Exploring the role of mobile phones in rice crop management and marketing practices: A study of farmers in Imphal West district, Manipur

This study explores how farmers in Imphal West District, Manipur, use mobile phones for rice crop management and marketing. Based on responses from 200 farmers, it investigates marketing strategies, the extent of mobile phone usage, and challenges faced in digital adoption. The findings show that direct sales to consumers, local traders, and custom milling are the most common marketing channels. Key challenges include limited market access, price fluctuations, lack of awareness about agricultural apps, and digital literacy gaps. Regression analysis reveals that mobile phone usage significantly predicts marketing activities, with a strong positive correlation (R=0.945), explaining 89.3% of the variance (R.=0.893). Similarly, challenges strongly influence the decision to use mobile phones for marketing, showing a very high correlation (R=0.952) and accounting for 90.7% of the variation (R.=0.907). The coefficient estimates indicate that a unit increase in mobile usage enhances marketing activity by 0.960 units, while a unit increase in challenges leads to a 0.902 unit rise in mobile phone use for marketing. These results highlight the transformative potential of mobile phones in agricultural marketing and stress the need to address barriers through digital literacy programs and improved access to ICT tools.