Analyzing ICT-enabled agricultural advisory services in Pakistan: evidence from a marginalized region of Punjab province

In Pakistan, due to the asymmetries in farmers’ information access, many ICT-based initiatives have been taken as an alternative to conventional agricultural extension approaches. Recently telecommunication sector of Pakistan has launched farm advisory services for reaching farmers’ information needs. This paper analyzed the telecom sector’s mobile-based farm advisory services (mFAS) by exploring, provided content, farmers’ use, experiences, and its associated factors using the Likert scale and bivariate Probit regression. The study employed a multistage random sampling technique to collect data from the smallholders of Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan. Findings revealed that 70% of the respondents were subscribed to mFAS. Results further indicated a vast gap between the farmers’ access and practical use of provided information in which weather forecast reported the most, while market updates reported the least utilization gap. Similarly, reduced transportation cost was ranked the most, while avoiding potential crop damages was ranked as the least perceived indicators of effectiveness. The study further reported one-way communication mode and farmers’ limited skills of mobile phone use as the major constraint in the use of the services. The results of the Probit model found a significant positive relation of farmers’ education, credit utilization, and educated family members, while a significant negative relation of farmers’ age with the use of mFAS. Based on findings, this study highlights the need for an interactive communication mode, context-specific advisory services, and farmers’ training and education for the successful utilization of these services.