Development of ICT tools and techniques globally have intervened on various sectors that determined the growth of human life and its use has significant effect on national development by increasing the productivity in the agriculture sector as well. A study was conducted to find out access and usage of ICT tools among farmers of previously Thakre and Goganpani VDC then the Thakre Rural Municipality and Galchi Rural Municipality of Dhading district which helped in facilitating smallholder farmers to get benefits by accessing agricultural information for improvement in agriculture sectors. A total of 143 households were purposively selected for the study during field survey. The results showed that majority of the farmers owned and use mobile phones as well as television and radio while use of social media was also found in abundance. Mobile phones were widely used for social communication and contacting experts for agricultural advisories. Information services on disease and pest management, good agriculture practices, weather information and financial management were also used through ICT tools. Market linkage and prices information were least accessed for the purpose of contacting middle men for marketing of produce.
However, the major constraint of effective use of ICT tools was basic ICT skills, ICT related facilities, awareness about benefits of ICTs and low literacy. It is prerequisite to have awareness about ICT tools and skills which brings significant benefits to smallholder farmers leading to increased agricultural productivity and make agricultural as profitable business. Therefore, there is a need to create enabling environment for ICT tools and services accessibility and market information to farmers of rural areas.
