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Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics &
Sociology
20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
ISSN: 2320-7027
A Study on Role of WhatsApp in Agriculture Value
Chains
P. S. Naruka
1
, Shilpi Verma
1*
, S. S. Sarangdevot
1
, C. P. Pachauri
1
,
Shilpi Kerketta
1
and J. P. Singh
1
1
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Neemuch, India.
Authors’ contributions
This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Authors PSN and SV designed the
study, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol and wrote the first draft of the manuscript.
Author SSS managed the analyses of the study. Authors CPP, SK and JPS managed the literature
searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Article Information
DOI: 10.9734/AJAEES/2017/36498
Editor(s):
(1)
H. Saediman, Department of Agribusiness, Halu Oleo University, Indonesia.
Reviewers:
(1) Caner Dincer, Galatasaray University, Turkey.
(2)
K. D. V. Prasad, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, India.
(3)
Kalpana L. Chaudhari, India.
Complete Peer review History:
http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/21333
Received 30
th
August 2017
Accepted 27
th
September 2017
Published 11
th
October 2017
ABSTRACT
WhatsApp sends real-time messages and is one of the world’s most popular communication
applications in the 21st century. The present study highlights and examines the domestication of
WhatsApp among farmers. An exhaustive whatsapp user list was prepared from each village and 3
farmers were selected with the help of systematic sampling technique. Thus, 90 farmers from the 3
blocks of the district using whatsapp were purposively selected and grouped for sending the
messages of agricultural aspects. The study was conducted at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Neemuch
during 2016-17. Results showed how farmers perceive WhatsApp as a ‘convenient’ communication
application, problem solving with audio-visuals, on-time, solution at the time of crisis in their
agriculture activities. Some of the critical issues arising from the use of WhatsApp included
distractions and exposure to unregulated messages or information. Irrespective of its
disadvantages, social media has proved to be an important platform for pluralistic extension,
bringing together all the actors in Agriculture Information system and making them shareholders in
development.
Original Research Article
Naruka et al.; AJAEES, 20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
2
Keywords: Whatsapp; social media; technology dissemination; digital farming; mobile technology.
1. INTRODUCTION
Information and Communication Technologies
like web portals, mobile phones and social media
are the most popular and most widely used and
can enhance the interaction among researchers,
extension personnel and farmers. The youth
today are hooked to the internet and their 1
st
major activity on the web is social networking.
Also, mobile phones are the most popular form of
Information and Communication Technologies as
has been proven by the sheer number of
subscribers worldwide. And these tools, used
appropriately, can change the whole structure of
agricultural communication. Information and
Communication Technologies can be an
important part of communication strategies,
connecting the youth to peers and professionals.
It is true that the ‘apps won’t plough the fields’
but they will definitely help the youth do the job
better. ICTs can prove to be a great catalyst in
engaging agricultural community in family farms
making agriculture attractive and sustainable
again.
Social media can offer amazing opportunities to
farmers. It can help farmers to seek information
on farm operations, clarify their doubts on plants/
livestock disease symptoms and can have
immediate access to market related information.
However, this can be possible only when they
are socially networked with human resources -
agricultural researchers, extension agents,
veterinarians, progressive farmers, sellers &
other buyers–in virtual space. Thanks to low cost
of smartphones, there is an unprecedented
increase of social media use in rural India. The
power of social media can be harnessed and will
be beneficial for the farming communities.
The Internet of Things has arrived on Indian
farms. Social media can transform businesses to
record sales and generate revenue. Social Media
channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
YouTube and Instagram have changed how
business interacts with their customers. The
rising number of mobile internet usage even
amongst the rural populace in India as one
indicator of the "Future" train leaving the
Station. In September 2015 WhatsApp mobile
platform reached 900 million active users.
According to the website statista.com the service
handles more than 600 million photos and 64
billion overall messages every day. With
increasing internet penetration levels in India and
smartphone increasingly becoming very
affordable one is left to imagine how a Platform
such as WhatsApp can transform agriculture
value chain actors such as Agro dealers,
Agribusiness SMEs, and Agriculture extension
workers and ultimately create value for the small
holder farmers. The trump card for WhatsApp
has been the group messaging ability of the
platform to send messages, photos and videos to
individuals and groups in a cost effective manner
cheap than most MMS based platform in the
market. The grouping capabilities of the
WhatsApp platform can be extended to value
chain actors like Agriculture extension
workers. The market opportunities for WhatsApp
use by Agriculture value chain actors are
endless. WhatsApp has indeed become part of
the holy grail together with the traditional over the
internet SMS to reach more small holder farmers
and value chain actors with timely information
dissemination. Even though some problems do
exist, such as –
1. Lack of timely dissemination of agricultural
messages.
2. Lack of timely available solutions of the
problems.
3. Unawareness about agri. Related news
and events.
4. Lack of interaction of farmers with agri.
Scientists and experts.
1.1 Agriculture Value Chain
The agricultural value chain concept has been
used since the beginning of the millennium,
primarily by those working in agricultural
development in developing countries. Although
there is no universally accepted definition of the
term, it normally refers to the whole range of
goods and services necessary for an agricultural
product to move from the farm to the final
customer or consumer [1].
Information and Communication Technologies, or
ICTs, have become an important tool in
promoting agricultural value chain efficiency.
There has been a rapid expansion in the use of
mobile technologies, in particular. The price of
ICT services is falling and the technologies are
becoming more affordable to many in developing
countries. Applications can support farmers
directly through SMS messages [1]. Examples
include iCow, developed in Kenya, which
provides information on the gestation period, on
Naruka et al.; AJAEES, 20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
3
artificial insemination of the cows, and on how to
look after them. Applications such as M-Pesa
can support access to mobile payment services
for a large percentage of those without banks,
thereby facilitating transactions in the value
chain. Other applications have been developed
to promote provision of crop insurance through
input dealers, for example [1].
ICTs are also being used to strengthen the
capacity of extension officers and NGO field
staff to reach farmers with timely and
accurate information and, at the same time, help
capture data from the field. The Grameen
Foundation’s Community Knowledge Worker
(CKW) programme is an example. Farmer
representatives are trained to use ICT
applications on a smartphone to provide
agricultural information and extension support.
Most market price information is now delivered to
farmers via SMS. Further along the chain,
technologies offer considerable possibilities to
enhance traceability, which is particularly
relevant as certification grows in importance.
Where necessary many exporters can now trace
consignments back to individual farmers and
take necessary measures to address problems.
Finally, systems such as FARA’s eRails are also
supporting agricultural researchers through data
collection and analysis and access to up-to-date
research publications [1].
Most farmers access information from extension
workers, libraries or websites. The number of
extension workers has been decreasing while
farmer numbers have been increasing; hence the
need for innovative services to address this gap
[2]. The agriculture sector in developing countries
is becoming increasingly knowledge intensive.
Researchers at the global, regional, and national
levels continue to generate new information. As
agriculture systems become more complex,
farmers’ access to reliable, timely and relevant
information sources becomes more critical to
their competitiveness. Information must be
relevant and meaningful to farmers, in addition to
being packaged and delivered in a way preferred
by them [3].
Keeping all these views in focus, a study was
conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Neemuch to
analyse the performance and efficiency of use of
agriculture related whatsapp messages among
the selected farmers of the district Neemuch of
Madhya Pradesh. The objectives of the study are
as follows –
1. To share farmer’s opinion about agricultural
techniques through message, audio, video,
photo etc.
2. To receive farmer’s perception through
message, audio, video, photo etc.
3. To collect farmers feedback for KVK
scientists on their demonstrated
techniques.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted at Krishi Vigyan
Kendra, Neemuch. The KVK utilized Whatsapp
(social media) for the dissemination of
agricultural technology in Neemuch district of
Madhya Pradesh. District Neemuch comprises of
3 blocks namely neemuch, jawad and manasa.
Out of these, 10 villages from each block were
selected randomly. A whatsapp user list was
prepared from each village and 3 farmers were
selected with the help of systematic sampling
technique. Thus, 90 farmers from the 3 blocks of
the district using whatsapp were purposively
selected and grouped for sending the messages
of agricultural aspects. Time to Time agro
advisories, weather report, new varieties, sowing
method, seed availability, market rates, new
technologies and how to take precaution from the
coming disease and pest outbreak were
delivered to the farmer’s group. To assess the
overall impact of technology an interview
schedule was developed and responses were
recorded on a 3-continuum scale for each aspect
and assigned scores. The farmers were
personally interviewed on telephone and
responses were collected on:
1. Perception of Farmers for Whats App
usage
2. Extent of Utilization
3. Extent of Dissemination
4. Timeliness
5. Visibility of the content
6. Applicability, Reliability and Creditability
7. Feedback
Data was collected through personal interview.
The data thus collected was organized and
tabulated using simple statistical method, tables
and percentage.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Perception of Respondents for
Whatsapp Usage
The Tables 1 and 2 shows the perception of the
respondents about the reasons of use of
Naruka et al.; AJAEES, 20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
4
whatsapp and what drawback they see in using
the whatsapp.
Because of the peer presence in social media, it
makes a great platform to discuss idea and
problems and get professional views. The major
uses of social media, according to the
respondents, were to find information related to
agriculture news and events (76.66%), to
exchange agriculture knowledge (67.77%), To
share agriculture information (61.10%), to
connect with agriculture experts and farmers
(60.00%), to share professional agriculture
activities (54.44%) and to find agriculture related
interest (53.33%), (Table 1). Even though use of
social media for agricultural information was fairly
high among the respondents, there were some
major concerns for not using it intensively for the
purpose. Also, sparse use of the platforms for
professional use, lack of authentic information,
lack of awareness about its use, lack of
competence in using the social media platforms
properly, unavailable or erratic internet
connections, and biased information and
advertisements were found to be acting as
deterrents among the respondents in using
whatsapp for professional purposes.
Table 1. Reasons to use WhatsApp (%) n=90
S.
no.
Reasons
(%)
1 Find agriculture related interest 53.33
2 Share professional agriculture
activities 54.44
3 Connect with agriculture
experts and farmers 60.00
4 To share agriculture information
61.10
5 Exchange agriculture
knowledge 67.77
6 Find out agriculture related
news and events 76.66
Major drawbacks in using whatsapp as a social
media has been depicted in Table 2. Faulty
internet connection (35.55%) and unproductive
use of time (34.44%) were considered as the
major drawback in using whatsapp (Table 2).
Lack of expertise was also reported by about
22.22 per cent of the respondents. Concerns
about privacy, wastage of time, and lack of
expertise in using whatsapp is in line with the
findings of [4]. While internet connections are
infrastructural issues and needs to be looked into
by the service providers and governments,
personal constraints and privacy concerns can
be easily taken care of with awareness creation
and learning to better use social media through
trainings and workshops, if needed [5].
Table 2. Drawbacks in using WhatsApp (%)
n=90
S. no.
Reasons
(%)
1 Fear of missing out 10.00
2 Lack of expertise in social
media 22.22
3 Low battery back up 20.00
4
Unproductive use of time
34.44
5 Faulty internet connection 35.55
3.2 Extent of Utilization
With regard to extent of utilization of the
whatsapp messages, the data from Table 3
reveals that 86.66 per cent of the farmers felt the
usefulness of pictured information against written
messages, while 81.11 per cent of them Started
selecting pesticide & insecticides according to
the message sent on the basis of crop followed
by 77.77 percent of farmers who felt that the
messages are use of information. 75.55 percent
farmers reported using INM according to the
message sent on the basis of crop. However
more than 50 percent of the farmers committed
to start practicing seed treatment (54.44%), using
IDM (51.11%) and selecting weedicide according
to the message sent on the basis of crop
(63.33%).
3.3 Extent of Dissemination
The main purpose of delivering information
through whatsapp was to make farmers aware of
the usefulness of modern crop management
practices in enhancing a crop's productivity and
subsequently to convince the farmers to adopt
the technologies communicated. The whatsapp
messages delivered to registered farmers
contained agricultural information covering
different aspects of fertilizer application, pesticide
application, pest management, disease
management, best agricultural practices, seed
varieties, seed treatment, weeding and
government schemes. In order to understand the
extent of dissemination of messages, the farmers
were asked how they disseminate the
information to other farmers. The findings are
given in Table 4 and the results showed that
45.44% per cent of the farmers had expressed
that they sometimes share the information with
other framers, while 61.11 per cent of them
expressed that they never send the information
to other farmers.
Naruka et al.; AJAEES, 20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
5
Table 3. Extent of utilization of WhatsApp messages by the respondents (n=90)
S.
no.
Statements
Always
(%)
Sometimes
(%)
Never
(%)
1 Use of Information 77.77 20.22 0
2 Benefitted from the information received 61.11 38.88 0
3 Share the information with relatives and friends 34.44 65.55 0
4 Usefulness of pictured information against written
messages 86.66 13.33 0
5 Practiced seed treatment by the message sent 54.44 45.55 0
6 Started selecting weedicide acc. to the message sent on
the basis of crop 63.33 36.66 0
7 Started selecting pesticide & insecticides acc. to the
message sent on the basis of crop 81.11 18.88 0
8 Using INM acc. to the message sent on the basis of crop 75.55 24.44 0
9 Using IDM acc. to the message sent on the basis of crop 51.11 48.88 0
Similarly, it has been stated that although mobile
phone can help in disseminating agricultural
information to improve the farm productivity and
rural incomes, trustworthiness of information is
one of the important aspects that need to be
considered while delivering to farmers to meet
their needs and expectations [6].
3.4 Timeliness
Timeliness of agricultural information is very
crucial to farmers’ success. Farmers need to be
provided with the information at the right time so
as to apply that information in their farming
activities for better farm productivity. This study
measured the timeliness of the whatsapp
messages provided to farmers basing on the
seasonal activities to which messages can be
used as information tools required by the
farmers. The respondents were asked to rate the
information on the three grounds; always,
sometimes or never. About 86% of the farmers
(Table 5) indicated that whatsapp messages
provided timely information whereas 80%
showed that the messages always solved their
problems / curiosity on time and 77.77%
indicated they had discussion with expert from
time to time after the messages has been sent.
Not just in natural disasters or social and political
emergencies, social media can be effective in
agricultural crisis like pest or disease outbreaks
as well facilitating faster communication among
experts, farmers, and other actors helping in
containing situations quickly, [5].
3.5 Visibility of the Content
The audio-visuals messages used to relay the
information was very simple and easy to
understand by the farmers. 77.77% of farmers
indicated that it was easy to understand any
agriculture related photo shared via whatsapp.
3.6 Applicability, Reliability and
Creditability
The information should not only offer the benefits
of timeliness, but also able to suit the relevant
context. Relevant information is one of the key
requirements for increased productivity and
increased income to reduce poverty among food
producers in underprivileged communities [7].
The study addresses the relevance of
information provided to farmers using whatsapp
facilities by looking into the usefulness and the
suitability of the information in the farmer’s
context. The information brought to the farmers
should address the challenges of a particular
farming system undertaken by the farmers at a
particular area. About 86% farmers indicated that
the content of the message was accurate
followed by 78.88% farmers who responded that
the language used in whatsapp messages was
easy to understand and accurate and 70% of the
farmers reported that due to availability of
messages timely they changed their agri.
practices and indicated that the information sent
to them is relevant to their farming requirements
(Table 7).
3.7 Feedback
With reference to feedback of farmers, the data
from Table 8 indicated that farmers (88%) were
very satisfied with the quality, simplicity of
language and content of the whatsapp messages
which contained adequate agriculture information
sent timely. It implied that the agricultural
Naruka et al.; AJAEES, 20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
6
Table 4. Extent of dissemination of WhatsApp messages by the respondents (n=90)
S.
no
.
Statements
Always
(
%)
Sometimes
(
%)
Never
(
%)
1 Share the information with others farmers
38.88 45.55 15.55
2 Send the information to other Farmers 11.11 27.77 61.11
Table 5. Timeliness of WhatsApp messages as reported by the respondents (n=90)
S. no.
Statements Always (%) Sometimes (%) Never (%)
1 Solution of Problems / curiosity on time 80.00 16.66 3.33
2 Agri. Related information on time 86.66 7.77 5.55
3
Experiences of experts shared on time
72.22
16.66
11.11
4 Experiences of other farmers shared on
time 61.11 22.22 16.66
5 Discussion with experts from time to time 77.77 12.22 10.00
Table 6. Visibility of the content as perceived the farmers (n=90)
S.
no
.
Statements
Always
(
%)
Sometimes
(
%)
Never
(
%)
1 Easy to read the message 27.77 50.00 22.22
2 Easy to understand a discussion 61.11 18.88 20.00
3 Easy to understand any photo shared 77.77 16.66 5.55
Table 7. Applicability, reliability and creditability as perceived by the respondents (n=90)
S.
no
.
Statements
Always
(
%)
Sometimes
(
%)
Never
(
%)
1 Accuracy of the content 86.66 12.22 1.11
2 Timely Available 67.77 22.22 10.00
3 Easy and accurate language 78.88 16.66 4.44
4 Fully understandable 64.44 24.44 11.11
5 Change in agri. practices acc. to the
message received 70.00 20.00 10.00
Table 8. Feedback by the respondents (n=90)
S. no. Statements Always (%) Sometimes (%) Never (%)
1 Information acc. to the agri. situation 86.66 11.11 2.22
2 Adequate agri. information 88.88 1.00 2.22
3 Easy and influential information 82.22 13.33 4.44
4 Full solution of the problem 77.77 16.66 5.55
5 Information acc. to the farmers
suggestion and need 81.11 15.55 3.33
6 Timely availability of the information 88.88 11.11 0.00
information that was disseminated through
whatsapp could be easily comprehended by
farmers. With respect to comparison of mobile
voice messages with other sources of
information, the data from Table 8 indicated that
majority (62.50%) of the farmers did express that
the mobile voice messages were better as
compared to other sources of information that
they were accessing [8].
4. CONCLUSION
Across India, WhatsApp groups are not only
connecting farmers to their customers in the
virtual market—they’re creating a network of
resources and support for the country’s farmers
who need it most. The study also indicates that
by the use of whatsapp farmers are able to seek
information on farm operations, clarify their
Naruka et al.; AJAEES, 20(1): 1-11, 2017; Article no.AJAEES.36498
7
doubts on plants/ livestock disease symptoms
and are having immediate access to market
related information. The social media–enabled
whatsapp is helping farmers to solve farming
related problems more efficiently by making them
digitally literate as they perceived in the study
that the whatsapp messages used were clear
and satisfactorily for them. WhatsApp isn’t only
used as a marketing tool—it has also created a
kind of support network among farmers. On the
level of daily interaction, the WhatsApp groups are
successful at providing a sounding board of
assistance and in motivating farmers.
COMPETING INTERESTS
Authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.
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APPENDIX
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_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2017 Naruka et al.; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Peer-review history:
The peer review history for this paper can be accessed here:
http://sciencedomain.org/review-history/21333
