The Indian agricultural sector is leveraging the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to disseminate the right information at the right time. The cost factor in face-to-face information dissemination and the difficulties in reaching the target audiences have necessitated the introduction of ICT in agriculture. This article discusses the different models related to ICT in Indian agriculture like, Kisan call centers, The Gyandoot project, Bhoomi project, Village knowledge centers, and AGMARKNET. In the end, the article discusses the barriers and the outlook of ICT in Indian agriculture.Information ,Agriculture

Deepak Kumar

English

Research Papers in Economics

44 FEB-MAR 2005 EFFECTIVE  EXECUTIVE
The Indian agricultural sector is leveraging the Information and Com-
munication Technologies (ICT) to disseminate the right information at
the right time. The cost factor in face-to-face information dissemina-
tion and the difficulties in reaching the target audiences have neces-
sitated the introduction of ICT in agriculture. This article discusses the
different models related to ICT in Indian agriculture like, Kisan call
centers, The Gyandoot project, Bhoomi project, Village knowledge
centers, and AGMARKNET. In the end, the article discusses the barri-
ers and the outlook of ICT in Indian agriculture.
Information and
Communication
Technology (ICT)
in Indian
Agriculture
Disseminating Information to
Farmers
IT A D SYS N
urgency to help and guide the poor farmers
properly. The cost factor in face-to-face in-
formation dissemination at the right time,
and the difficulties in reaching the target
audiences, has also created the urgency to
introduce ICT. It is only by the introduction
of ICT that information can also be up-
graded at the least cost. There are several
models of ICTs in Indian agriculture,
which have made a significant difference
Introduction
Indian Agriculture contributes 22% of our
GDP, and approximately 60% Indians de-
rive their livelihood from the agricultural
sector. Today’s farmers want not only the
two-time bread for their families from
their hard sweat, but also surplus food pro-
duction, which can be sold in the market to
get sufficient money to fulfill their other
daily needs. Also, private sector initiatives
like contract farming have commercial-
ized the Indian agricultural sector. It has
also seen many new concepts and theories
substituting the traditional methods. Intro-
duction of Information and Communica-
tion Technology (ICT) is one of them, which
enables the dissemination of requisite in-
formation at the right time. This revolution
in information technology has made access
to the information easy and cost-effec-
tive.
ICT –Definition
ICT is an integration of the technologies
and the processes to distribute and com-
municate the desired information to the
target audience and making the target au-
dience more participative in nature.
Need of ICT in Indian Agriculture
At present, the ratio of the farmers to the
extension worker is 1000:1, which is really
very less. Although the appointed Village
Local Workers (VLWs) disseminate the in-
formation, they hardly accept any account-
ability. These two issues have created the
T M S E45 FEB-MAR 2005 EFFECTIVE  EXECUTIVE
operation. The main technologies involved
in Kisan call centers are:
 Desktop computer system with
Internet connectivity.
 High bandwidth telephone line (pref-
erably 128 kbps ISDN line).
 Telephones with headphones and tele-
conferencing facility (if required).
The main aim is to deliver the exten-
sion services to the farming community
in the local languages. The farmer dials
the help line, a toll free number, 1551,
and the agricultural graduates provide
the initial enquiry. If the queries handled
by the agriculture graduates are not satis-
factory to the farmers or the farmers
want more information, the call is for-
warded to level II and level III executives.
(See Figure I)
Thus, KCCs are the important infor-
mation gateway for farmers. The cost to
the farmers is almost zero, and they get
the response in their local languages. If
needed, the agricultural scientists also
visit the field to resolve any further que-
ries.
The Gyandoot Project
The Gyandoot project was started in the
Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, which
covers five lakh people of
311 gram Pancha yats, 600
villages and 26
soochnalayas.
Soochnalayas are nothing
but information centers at
the village level set up by
the Government of India in
collaboration with local
bodies. This center is oper-
ated by unemployed rural
youth (soochaks), who is
thereafter trained. A com-
mittee called Gyandoot
samiti manages it. The dis-
trict collector is the presi-
dent of this soochnalayas,
and the sarpanch of district panchayat
acts as the secretary of the committee.
The service covers to provide informa-
tion about the agricultural produce, auc-
tion center rates, copies of land records,
on-line registration of applications, vil-
lage auction sites and more. The Village
Auction Site project was started in June
2002, which allows farmers and villagers
to advertise and sell land, agricultural
machinery, equipment, and other durable
commodities. Minimum user fees are
charged by the information centers to pro-
vide information. Like, information about
a commodity on sale is provided for a
charge of Rs. 25 for three months, and Rs.
10 is taken for finding the list of salable
commodities.
Bhoomi Project in Karnataka
This project includes the computerized
land records throughout the state. For the
same, a farmer can now walk into any of
the taluk offices and ask for a printout of his
computerized land record for a mere Rs. 15
from the land records booth. This comput-
erized land record facilitates the farmers
in obtaining, so-called technically, the
Rights, Tenancy and Cultivation (RTCs)
certificates. RTCs are important as they
ensure land ownership, and help farmers
in getting bank loans, for which most banks
seek some security. Moreover, the Bhoomi
project also provides online connectivity to
various courts to make use of the land
records database to settle civil disputes on
land ownership and cultivation.
Village Knowledge Centers
(VKCs)
Village knowledge centers of MS
Swaminathan research foundation were
launched in 1998 in Pondichery. The main
aim behind the establishment of VKCs was
to provide sustainable food security in ru-
ral areas of Pondichery. To fulfill this aim, it
provides technical informa-
tion related to agricultural
inputs. It helps in procuring
quality seeds, in providing
information about the daily
marked priced from the
government as well as pri-
vate bodies, and advices
farmers on rotation of crops
as well as about the use of
fertilizers and pesticides.
VKCs receive information
by voice mail, and dissemi-
nate it through any public
address system. It has also
identified 13 districts in
Pondichery, where there is a
huge potential for agriculture business,
and where the government will invest
Rs. 170 cr.
AGMARKNET
AGMARKNET, (Agricultural Marketing
Information Network), is a joint venture of
the Directorate of Marketing and Inspec-
tion (DMI) and the National Informatics
Center (NIC). DMI and NIC are the sponsor-
ing agency of AGMARKNET. It has in-
creased the efficiency in marketing activi-
ties by establishing a nation-wide informa-
tion network, which provides details about
market functionaries, sold and unsold
stocks, as well as the sources of supply and
in the delivery of services in Indian agricul-
ture like, the establishments of Kisan call
centers, Gyandoot project, Bhoomi project,
Village knowledge centers, and
AGMARKNET. These are discussed here
as below.
Kisan Call Centers (KCCs)
KCCs were launched on January 21, 2004
by the Department of Agricultural and Co-
Deepak Kumar
Associate Consultant,
The ICFAI University Press,
Hyderabad,
E-mail:deepak@icfaipress.org
IT AND SYSTEMS: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indian Agriculture46 FEB-MAR 2005 EFFECTIVE  EXECUTIVE
destination. These timely information data
are helpful to producers, traders and con-
sumers.
How does AGMARKNET get
the Information?
AGMARKNET has been connected to 670
agricultural produce markets and 40 State
Agricultural Marketing Boards & Director-
ates. Each AGMARK portal of wholesale
market provides daily information to
AGMARK portals of its respective states,
and then each state’s AGMARK portal sends
the information to the AGMARKNET por-
tal. All of these softwares are maintained
by the National Information System (See
Figure 2).
APEDA (Agricultural and Processed
Food Products Export Development Au-
thority), NAFED (National Agricultural
Co-operative Marketing Federation of In-
dia Ltd), Food Corporation of India, Cen-
tral Warehousing, SFAC (Small Farmers
Agri-Business Consortium) are the main
users of the AGMARKNET portal. The
food processing units, traders and differ-
ent village kiosks, to help the farmers in
taking the right decisions, mainly use
these portals.
Barriers in ICT Implementation
The path of success is not always sweet.
There are indeed more thorns. A few barri-
ers are noted below:
 It indeed sounds unrealistic when
someone tries to cater information to
farmers and educate them in nearly
seven lakh villages throughout India,
because it needs sound financial sup-
port. One-time major investment in
establishing the communication
technologies in required places re-
stricts the government’s objective of
covering more and more people regu-
larly. Therefore, the cost in establish-
ing such communication technology
centers can be shared between pri-
vate and public participation.
 Moreover, farmers sometimes also
become averse, as they think that
they might lose their traditional
methods of cropping practices. In
some cases, they simply do not want
to utilize the system, even if the cost
incurred by the farmers is negligible.
Thus, it is the attitude and mindsets
of the farmers, which needs to be
changed. There is the need to win the
confidence of the poor farmers, and
make them aware of the benefits of
ICT in agriculture.
Future Outlook
Despite the above barriers, the Indian
agriculture is bound to adopt and imple-
ment ICT, as the Government of India
aims to double the agricultural produc-
tion by 2010, and to increase India’s
share of the global export to 1.9% by
2007. This aim can be achieved only
when there is proper utilization of ICT
and more investment in it. As ICT helps
in information dissemination in less
time with effective ways of communica-
tion, its implications cannot be ignored.
There is a great scope to implement ICT
in order to communicate and integrate
the complete agri-food supply chain, as
the e-choupals are doing in Madhya
Pradesh to procure soyabean. The other
beneficiaries of ICT can be food-pro-
cessing companies, and suppliers
within the agri-food sector. On the other
hand, the need to market the agricul-
tural produce at reasonable prices will
also change the farmers’ attitude, and
they will be more dependent on ICT.
ICT will, thus, definitely help to sustain
the Indian agriculture.
Reference # 03M-2005-02-10-01
IT AND SYSTEMS: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indian Agriculture

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indian Agriculture

http://128.118.178.162/eps/get/papers/0503/0503002.pdf

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Indian Agriculture

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