CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT ICT, INTRODUCTION, NEW PROJECTS OF ICT, MOBILE SERVICES, WEBSITES, PORTALS, HYBRID ICT PROJECTS BEING USED BY THE EXTENSION PERSONNEL FOR TRANSFERING LATEST AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION TO THE FARMERS

2. SEMINAR ON
PRESENTED BY
T.SRI CHANDANA

3. • INTRODUCTION
• ICT
• NEED OF ICT IN AGRICULTURE
• INDIAN ICT PROJECTS
• PORTALS OF AGRICULTURE
• MOBILE BASED AGRO ADVISORY SERVICES
• HYBRID ICT PROJECTS
• OTHER STATE ICT INITIATIVES
• PROS AND CONS
• FUTURE OF ICT IN AGRICULTURE
• CONCLUSION

4. Farmers require access to more varied, multisource, and context-specific
information related to best practices and technologies for crop production,
weather, postharvest aspects including processing, marketing, storage, and
handling etc.. ICTs are the best means for sucheffective transfer of technology.
(Van den Ban 1998)
Even if every farmer does not
have a computer terminal, these
could become readily available at
local information resource
centers, with computers carrying
expert systems to help farmers to
make decisions.
4

5. • ICT includes computer-based
applications and such
communication tools as social
media, digital information
repositories (online or offline),
and digital photography and
video, as well as mobile phones.
ICT (Information and
Communication Technology)

6. Need of ICT in Indian Agriculture
• At present, the ratio of farmers to extension workers
is as low as 1000:1. Although the appointed Village
Local Workers (VLWs) disseminate information,
there is lack of accountability.
• The cost in face-to-face information dissemination
and the difficulties of reaching the target audiences.
• Introduction of ICT that information can also be
updated and extended at the lowest cost.
• There are several ICT models in Indian agriculture,
which have made significant difference to
agricultural operations.

7. CHANGED SCENARIO OF
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
/face to face
by mobiles/

8. • Capacity building of farmers, extension workers, extension officers,
institutions and society to enhance their ICT knowledge and skills.
• Empowering the grass-root level extension officials with state-of-the-art ICT
tools –PDAs/ Laptop/ Mobile, Digital Camera & Internet access;
• Kisan Portal: A single window access point for all queries, information, and
support related to Farming community for project delivery, transparency in
functioning; with strong feedback and monitoring mechanism.
• Integrate AGROPEDIA, AGMARKNET, Seed net, and all other major
Agri-knowledge portals – ICAR/state/ SAU Agricultural Portals /
information about Input Dealers .
• One Community Radio in each District
• Reach out to all Farmers through SMS/MMS every day/ week
• Promote vernacular Agricultural Newspapers
ICT Initiatives in XII FIVE YEAR
PLAN

9. INDIAN PROJECTS

10. •2004 by IIT HYDERABAD
•uses the medium of digital
photos of farmers fields to
provide expert advice.
• Photographs are captured every
15 days by a local coordinator
photos sent to the main center in
Hyderabad, where they are
examined by experts who provide
advice. The advice is provided on
a regular basis from sowing to
harvesting.
• provides Agro-advisory services
for 3035 farmers (4130 ha).
Benefited Rs. 9491 per ha.

11. Digital Boost to MGNREGA
•Initiated on July 2015.
• digital boost to the flagship rural job scheme
MGNREGA.
• 35,000 gram panchayaths -mobile monitoring system.
•Digital Technologies which include Cloud Computing
and Mobile Applications have emerged as catalysts for
rapid economic growth and citizen empowerment across
the globe.
•Digital technologies are being increasingly used by us
in everyday lives from retail stores to government
offices. They help us to connect with each other and also
to share information on issues and concerns faced by us.

13. Community Information Centers
•main project was inaugurated on 17th August 2002.
•All 487 blocks in 79 districts of NE states including Sikkim
covered with one tele-centre each started by DOIT with technical
support of NIC.
•e-governance, e-health, e-education and e-business opportunities.
•Prices and other market information of Agricultural produce.
Utilization of CICs
Training
•Training of the local population on the fundamentals of using
computers and the imparting of basic working knowledge is a
major activity in the Community Information Centers.

14. PORTALS OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE

15. aAqua (Almost All Questions Answered)
Run by IIT, Bombay & KVK, Baramati in year 2008.
aAqua is a free, online,
multilingual, multimedia
agricultural portal.
It provides agricultural and
weather information and
advisories to farmers via
the aAqua knowledge
bank.
27674 posts 3.3 million
views by 12,964 viewers
serving 520 districts till
date.
After access USERS post questions
to experts via the different spaces
provided by the portal. Answers are
provided within 24–72 hours

17. INITIATED IN 1999

18. Perception on usefulness of services
category aAQUA E-choupal V-agri V-aqua E-sagu FCC
F % F % F % F % F % F %
LESS USEFUL 6 20 6 20 5 16.6 1 3.33 6 20 4 13.3
MODERATELY
USEFUL
17 56.6 20 66.6 23 76.6 27 90 19 63.3 22 73.3
HIGHLY USEFUL 7 23.3 4 13.3 2 6.67 2 6.67 5 16.6 4 13.3
TOTAL 30 100 30 100 30 100 30 100 30 100 30 100
MEAN
SD
30
3.72
32.2
4.01
34.0
1.57
35.26
4.99
27.2
2.96
27.7
3.45
FARMERS PERCEPTION ON USEFULNESS OF ICT INITIATIVES IN
AGRICULTURE
Source: JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION MANAGEMENT P.GIDDA REDDY et al.

19. INITIATED IN YEAR 2016
400 MANDIS WILL BE INTEGRATED BY MARCH 2017 AND REMAINING 185 BY MARCH 2018.
ONE LICENSE FOR TRADER IS VALID ACROSS ALL MARKETS IN STATES.

20. JULY 16 2013

23. January 12, 2009

25. Access to and socio-economic impact assessment of computer/internet in
rural Haryana, India
Impact of computer on agricultural aspects of rural clientele
aspects Rural male n=100 Rural female n=100
Information on
crop production
2.17 IV 2.02 IV
Improvement of
sales
2.08 VII 2.00 V
Preventing crop
diseases
2.24 I 2.058 II
Preventing
animal diseases
2.18 III 2.09 I
Crop
management
2.15 V 1.96 VI
Live stock
keeping
2.20 II 2.04 III
Milk production 2.12 VI 1.91 VII
INDIAN JOURNAL OF EXTENSION EDUCATION 2013 PREETI SINGH et al.

27. 2003

29. 29
Some exclusive agricultural portals are also available,
• www.krishiworld.net
• www.agriwatch.com
• www.acquachoupal.com
• www.plantersnet.com
• www. soyachoupal.com

30. • www.ekrishi.org/
• http://krishiworld.com/
• http://www.mssrf.org/
• https://india.gov.in/
• http://www.agriwatch.com/
• http://www.apeda.com/
• http://www.earik.in/
• http://dacnet.nic.in
• http://enam.gov.in/
• http://mandiboard.nic.in/
• http://www.agribiz.co.in/
• http://assamagribusiness.nic.in/
http://agmarknet.nic.in/
• http://www.ikisan.com/
• http://agricoop.nic.in/
• http://www.indiaagronet.com/
• http://learnrice.in/

32. MOBILE SERVICES TO FARMERS

33. •Started in year 2002.
•Reached roughly 11,000 farmers through services by SMS, web based information
portals.

34. 2007

35. initiated on January 21, 2004.
32 Farmers Call Centres,20,43,636 farmers calls’ answered during
2010-11, total calls answered during last five years (2005-2010) was
62,47,911.

36. • arms Indian farmers take informed
decisions - latest updates on Mandi
prices, weather, news, crop advisory
as per their location in their preferred
language.
• already signed up over 7,500
farmers.
•Customer charge of Rs.60/month.
•No. of SMS are 75-100/month.
•Launched in 2007,Maharashtra.
•Currently covers over 440 crops
and varieties with more than 1400
markets and 2800 weather locations
of 15000 villages in 13 States of
India.

37. CROP INSURANCE SCHEME
February 18,2016

38. Voice messages in local languages. 95,000 voice messages
delivered and 81000 Q&A repository with 5000 feed back messages
from the farmers. 10 Lakh active farmers benefiting from IKSL's
Value Added Services and IKSL enrollment crosses 4 million.
May 1, 2014

39. Green PHABLET

40. mKRISHI

41. •Krishidoot is multilingual interface & ICT based aggregation and transaction
platform for Agri Communities, launched jointly by the Small Farmers Agri-
Business Consortium (SFAC) and RML Information Services Pvt. Ltd (RML) in
2013.
•Krishidoot brings together Producer Communities (farmers and farmer groups) and
Agri Businesses (agri buyers, sellers, service providers and government institutions)
via an ICT based platform, creating superior efficiencies in the agri value chain.

42. HYBRID ICT PROJECTS

43. 2007, Arunachal Pradesh
Internet, Offline CDs And Farmer-to-farmer Communication.
500 farmers from 12 remote tribal villages are registered
A study among 300 farmers indicated that an average RS. 5252 was increased
among 73 number of e-Arik registered farmers who were growing Khasi mandarin.
Similarly, an average Rs. 1611 was increased among 258 paddy farmers who were
registered with e-Arik initiative.

44. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics (VASAT)
•Drought and desertification are recurrent problems that bring untold suffering to millions
of people in the semi-arid tropics (SAT).
•Empowering people for drought preparedness is now viewed as the best strategy to
cope with these hardships, with information and knowledge being key components for
success.
• ICRISAT, have accumulated the necessary know-how to significantly empower these
people. Recent successes in applying information and communication technologies
for development (ICT4D) in vulnerable rural areas, coupled with open/distance learning
(ODL), offer unprecedented opportunities for the CGIAR to develop innovative ways of
sharing knowledge to enhance drought mitigation and management.
•Objectives
ICRISAT, together with ILRI and IWMI, proposes to establish a system for innovative
knowledge sharing with regard to drought preparedness through a Virtual Academy for
the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT) involving recent advances in ICTs coupled with ODL
approaches.
•This will provide an opportunity for globally dispersed communities of drought-related
experts to come together virtually to help generate information and knowledge that can
be locally applied by stakeholders.

45. •There are 6,500 today & INITIATED IN 2000 BY ITC
•e-Choupal link rural farmers directly for the procurement of agricultural /
aquaculture produce like soya, coffee, and prawns.
•To eliminate the role of middleman.
•ITC is adding 7 new e-Choupals a day and plans to scale up to 20,000
•e-Choupals by end of 2012 covering 1,00,000 villages in 15 states, servicing
15 million farmers.

46. Digital Green
• Digital Green is a independent non profit
development organization in 2008 that partners
with NGOs (India, parts of Ethiopia, Ghana and
Afghanistan) and also government agencies, that
disseminates agricultural practices using video as
a medium.
• Developed from the idea that farmers prefer
interpersonal methods of receiving information on
new and innovative farming practices over
receiving that information through mass media
methods

47. To date 1,918 videos have been produced, and
screened 68,988 times and involving 75,107
farmers (www.digitalgreen.org, accessed January
13, 2012)

48. MAY 1, 2009

49. AWARENESS AND UTILIZATION OF ICT IN AGRICULTURE-FARMER’S PERSPECTIVE
Frequency and usage of ICT tools for seeking agricultural information
ICT tools usage % Frequency
No % ALWAYS OFTEN OCCASIONALLY RARELY
PRINT MEDIA
1)NEWSPAPER
2)FARM
MAGAZINE
31
17
79
19
13
4
28
9
23
4
2
0
RADIO 38 42 12 14 8 4
TELEVISION 47 52 6 21 16 4
TELEPHONE 18 20 4 9 14 5
COMPUTER
AIDED TOOLS
6 12 0 0 2 4
JOURNAL OF AGRIL.EXTESION MANAGEMENT SENDILKUMAR et al.

51. VILLAGE RESOURCE CENTRES (VRCS) –INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH
ORGANISATION (ISRO)
• 473 VRCs have been set up in 22 States/Union Territories in
India.
• Over 6500 programmes have been conducted by the VRCs in the
areas of agriculture/horticulture, fisheries, live stock, water
resources, tele healthcare, awareness programmes, women
empowerment, supplementary education, computer literacy,
Micro credit, micro finance, skill development/ vocational
training for livelihood support.
• So far, over 500000 people have availed VRC services.
COMMON SERVICE CENTRES (CSCS) SEP 2006
• Web based e-governance to services, including agriculture
information to rural areas.
• So far 96,163 CSCs were rolled out in India.

53. • Implemented with the support of IDRC
Canada, in the January,1998
• 101 VKCs in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry,
Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and
Kerala state of India.
• VRCs and VKCs working with 315 partners for
implementation and location specific content
generation.
• provides public services and information
regarding fish density in ocean to fishermen
community in local language in a multimedia
fashion.

54. OTHER STATE ICT INITIATIVES

55. Projects Location Content Benefit
Milk Collection
Centres,
(Gujarat)
580 collections
Centres/Kiosks in
Anand
Automatic
Weighing
Assessment of
Fat quantity and
calculation of
payment
Middlemen
sidelined
DEVELOPMENT
OF DAIRY
FARMERS.
Gyan Ganga
project,
Gujarat
Launched in 2003
in 3 districts of
Gujarat with 70
Kiosks by Dept. of
Science &
Technology, Govt.
of Gujarat and n-
Logoue Com.
Computer education, email,
video mail, and video-
conference. Launching
shortly e-governance,
health,agriculture,
veterinary services
Capacity building to
use and manage
ICTs by the villagers
and e-governance
services
GUJARATH

56. Projects Location Content Benefit
Mahiti Shakti
(Gujarat)
80 telecentres
converting STD
booths set up in
Panchamahal
district
The Information
available in local
language(Gujarati)
200 online forms of different
government schemes
All the information needs of
villagers
updated state of sanction
form DRDA and District
Planning Board
Self-Employed
Women’s
Association
(SEWA),
Gujarat
Ahmedabad training and credit
mobilization for Women’s
empowerment
Development
and
strengthening of
Women Self-
Help Group
(SHG)’s

57. Projects Location Content Benefit
KVK,
ICAR
Baramati,
Maharashtra &
Ahmednagar,
gujarat &
Massive e-linkage
project connecting
200 KVKs all over
India
Direct scientist to
farmers contact.
On line reporting
of Soil Testing,
weather
forecasting, and
farmers’
consultancy
Both static/offline contents
on packages of practices and
online consultancy by e-
mails, voice mails, and net
meetings

58. Computer –
aided
Administra-
tion of
Registration
Department
(CARD)
214 registration
offices in Hyderabad
(Andhra Pradesh)
one million documents
completely computerized
since 1998
Provide encumbrance and
valuation certificates.
Time taken for the services is
less than 15 minutes
Successful use of ICT
in governance
Swalyam
Krishi Sangam
Smart Card
(SKSSC),
Andhra
Pradesh
Medhak Smart cards for improving
micro-credit systems in
cooperative movement
Empowering
communities
Projects Location Benefit
Content
TELANGANA

59. Gyandoot,
(Madhya
Pradesh)
JAN 1, 2000
31 rural
cybercafes called
Soochanalayas
financed or
privately owned
in Dhar district
24 public
services, on user
charge basis
E-governance at
village, block and
district levels.
Replicated in
more than 30
districts as
Public-Private
partnership
SATCOM
M.P.
350 blocks under
telecasting
coverage
Agriculture programmes
every Monday (3-5 P.M.)
System works on a one-way
video and two way audio
mode
Farmer’s querries
are addressed by
experts
Projects Location Content Benefit
MADHYA PRADESH

60. Projects Location Content Benefit
Akshaya,
Malappuram,
Kerala
620 ICT centres
all over Kerala.
Planned to cover
6.5 million e-
literates by 2005
Creating a user
community
addressing the issues
of access, skill and
content in
e-governance,
education &
empowerment
Universal household literacy
programme and social
network for e-governance for
IT based services
eShringhla
Information
Kiosk scheme,
kerala
Kerala State, Govt.
owned at an
estimated cost of
Rs. US $ 100,00
Information from various
Govt. departments regarding
Schemes and Programmes
and services creating a
electronic chain of
information and e-
governance.
Dispensation of
government
services to all
citizens, e-
commerce and
counseling on
agricultural
practices
KERALA

61. Projects Location Content Benefit
FRIENDS Fast,
Reliable,
Instant,
Efficient,
Network and
Disbursement of
Services
14 districts of Kerala
Public services including
online payments of
numerous government
dues services
One-stop
service centres

62. Location Content
N-Logue Tele-
centers
Project (Tamil
Nadu)
30 tele-centes
Madurai district
e - access to
villagers
provide villagers to
numerous web based links
including agriculture
Commercial
offshoot of IIT
(Madras) through
Wireless in Local
Loop Technology
Benefit
Tamil Nilam
Touch Screen
Project,Tamil
Nadu
All 206 taluks by
Govt. of Tamil
Nadu
Provide dozen public
services
e-governance and
empowerment
Projects
TAMILNADU

63. Projects Location Content Benefit
Bhoomi
Project,
(Karnataka)
177 taluk kiosks 20 million records of
land ownership of 6.7
million farmers of the
state, each record
available online from
at Rs. 15/ record
An economically
sustainable project on
Land Records in India
Warna Wired
Village Project,
(Maharashtra))
1998
70 villages in
Kolhapur and
Sangli districts
Computerized
facilitation booths in
70 villages.
Members of sugar
cooperative and other
villages
Government of India
(GOI), Government of
Maharashtrra (GOM)
and sugar cooperative
sharing cost of the
project in a proportion
50:40:10%
KARNATAKA, MAHARASTRA, ORISSA

64. Projects Location Content Benefit
Action Aid,
Bolangir,
Orissa
8 Kiosks run by
NGOs & overall
management by
Panchayet
Comprehensive e-
governance services
to poor farmers &
capacity building to
use and magage ICTs
by the villagers
Customized computer
enabled services through
Block level database and
archives. and computer
training
ICT component
funded by UNDP
& UNITES

65. Projects Location Content Benefit
Drishtee Tele-
centers
(Rajasthan).
a local villager
becomes a kiosk
owner as a self-
employment
opportunity, with
about 45,000 kiosks
owners by 2003
With their earning
and knowledge the
kiosk owners become
role models for the
younger generation
information related to land
records, Virtual Bidding
Market Place, Market
Information System
Initially in Jaipur,
200 tele-centers
in seven Indian
States
Envisages to
open 50, 000
information
kiosks in next six
years
RAJASTHAN

66. Projects Location Content Benefit
Janmitra
(Rajasthan)
5 districts, Services are
available through
Community
Information centers
e-governance, e-education, e-
health and e-commerce
services
sanctioned by
UNDP,
implemented by
the district
department of IT
and RAJCOMP

67. 67

68. Pros… ICT can help in
1. Broad basing agricultural extension activities
2. Development and extension of cultivation system, location-
specific modules of research and extension
3. Promote market extension
4. Participatory research
5. Re-orienting the extension system towards the overall
agricultural development of small production systems.
7. Play a role in documenting the traditional agricultural
practices that it can be shared more widely.
8. Enable rural communities to address the concomitants of
poverty, lack of access to education and health services, lack
of productive opportunities, and isolation and lack of
information.
9. Sustainable agricultural development.
10. Helps in educating farmers in using ICT tools for the future

69. LIMITATIONS
• Language poses barrier to use of mass media.
• Timing of television programme pertaining to
agriculture is not suitable for most of the farmers.
• Inconsistent power supply in rural areas limits the
use of mass media.
• Lack of awareness regarding source of
information.
• Less progress in research on use of ICT and
mobile infrastructure for agricultural purposes.

70. Future Of ICT In Agriculture

71. Mobile applications (m-apps) in general
and for agricultural and rural
development (m-ARD apps) in particular
hold significant potential for
advancing development.
They could provide the most affordable
ways for millions of people to
access information, markets, finance, and
governance systems previously unavailable
to them.

72. m-ARD apps focus on improving agriculture
supply chain integration and have a wide
range of functions, such as:
• providing market information,
• increasing access to extension services,
• facilitates market links,
• advice on agricultural production, food
security, and nutrition
• timely access to extension advisory services
72

73. Future of ICT in Agriculture
Application of satellite images in agriculture
Satellite imagery data may help
to resolve both major and specific
agricultural management tasks.
Eg: NASA’s Aqua satellite can detect
moisture in soil and, as a result,
inform farmers when crops need
watering or when the soil is ready
for planting

75. The ongoing robotics revolution is leaving its mark on
agriculture already, as self-driving, GPS-equipped tractors
now tilt land autonomously and other existing farm
machinery becomes increasingly computerized and
automated.
A single human farmer can now maintain well more than
1,000 acres of farmland each year, using bigger and better
farm equipment to increase productivity.
Prospero is just one of what will eventually become a swarm
of planting, tending, and harvesting robots running game
theory and swarm behavior algorithms to help optimize every
inch of arable space in a given field.

77. REFERENCES:
Gidda Reddy, P and Punna Rao, P. 2013 Farmers’ perception on usefulness
of ICT initiatives in Agriculture. Journal of Agricultural Extension
Management. pp: 37-47.
Preeti Singh and Seema Rani. 2013. Access to and Socio-economic Impact
Assessment of Computer/Internet in Rural Haryana, India. Indian Journal of
Extension Education, Vol 1&2: 5-10.
Sendilkumar, R., Nair, R.G and Israel Thomas, M. 2011. Awareness and
Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
Agriculture – Farmer’s perspective . Journal of Agricultural Extension
Management. pp: 21-31.