Use of digital tools at livestock and rural extension

Abstract

This study verified the number of mobile applications available for free and in portuguese, aimed to management in the agricultural sector, and its reach. For this, a research whit keywords were realized on the online stores Google Play and Apple Store, of the plataforms Android and iOS, respectively. The reach was estimated by the number of direct downloads for each mobile app identified. Thirty five mobile applications was found, and twenty nine of that belong to private companies, and six of them are from public initiatives. The most of apps was uploaded in 2017, denoting the sector increased demand. Over half of the identified applications are focused in dairy and beef cattle, however, there is a evidence of a potential demand for the other categories of mobile applications, indicated by the number of direct downloads. The behaviour observed in the data was that specific applications arrived a higher reach than the generic management applications. The digital tools come gradually gaining space in the animal production, the internet is an excellent vehicle for disseminating technical information generated by researchers and bringing it to the countryside, attending the increased demand for technical and current information in all segments of livestock.