This slides had been presented in FSU South Asian Cultural and Media Conference'16 in 22 January, 2016. Location Center for Global Engagement.

1. The Use of a Mobile-Based Decision Support
System in Agriculture:
An Interpretive Case Study in Southwest and
Central Bangladesh
Omar Ismail
BA (Honors), Media/Communication Studies
Research Supervisor: Professor Dr. Stephen McDowell
School of Communication and Information

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Farmers and Agriculture workers in Bangladesh
 There are about 15 million farm households in Bangladesh.
(Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2009)
 Contributes approximately 17 percent to the national
economy. (World Bank, 2015)
 Farmers of Bangladesh receives greater extension service
from both public and private sectors (Agricultural Services Innovation and
Reform Project, 2003)
 About 84 percent of rural farmers are using cell phones
(Agroquest Survey, Katalyst, 2013)

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
What is Decision Support System?
A Decision Support System (DSS) is a computer technology
solution that can be used to support decision-making
and to solve problems (Shim, et al., 2002)

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Project Site
 What
Seven smart phone
applications developed by
mPower Social Enterprise
Ltd. to help in agricultural
decision-making for both
farmers and extension
employees.
Where
Jesore
Faridpur
Norail
Shatkhira
Khulna
 Who
User of the applications are
categorized in:
ICT Farmer Leaders
Input Sellers
Private Extension Agents
Public Extension Agents

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Theoretical Framework
Islam and Gronlund’s RuTam Model (2011)

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Ismail
Methodology: Imperative Case Study
Interview
Focus Group
Participant Observation

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Three Next Generation Farmers of Bangladesh
 Milon
• Lives in Ishapur,
Jessore
•Age 26 yrs
• Young educated
farmer
 Zakir Hossain
• Lives in Varashimla,
Shatkhira
•Age 47
•Runs Agriculture
Information and
Commmunication
Center (AICC) in
Shatkhira
 Rezaul Karim
• Lives in Keshobpur,
Jessore
•Age 46
•Input seller and Farmer

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Research questions
1) How do the end-users (farmers and extension officers)
define the system to be useful in their work?
2) Is it easy for the users to use the mobile application for
farming? Conversely, are the applications creating
complexity in their normal duties
3) What are the factors playing an important role in using the
decision support system?
4) How essential are the facilities provided by the agency in
using the decision support system.

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Findings: Information dissemination
ICT Farmer
Leaders/Input Sellers
to General Farmers
Strengths
Friendly atmosphere
Fearless conversation
The likeliness of using
the solutions
Weakness
Chances of false
interpretation
Need of extensive
training
Trust issue
Private Extension
Agents to General
Farmers
Strengths
 Knowledge of
modern ICT tools
 Faster service
 Close to the
community
Weakness
 Membership based
 Charges applicable
for service
Public Extension
Agents to General
Farmers
Strengths
 Trustworthy source
 Well educated and
experience
 Organized
Weakness
 Large ratio
 Not available all
the time
 Some agents are
fears of technological
change

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Source: User Satisfaction Report, 2015 from mPower AESA project team (n= 7)
Findings: Attitude towards Applications

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail•Source: User Satisfaction Report, 2015 from mPower AESA project team (n=34)
Findings: Attitude towards Applications

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Findings: Factors
1. Individial Charecteristics
i. Willingness
ii. Awareness
2. Demographic
i. Age
ii. Gender
iii. Occupation
3. Social Influence
i. Peer Pressure
4. Facilitating Conditions
i. Use of Mobile Phones and internet
ii. Choosing Right Users
iii. Training
iv. Govt. Digitalization Policy

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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Limitation and Future Directions
• Small user population and limited locality of
the overall project region
• Further studies should discuss broader
perspective of using mobile applications in
Agriculture

14. Question Opinion
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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Question Opinion

15. Question Opinion
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Decision Support System, Omar
Ismail
Works cited
Agricultural Services Innovation and Reform Project. (2003).
Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh:
An Entitlement of All Farmers? ASIRP.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics . (2009).
Statistical Yearbook. Dhaka: Government of Bangladesh.
Islam, M. Sirajul and Ake Gronlund. "Factors Influencing the
Adoption of Mobile Phones among the Farmers in Bangladesh:
Theories and Practices." International Journal on Advances in
ICT for Emerging Regions (2011): 4-14.
Shim, J.P., et al. "Past, present, and future of
decision support technology." Decision Support Systems.
Vol. 33. Elsevier Science, 2002. 111 –126
World Bank. (2015, April 2). Data of Agriculture,
value added. Retrieved April 2, 2015,
from www.data.worldbank.org:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS/countries
Katalyst. (2013) Agroquest Survey. Dhaka: Katalyst