Digital Literacy Skills of Eri Silk Farmers in Ri Bhoi District of Meghalaya

This study aimed to assess the levels and key determinants of digital literacy skills among Eri silk farmers in Ri Bhoi District of Meghalaya. Purposive sampling was used to select three villages known for high concentrations of Eri silk farming in the district. Out of the 181 total number of Eri silk farmers present in all the three villages, only 150 (∼83 %) of them are willing to participate in the study. Structured interview schedule was deemed more appropriate than a self-administered questionnaire due to varying levels of literacy among the respondents. The findings of the study revealed three distinct digital user groups; Basic Operators, Social Users, and Emerging Navigators; highlighting substantial variation in digital capability within the community. Bayesian network analysis showed that digital training, age, and market exposure significantly increased farmers’ ability to recognise their agricultural information needs. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) demonstrated that digital literacy strongly predicted online information-seeking behaviour (β = 0.67, p < 0.001), whereas social capital exerted an even stronger influence on reliance on local, non-digital information networks (β = 0.82, p < 0.001), illustrating the coexistence of traditional and digital pathways of learning. Additional machine-learning results identified file organization skills and digital literacy as key determinants of effective digital information management. Overall, the findings underscore that while digital tools offer new opportunities for knowledge access, community-based trust networks continue to play a central role in shaping farmers’ information ecosystems.