of upgradation of ICT equipment and problem of viruses and junk mails. Some of the major suggestions provided by the users regarding the improvisation of ICT tools utilization were imparting training to employees regarding the use of ICT tools, upgradation of equipment, provision of sufficient funding for ICT, provision of latest infrastructure, provision of better Internet connectivity, availability of sufficient number of ICT tools and ICTs to be made available at field level.
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