Assessing the Suitability of Mobile Applications in Delivering Livestock Base Information among Livestock Owners

Context: In this digital era, mobile applications are the best part that has come into use and continuous advancements since the advent of smartphones. Mobile applications create storms in every sector of life with the assistance of their services. Even dairy farmers are becoming aware of the potential of mobile applications to reduce the information gap by breaking myths and misinformation barriers about animal husbandry practices. Objective: The study aimed to assess dairy farmers' awareness of livestock-oriented mobile applications that heavily depend on dairy farming activities; there is a need to explore the status of mobile phones and their applications among dairy farmers. Methods: The study was conducted among livestock owners of the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh using an ex-post facto research design. First-hand information was collected from a total of 150 respondents, 15 of whom were from each village. Data was collected through a pre-designed structured interview schedule, and the results were analyzed using suitable statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, and correlation. Results : Mobile phones are the new normal in life, and the majority of dairy farmers have ten or more mobile applications on their smartphones. E-commerce, entertainment, and social media applications were fl ooded into their smartphones. As a result of government campaigns, online payment applications climb the top of the mountain, with gaming applications on the windward side and agriculture along with animal husbandry on the leeward side. Dairy farmers have a high level of awareness about e-Comm, social media, and entertainment, along with gaming applications, but have medium to low levels of awareness about agriculture and livestock-oriented mobile applications. Highly signifi cant (< 0.01) correlation between the extent of utilization of ICT tools concerning possession of ICT tools and the awareness of farmers about various mobile applicationsSignifi cance: The study highlights the potential to leverage mobile phones, specifi cally mobile phone applications, to deliver precise information to individual dairy farmers at the right moment