ICTs and Agricultural Risk Management in Southern Region of Punjab Pakistan: Implications for Agricultural Sustainability

The role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the agriculture sector is critical in establishing the fact that the informed farmer is much more than a physical asset for agricultural sustainability. This research is an effort to further understand the role of ICTs in managing the agricultural risks (low production, less yield, low income, etc.) and estimation of information frequency against a specific category of risk. For this purpose, three districts from the cotton-producing districts of Punjab were selected. Data for the study was collected by conducting face-to-face interviews with 400 cotton farmers. Descriptive statistics and multinomial regression analysis were carried out to analyze the recorded data. Televisions and mobile phones were regarded as the most typical information sources with the highest mean values of 3.90 and 3.66, respectively. From production to legal or institutional risks, all of the risk categories were taken into consideration with the support of mobile phones and an internet-supported device. It was found that, except for age, factors such as education, access to ICTs, the extent of use of ICTs, and access to extension services significantly contributed to the adoption level of risk management strategies. As ICTs may augment actions towards meeting sustainable agricultural needs, a multidisciplinary effort by information technology experts and agriculture risk specialists is recommended so that efficient strategies against risks to cotton production may be developed.