EFFECTIVENESS OF MOBILE TELEPHONY IN DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AMONG LIVESTOCK BASED WSHGs – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
| dc.contributor.advisor | SUBRAHMANYESWARI, B(MAJOR) | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | THAMMI RAJU, D | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | RAJANNA, N | |
| dc.contributor.author | TEZA, JILLELLA | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-09-25T06:57:12Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-09-25T06:57:12Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2013-08 | |
| dc.description | THESES | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT: To study the effectiveness of mobile telephony in dissemination of information among livestock based WSHGs in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, an exploratory research design was adopted. A total of 90 WSHG members were selected randomly from 15 livestock based WSHGs of three mandals selected purposively in the district. A structured interview schedule was used to assess the effectiveness of mobile telephony in dissemination of information among livestock based WSHGs. Data on knowledge levels was measured twice i.e., before and after the information dissemination as Text and Voice SMS through mobile telephony. The data was collected personally with the help of an interview schedule which was processed, analysed and interpreted. The profile of WSHG members of the study area indicated that most of the WSHG members were of middle age and with less formal education. Almost all belong to Hindu religion and majority belongs to BC category. Majority of the respondents were marginal farmers and for about half of the respondents, animal husbandry was the main occupation. Most of the members possessed buffaloes followed by cattle and have medium level of family income. Majority of the members were with medium level of innovativeness and among different information sources, family, Mahila Mandal Samaikhya and mobile phones were mostly contacted informal, formal and mass media sources, respectively. Half of the respondents own mobile, whereas, other half of the members had access through their family members. Two-third of the respondents were using mobile for more than 2 years. SMS was mostly used feature of mobile by majority members and one-third of the members of WSHG were in habit of checking SMS daily. Voice SMS was preferred to text SMS and evening time was the most preferred time for receiving SMS. Though cent per cent were having access to mobiles, only few were aware that scientific information can be received through mobiles. Many felt that it is good to pay for mobile advisory services for worthy information which improves the productivity of their farms and also opined that advisory services through mobiles can be charged reasonably. Health care, breeding, feeding, management and public health issues were the broad areas among which specific areas like treatment of simple ailments, tips of feeding to improve productivity, reproductive disorders, care and management of calves, zoonotic diseases, vaccination and general management of animals and Artificial Insemination were mentioned as the most information needed areas. SMS modules, 15 in number were designed and developed in both text as well as voice forms out of the identified information needs of WSHG members and broadcasted in bulk with the help of Kisan Sanchar, Haryana in two cycles i.e., for a period of 30 days. The responses of WSHG members were collected before and after broadcast of SMS and the effectiveness of mobile telephony was studied in terms of percentile change in responses and the knowledge levels. During first cycle of SMS broadcast, more than half of WSHG members attended to voice SMS and less members attended text SMS comparatively. Very less number of respondents could attend text and voice SMS in both the cycles. Regarding attributes of SMS broadcasted, all felt them as timely information, three-fourth perceived them useful in farming activities and also expressed interest in SMS broadcasted. Majority were of the opinion that the SMS were simple, understandable, without any discrepancies and were of the nature of reinforcing knowledge and action. More than three-fourth of the members opined that SMS were suitable for information dissemination and also interested in receiving such kind of SMS in future also. Text SMS were of optimum length and with clarity as expressed by many, however, not interested in receiving SMS more than once. As members could utilize family members for knowing information inspite of their illiteracy, no one felt that SMS encourages literacy. Voice SMS duration was felt as optimum, whereas, speed of voice delivery was medium and clarity of voice was good. All felt that both forms of SMS were equally important, and many expressed that voice SMS motivates action than text SMS and there will be reinforcement of action if text SMS followed by voice SMS. Significant changes in knowledge levels were seen among the WSHG members before and after broadcast of SMS. In the area of health care, remarkable response change was seen in the respondents after the mobile telephony; 26 to 48 percent in case of mastitis and its preventive measures, milk fever incidence and its symptoms, vaccination schedule, causes of indigestion and preventive measures. In breeding area, the response changes ranged from 34 to 60 per cent in case of causes of repeat breeding and measures to be taken care during incidence of prolapse, after the dissemination of information through mobile telephony. In case of feeding marked changes were seen: advantages of feeding chaffed fodder brought changes about 20 to 58 percent and also in role of balanced feeding in maintenance of fat percentage of milk. Significant changes in percentile responses (32 to 51%) were observed in the areas like time of Artificial Insemination, care of new born calf and de-worming age of calves. Among public health issues, SMS broadcasted about zoonotic diseases brought remarkable percentile changes in the responses of the members of WSHG of the study area, i.e., 45 to 68 per cent. The overall effectiveness showed significant changes in knowledge levels of the members of WSHGs. Lack of immediate interaction for better understanding the text SMS, missing of human element, lack of practical exposure to the information, lack of mobile compatibility for receiving SMS in vernacular language, illiteracy, apprehensions about the messages transmitted, receiving SMS during busy time and lack of understanding of messages with complicated sentences and more number of messages were the constraints experienced by the respondents in receiving information through text SMS. Voice message was not repeated in case not understood properly, could not hear the message properly due to poor network, voice modulation was not good, message was not giving any impact, message was not appealing, quality of message was not good and content of the message was not new were the constraints experienced by the respondents in receiving information through voice SMS. Suggestions as given by the respondents were that it would be convenient to have the mobile telephony at specific days in a week, follow-up service was required, it would be better if used with other ICT like Radio, Television etc. and it would be good to have a re-broadcast, if the caller could not be able to attend it at the time of broadcast. The significant results obtained with mobile telephony through text and voice SMS can be suitably employed to cater to the information needs of livestock farmers by ensuring new communication technologies work within the prevailing physical, socio-economic, cultural and institutional conditions. However, the nature of mobile telephony development for farmers itself is highly contentious and requires careful research and development to make rightful use, especially when it comes to livelihoods improvement and poverty reduction. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810031790 | |
| dc.keywords | MOBILE TELEPHONY; DISSEMINATION; LIVESTOCK BASED WSHGs; EFFECTIVENESS | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.pages | 105 | en_US |
| dc.publisher | SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA | en_US |
| dc.sub | Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education | en_US |
| dc.subject | null | en_US |
| dc.theme | EFFECTIVENESS OF MOBILE TELEPHONY IN DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AMONG LIVESTOCK BASED WSHGs – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY | en_US |
| dc.these.type | M.V.Sc. | en_US |
| dc.title | EFFECTIVENESS OF MOBILE TELEPHONY IN DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AMONG LIVESTOCK BASED WSHGs – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |