Needs Assessment of Tribal and Aqua Farmers for Disseminating Aqua Cultural Information through ICT in Gujarat

Group discussion was conducted at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, for assessing the information needs of tribal and aqua farmers, and officials in brackishwater aquaculture for disseminating the information through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), under four groups, shrimp culture farmers (11 numbers), fish culture farmers (17 numbers), women farmers (12 numbers) and Government officials (10 numbers). Among the total participants one third of the participants (12) were from women tribal farmers. Among the participants 28 members from primary level grouping, 18 members from secondary level grouping and 14 members from graduate and above category. This fairly good education level factor assisted the organization in making to sit for the discussion about the dissemination of aquaculture information through ICT tools. The needs assessment for all four group showed that there was requirement of information on new advances in shrimp culture, fish culture, cage farming of finishes, government schemes for women and tribal community, aquaculture/fisheries databases and extension materials/programmes in brackishwater aquaculture.