J.S. SonnadJaiswal Vinod Kisanlal2016-11-112016-11-112011http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/85107The Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) initiated an e-Choupal experiment to link directly with rural farmers through the internet. This began as an effort to re-engineer the procurement process of agricultural produce like soybean, wheat, coffee and prawns in rural areas. The programme involves the installation of computers with internet access in rural areas to offer farmers precise information about agricultural production and marketing activities. This study throws light on changing behaviour of farmers towards this latest technology in agriculture. The study has been undertaken in Amravati district of Maharashtra state. The study revealed that, cent per cent farmers had awareness regarding services provided by e-choupal, preferences under e-choupal, operating personnel (Sanchalak), quality tests before purchase, expenses incurred during marketing and sale proceeds. The total cost incurred in soybean cultivation was 11,821.88 per acre in e-choupal beneficiary category as compared to 11,705.30 per acre in nonbeneficiary category, which was slightly higher. The net returns per quintal obtained by beneficiary farmers were higher ( 895.36) as compared to non-beneficiary farmers ( 602.26). Information on market price ranked first and foremost among the factors responsible for farmers’ participation in e-choupal whereas Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) were given the last ranking by farmers. Inadequate transportation facilities was a major problem for around 90.67 per cent beneficiaries, followed by low price at the peak period (85.33 per cent) and high transportation cost (78.67 per cent). The most important problems faced by e-choupal were related to infrastructure, farmers related problems, maintenance and marketing. There is a need to strengthen the network of e-choupals to benefits farmers at large which will bring higher net returns.Thesis