www.iaset.us editor@iaset.us CONSTRAINTS IN ICT UTILIZATION AMONG FIELD VETERINARIANS OF ANDHRA PRADESH ROSHAN BAIG, R HARILAL & G R K SHARMA Department of Veterinary & A.H. Extension Education, College of Veterinary Science, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India ABSTRACT An ex-post-facto research study was conducted to identify the constraints faced by field veterinarians in ICT utilization in their day-to-day life. The major findings of the study depicted that the field veterinarians were lacking knowledge in using ICT tools, lack of formal training programmes for ICTs at field level, insufficient number of ICTs in Veterinary Dispensaries, interrupted power supply and internet connectivity problems. To overcome these constraints, field veterinarians had suggested conducting training programmes and provision of ICT tools along with power backup devices and high speed internet connectivity at individual Veterinary Dispensaries. Based on the results, practically implementable strategies were developed in order to improve the ICT utilization among field veterinarians. KEYWORDS: Andhra Pradesh, Animal Husbandry Department, ICT, NADRS, VAS and Veterinarian INTRODUCTION India is a country of agriculture and livestock is an integral part of it since times immemorial. Almost 1/4 th of agricultural GDP is contributed by livestock and it is still improving from year to year. Thanks to all the livestock development programmes for bringing the development of livestock sector to an accelerating mode. But the continuity of this pace needs instant information outreach with the intervention of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) from lab to land. Because of this very reason the present day veterinarians are obviously reliant on this robust technology starting from acquiring the needy information to its dissemination to the end beneficiaries. Even though, the ICT is having its own advantages like instant communication, availability of global information, etc., it was found that ICT utilization among field veterinarians is limited to medium extent in converse with the expected high level of utilization. So, to have an insight into the issue, a study entitled “Constraints in ICT utilization among Field Veterinarians of Andhra Pradesh” was systematically planned and conducted. METHODOLOGY Ex-post-facto research design was followed in the present study. Andhra Pradesh was purposively selected for carrying out the study and three districts namely, Srikakulam, Guntur and Chittoor representing northern most, central and southern most parts of the state were purposively selected. List of Veterinary Assistant Surgeons (VASs) working in A.H. Department was prepared and 40 VASs using ICT tools were selected randomly from each district thus, to constitute a sample of 120 for the study. An ICT utilization index was developed based on the ratings provided by the experts in extension, veterinary sciences and stakeholders in Animal Husbandry Department along with pretested structured interview schedule was administered for collecting the data. To avoid gender bias, a ratio of 3:1 was maintained for selections of International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IJHSS) ISSN(P): 2319-393X; ISSN(E): 2319-3948 Vol. 5, Issue 6, Oct - Nov 2016; 93-96 © IASET