| dc.description.abstract | Information and communication technologies
significantly bridge the information gap within
communities towards creating a knowledge economy.
Agriculture in Sri Lanka is one such sector that can
derive benefits by providing the correct information at the
right time to make actionable decisions. The use of
information during the crop life cycle helps farmers
eliminate most of the daily issues. Information on
cultivation methods, price fluctuations, supply, and
demand is essential for farmers to make the right choices
and get a better income. Having identified the essence of
information and communication systems in bridging the
information gap in farming communities, many mobilebased
information systems have been introduced to the
agriculture sector of Sri Lanka. We conducted a survey to
understand how widespread these information systems
among the farmer communities were and consequently
found out that the use of such systems is very low among
farmers. This survey was conducted among 54 farmers
covering the major agriculture zones in Sri Lanka and
revealed that only 63% were aware of the available systems.
In contrast, only 35% of the farmers use these applications
to obtain information. Around 37% were unaware of the
existence of applications though smartphone usage is
recorded to be about 85%. This paper highlights the reasons
for the lack of digital information systems usage among the
farming community in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the paper
will pave the path by highlighting the initiatives that can
be carried out to increase the use and thus contribute
toward a knowledge economy. | en_US |
