Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 1

Reference:

Saravanan, R., and Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee, (2014). Mobile Phone

Applications for Agricultural Extension in India, In: Saravanan, R (Ed.). Mobile
Phones for Agricultural Extension: Worldwide mAgri Innovations and
Promise for Future, New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi. pp. 1-75
1
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural
Extension in India
Saravanan, R., and Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee

Contents
Abstract 3
1. Introduction 3
2. National Telephony and Mobile Infrastructure Scenario 4
3. Review on Mobile Applications for Agricultural Extension 6
3.1. Mobile Advisory Services by the Public Sector 6
3.1.1. Farmer Call Centre (Kissan Call Centre) 6
3.1.2. Mobile Advisory Services by ICAR-KVKs 8
3.1.3. SMS Broadcast Service by KVK, Babhaleshwar 10
3.1.4. Mandi on Mobile Service by BSNL 12
3.1.5. Market Price by SMS by Rubber Board, India 12
3.1.6. SMS Service to Farmers by the Department of Agriculture, Haryana
State, India 13
3.1.7. Dynamic Market Information (DMI), TNAU-C-DAC, Hyderabad 13
3.1.8. vKVK (Virtual Krishi Vigyan Kendra) 14
3.1.9. Interactive Information Dissemination System (IIDS) 14
3.1.10. Mobile based Agro-Advisory System in North-East India
(m4agriNEI) 15
3.1.11. mKisan 17
3.1.12. AGMET Services by IMD 17
3.1.13. Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF) 17
3.1.14. Kissan Kerala 18
3.1.15. Kisan Help Line 18
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 3

3.2. Mobile Advisory Services by the Private Sector 18

3.2.1. Lifelines India 18
3.2.2. Fisher Friend 20
3.2.3. Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP)- Query Redress
Services (QRS) 21
3.2.4. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) 21
3.2.5. Reuters Market Light (RML) 22
3.2.6. Farmers’ Helpline by Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited 22
3.2.7. mKRISHI by TATA Consultancy Services 23
3.2.8. Nokia Life Tools 25
3.2.9. KHETI (Knowledge Help Extension Technology Initiative) 25
3.2.10. Behtar Zindagi (Better Life) 27
3.2.11. Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management Decision
Support System 27
3.2.12. Awaaz De (Give your voice) 28
3.2.13. Spoken Web 30
3.2.14. Mrittikka 32
3.2.15. Fasal 32
3.2.16. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Ltd. (KRKL) 33
3.2.17. Videokheti 33
3.2.18. Mandi Bhav 35
3.2.19. Kisan Sanchar 35
3.2.20. Warana Unwired 35
3.2.21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory System (MAAS) 36
3.2.22. Kissan SMS Portal 38
3.2.23. Mahaagri SMS 38
3.2.24. aAqua Mini 38
3.3. Other Mobile Applications in Agriculture 39
3.3.1. mFMS 39
3.3.2. Nano Ganesh 39
4. An Analysis on Mobile for Agricultural Extension Projects in India 39
4.1. Public Vs Private Initiatives (Free Vs Business Model) 39
4.2. Content Generation 39
4.3. Partnership 40
4.4. Information Coverage 40
4.5. Sustainability & Scaling-up 40
4.6. Cost effectiveness 40
4.7. Voice Vs Text 40
4.8. Add-ons, Not Replacements 41
4.9. Research on Impact41
5. Key Ingredients for Success of the Mobile for Agricultural Advisory Services 41
5.1. Partnership 41
5.2. Content 41
5.3. Media Mix 42
5.4. Innovation 42
4 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

5.5. Timeliness 42
5.6. Quality and Credibility 42
6. Lessons 42
7. Conclusions and the Way Forward 43
References 69

Abstract
Agriculture continues to be the most important sector of the Indian economy
and agriculture is a more or less a compulsion for livelihood of millions of
farmers. Land and water resources have almost reached their limits, price of
commodities are fluctuating almost every day, profits are negligible for most of
the marginal and small farmers and most of all getting information is
cumbersome. In present day agriculture, soft resources like knowledge and
skills are as important as hard resources like inputs, and sometimes more
important. But estimates indicate that 60 per cent of farmers do not access any
source of information for advanced agricultural technologies resulting in huge
adoption gap. The requirement of field level extension personnel is estimated
to be about 1.3 -1.5 million against the present availability of about 0.1 million
personnel. The mobile phone comes into the picture here. In today’s world,
almost everybody owns a mobile phone. This huge reach, if harnessed in
agricultural extension, can change the face of agriculture altogether in a
developing country like India where we have nothing to lose by using it as a
medium to disseminate agricultural information in multimodal form. Many
initiatives have been taken in this regard to utilize mobile phones by private
sector (Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited, Nokia, Airtel, Tata
Consultancy Services, etc.) and public sector (Ministry of Agriculture,
Universities like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, research institutions like
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, State Governments of Haryana and
Kerala, Indian Meteorological Department and others) in agricultural advisory
service for agronomic practices, weather forecasts and market price . With
increased dependency, the mobile phone is becoming a common communication
platform of the world, especially for agriculture.

1. Introduction
Agriculture continues to be the most important sector of the Indian economy.
Research, extension and farmers’ efforts have all contributed significantly in
increasing food production from 50 million tonnes in 1950-51 to a land mark
achievement of an estimated 259.32 million tonnes in 2011-12 (MoA, GoI, 2013).
The total demand for food grains is projected to touch 280 million tonnes by the
year 2020-21. Meeting his demand will necessitate a growth rate of nearly two
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 5

per cent per annum in food grain production (Singh, 2011) and the agriculture
sector needs to grow at a targeted four per cent per annum. Approach paper of
the India’s 12th five year plan (2012-17) states that the “weakness in the
economic performance thus far is that growth in the farm sector” (PC, GoI,
2011) and the average of annual growth rates of GDP in agriculture and allied
sectors during the eleventh plan period (2007-12) was 3.3 (PC, GoI, 2013).
Hence, there is an immediate need of vibrant, dynamic and innovative approach
to be adopted for agricultural extension in order to achieve targeted growth
rate and serve the farmers better. Further, land and water resources are almost
reaching their limits; hence, achieving food security heavily relies on “Knowledge
Resource” (Saravanan, 2011). Estimates indicated that 60 per cent of farmers
do not access any source of information for advanced agricultural technologies
resulting in huge adoption gap (NSSO, 2005). In India, there are about 120
million farm holdings and the number is growing year by year. To provide at
least one village extension personnel to 800-1000 farm families, the requirement
of field level extension personnel is estimated to be about 1.3 to 1.5 million,
against the present availability which is only about 0.1million (100 000) personnel
(PC, GoI, 2007). According to estimates, on an average a public extension
personnel spends 40 minutes per year for a farmer (Dileepkumar, 2012). With
this kind of contact intensity, a complementary service is a non-negotiable need
of the country’s farmers. In this existing scenario, it is expected that the
integration of ICTs in agricultural extension will provide much needed impetus
to agricultural sector and ICTs can complement the traditional extension system
for “Knowledge Resource” delivery to the millions of the farmers (Saravanan,
2010). Among ICTs, impressive penetration of mobile phones in many of the
developing countries changing the agricultural communication process and mobile
phones have made personal communications readily accessible, for the first
time, to women and men, poor and prosperous, rural and urban dwellers in
developing as well as in industrial countries (Colle, 2010).

2. National Telephony and Mobile Infrastructure Scenario

Strategic reforms in telecommunications sector since 1990’s have facilitated
strong ICT infrastructure in India. As on May, 2013, the number of telephone
subscribers was 900.05 million (870.20 million wireless and 29.85 million fixed
land line telephones) and 15.05 million broadband subscribers were estimated
by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI, 2013). The tele-density
has reached 73.33 as of May, 2013 (number of telephone subscribers per 100
individuals). However, there is huge gap between urban and rural tele-density,
145.54 and 41.60, respectively. Despite several policy initiatives to promote
rural ICT penetration, growth in tele-density continues to be skewed in favour
6 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

of urban India. Total internet users are 164.81 million (12.97 per cent of
population) as per TRAI (TRAI, 2013). In India, there are 15.13 million
broadband subscribers as on March, 2013 (TRAI, 2013). The growth of mobile
phones in the country has been phenomenal during the last one decade (Fig. 1).
It has surpassed the growth of other popular ICT tools like TV and radio in the
last decade though it is the latest addition to the list (Fig. 2).

*2013 figures are upto May, 2013

(Telecominfo, 2009; Wikipedia, 2012; TRAI, 2013)
Fig.1: Growth of Mobile Phone Subscribers in India

(Census of India, 2011)

Fig. 2: Comparative Growth of Telephone, Radio and TV in the Last Decade
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 7

3. Review on Mobile Applications for Agricultural Extension

3.1. Mobile Advisory Services by the Public Sector

3.1.1. Farmer Call Centre (Kissan Call Centre)

The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DoA&C), Ministry of
Agriculture, Govt. of India launched Farmer Call Centres across the country
on January 21, 2004, to deliver extension services to the farming community. The
purpose of these call centres is to respond to issues raised by farmers, instantly,
in the local language. There are call centres for every state which are expected
to handle traffic from any part of the country. Queries related to agriculture
and allied sectors are being addressed through these call centres. The Farmer
Call Centre is a synthesis of two hitherto separate technologies namely, the
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Agricultural
Technology- both have their specialized domains and work cultures. To optimally
utilize the strengths of both these systems, it was proposed to take full advantage
of professionally managed Call Centre mechanism and dovetail it with the
specialized Subject Matter Specialists knowledge of Agricultural Scientists and
Extension Officers, so as to facilitate its reach to the farming community. It
was accordingly proposed to make use of existing specialized infrastructure of
Call Centres (which are normally industry-driven and serve to high-end and
many a times, mission critical service sector) and make this communication
backbone available to the Subject Matter Specialists of Agriculture, Horticulture,
Animal Husbandry, Marketing and other related areas. The Farmer Call Centre
consists of three levels – namely Level-I (the basic Call Centre interface, with
high quality bandwidth and local language proficient Agriculture Graduate),
Level-II (Subject Matter Specialists on concerned important crops and
enterprises, connected through good bandwidth telecom and computer
connectivity) and Level-III (the Management Group to ensure ultimate answering
and resolution of all the farmers’ queries which are not resolved at Level-II,
connected on and off line mode).
8 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

Farmer Dial Help Line

([Link]
Fig. 3: Schematic Representation of Farmers Call Centre Operational Mechanism
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 9

An evaluation study by Hanumankar (2011) asserts that there is considerable

interest and acceptance among farmers for ICT based agricultural extension
services. The study has shown that farmers in the age group of 29 to 48 years
are the biggest user group of KCC helpline. In terms of academic background,
farmers with a minimum exposure of six to seven years to formal schooling
(86%) seek to utilize the KCC support and relatively inexperienced farmers
with less than 10 years of experience are more likely (47.5%) to call the KCC.
The scope to enhance awareness and access among women farmers to the
KCC helpline is huge as their current levels of participation are negligible. As
regards the performance of KCCs, 84% of the farmers who called the KCCs
expressed overall satisfaction from the advice provided through the helpline.
Of all the supply side factors like promptness of response, patient hearing and
completeness of answer, farmers who received a complete response are 47%
more satisfied than those who did not receive a complete response. There is
also evidence of farmers’ satisfaction growing with repeat calls made by them
to the KCCs. Analysis of satisfied farmers by the demographic profile suggests
that younger farmers below 38 years of age with post matriculate academic
background, and less than 10 years’ of farming experience expressed the highest
levels of satisfaction. Where the farmers were dissatisfied the common reasons
were found to be the impracticality of advice provided by KCC agents at level
-1 due to their obsolete knowledge and inability to comprehend local accents
and dialects. Delayed access to Level - 2 experts was also found to be an
irritant by the farmers. As regards the reasons for farmers not calling the KCCs,
the study unambiguously established that nothing short of a professionally planned
and promoted publicity blitz can crack the lack of awareness about KCCs
among the farming community. There is also a need to review issues of telecom
connectivity particularly in remote and far-flung villages.
IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) joined hands with the Ministry of
Agriculture in 2012 for a total revamp of the infrastructure of KCCs at identified
locations (Tiwari, 2012).

3.1.2. Mobile Advisory Services by ICAR-KVKs

Mobile advisory services to the farmers by the Farm Science Centres (KVKs)
of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have been operational
since, 2008. The Farm Science Centre (Krishi Viigyan Kendra -KVK),
Babhaleshwar, India has pioneered in the IT-enabled service aiding instant
messaging from Farm Science Centre to individual farmers for extending
Agricultural information through SMS alerts. Weekly SMS alerts are issued on
various agricultural developments like weather forecast, disease forecast and
market information ([Link] KVK, Chhindwara, Madya
10 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

Pradesh implemented a programme called “Kisan Mobile Sandesh” for giving

bulk SMS to the farmers. From the year 2010 onwards large numbers of ICAR-
KVKs have been disseminating farm information by Kisan Mobile Advisory
Services (KMAS). For example, annual report of the KVK- Zonal Project
Directorate –VIII, Bangalore during the year 2009-10 reports that 6765 SMS
were sent benefitting 34844 farmers. Out of which maximum SMSs sent by
KVKs in Karnataka (5192) followed by Tamil Nadu (1022) and Kerala (551),
thereby covering 21752, 8499 and 4593 farmers, respectively (Annual Report,
ZPD-VIII, 2009-10).The facility had mixed responses from the farmers as
there are inherent limitations of the KVKs to provide better service. KVK,
South Tripura has 254 farmers registered under the service till March, 2013
and had sent 98 messages to the farmers in the year 2012-13 (Annual Report,
KVK South Tripura, 2013). KVK of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Viswa
Vidyalaya, Gwalior has 1000 beneficiaries enrolled under its Kisan Mobile
Sandesh including farmers, extension functionaries and officials of line
departments (KVK, RVSKVV, 2012). Impact of these mobile based advisory
services on farmers and their income are yet to be conducted.

(Abhay Wankhade et al., 2011)

Fig. 4: Mechanism of the Kisan Mobile Sandesh (KMS) through Different Stakeholders
(KVK, Chhindwara, Madya Pradesh)
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 11

In the study conducted to understand the utility of the mobile based agro-advisory
services in an underprivileged area like the state of Meghalaya in North-East
India, it was found that the response in terms of satisfactory level with the
service and its utility was not very encouraging. However, the approach of
farmers towards mobile phones in farming was very enthusiastic. This is
heartening considering the fact that even though 50% of the respondents owned
a TV and 65% a radio in their household, all of them had mobile phones.
Interestingly, 17.5% of the respondents were functionally illiterate, but took the
help of other family members to read the messages they received. But due to
lack of proper awareness initiatives from the KVK, many farmers did not have
a clue from whom they are receiving the messages and those who wanted to
access or subscribe it did not know whom to contact. As of now, 65% of the
farmers are not satisfied with the service, but the scope to improve is immense,
if timeliness, content of the message and personalization of the message is
taken care of (Suchiradipta, 2012).

3.1.3. SMS Broadcast Service by KVK, Babhaleshwar

The Farm Science Centre (Krishi Viigyan Kendra -KVK), Babhaleshwar, India
has pioneered in the IT-enabled service aiding instant messaging from Farm
Science Centre to individual farmers for extending Agricultural information
through SMS alerts in the year 2006. The service comprises sending Short
Message Service alerts on cellular phones registered at Farm Science Centres
by individual farmers. Weekly SMS alerts are issued on various agricultural
developments like weather forecast, disease forecast and market information.
The service is also being used as a medium to send information on important
trainings and other programmes to the members of the Farmers Clubs and
SHG network under the Farm Science Centre. The service is an important
milestone in reaching out to millions of farmers at a stroke of a mouse click, and
enables the farmer to have information access and derive the fruits of
technological prowess and face the challenge of an upcoming free market. The
service is a boon for hundreds and thousands of farmers around the Farm
Science Centre within Ahmednagar District. There are currently 284 registered
farmers availing this service from the Farm Science Centre, Babhaleshwar. All
registered farmers who are having cellular mobile handsets supporting all major
GSM/CDMA networks compatible for Devnagari Unicode fonts within the
country can receive the SMSs from Farm Science Centre without incurring
any cost. The Farm Science Centre bears all costs of sending the SMS to all
the registered farmers having cell phones. In continuation with the efforts of
the Farm Science Centre in dissemination of agriculture technological information,
the Farm Science Centre have further started the Marathi based SMS text
delivery for the cellular handsets users within the District. The vernacular
12 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

delivery module was commissioned during 2008. The service has been well
appreciated by the farmers who have said such a service by the Farm Science
Centre is just in the nick of time when farmers have their crops ready for
market. The number of farmers coming to the Farm Science Centre is growing
day by day and the Farm Science Centre expects to add another couple of
hundred farmers by every year ([Link]

Farmer Weather
database database
SMS Application
Server

Market Plant
database protection
database
SMS Gateway

Agricultural Other
agricultural Internet
practices
info. database
database

AGRICULTURAL DATABASE SERVER

SMS on farmers’
mobile

(Bhaskar, 2013)
Fig. 5: Architecture of SMS Application
In an impact study of the SMS service of Farm Science Centre, Babhaleshwar
by Bhaskar (2013), 70 per cent of the people contacted said the service was
excellent and the rest 30 per cent said it was very good. The farmers reportedly
received 25-30 messages per month at a nominal charge of Rs. 100 (USD 1.7)
per year. Moreover they said that if every alert is free, the usability of the alert
service is not effective.
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 13

3.1.4. Mandi on Mobile Service by BSNL

Uttar Pradesh State farmers are able to know rates of agriculture commodities
in any market in the State on their mobile phones, service was launched by the
State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) teamed up with
the Uttar Pradesh Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Parishad) to launch
the ‘Mandi on Mobile’ service for the farmers (Manoranjan, 2009). The service
would be voice-based. To know the rates of over 100 commodities including
crops, vegetables and other items, the farmers need to dial a specific number
from their BSNL cellular phones, and follow the voice command subsequently.
The service would immensely benefit the farmers, especially those who used to
sell their agriculture produce to middlemen at low prices without knowing the
market rates (IANS, 2008). Second phase on “Digital Mandi” was launched by
the BSNL in collaboration with IIT, Kanpur, in August, 2011. The “Digital Mandi”
application is for effective dissemination of mandi (market) rates of different
crops, in approximately 3 000 agricultural produce markets to the Indian farmers.

(Hedge, Unknown)
Fig. 6: Architecture of Mandi on Mobile which Supports Multi Modal Query and
Retrieval to Help the Literate and Illiterate Farmers
3.1.5. Market Price by SMS by Rubber Board, India
The Rubber Board provides the update of both national and international rates
of natural rubber through SMS throughout the country. Through this service
the rubber farmers and dealers in India (especially those in the state of Kerala
in South India) are tracking the prices of the commodity in real time by SMS.
The rubber growers are helped by this SMS service by the Rubber Board
which provide updates on the global as well as domestic market rates to the
farmers, which is also displayed in the Rubber Board’s web portal
([Link]).
14 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

3.1.6. SMS Service to Farmers by the Department of Agriculture, Haryana

State, India
Farmers of Chandigarh (India) are using mobile phones to sort out agricultural
related problems. The Haryana Agriculture Department has introduced Short
Messaging Service (SMS) for farmers. The service was made available by the
agriculture department’s Kissan (Farmer) Call Centre. More than 800 farmers
had sent their queries through SMS service and replies had been sent by
concerned officials and agricultural scientists. The free of cost SMS service is
available to farmers on providing one’s mobile number (News-i4d, 2007).

3.1.7. Dynamic Market Information (DMI), TNAU-C-DAC, Hyderabad

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and Centre for Development
of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Hyderabad jointly provided daily market
information on 161 perishable commodities from 13 markets in South India
where information was disseminated to ten thousand farmers through mobile
based SMS in the local language at free of cost. The information was also
uploaded in the web portals of India development gateway (InDG) and Tamil
Nadu Agritech portal ([Link] & [Link] Further, it also
provides price behaviour and market trends over a period of time (Anandaraja
et al., 2011).

(Anandaraja et al., 2011)

Fig. 7: Schematic Diagram of Dynamic Market Information

 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 15

3.1.8. vKVK (Virtual Krishi Vigyan Kendra)

vKVK (Virtual Krishi Vigyan Kendra), a simple messaging system based
platform allows Agro-advisories to be sent to the farmers’ cell phone using
SMS alerts and voice-based advisory. vKVK is a platform that connects KVKs
with farmers through internet and mobile technology. A phone-based delivery
system allows an agricultural expert to transmit a voice-based alert/advisory to
be transmitted to farmers through a phone call. A recorded message can be
transmitted via vKVK platform to all farmers under the guidance of KVK
experts. This platform is currently being tested in some selected districts of
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka (ICRISAT, 2012).
.

(ICRISAT, 2012)
Fig. 8 : Schematic Diagram of Virtual Krishi Vigyan Kendra (vKVK)

3.1.9. Interactive Information Dissemination System (IIDS)

IIDS is an outcome of a comprehensive need assessment study carried under
the component 4 of National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) project. A total of 26 ICT initiatives
in agriculture were studied covering 1381 farmers in 57 selected sample villages
across 12 states of India to elicit the need of the farmers, prioritize their
perceptions, and bring out the reality of the issues involved in development of
ideal ICT based applications for agriculture. Apart from the field study of farmers
and ICT initiatives, a series of regional and national workshops were organized
with different stakeholders including agriculture domain experts, technologists,
private industries, NGOs and progressive farmers (Anurag and Shambhukumar,
2012; Media Lab Asia, 2013) to find out an appropriate ICT model to cater the
needs of the Indian farmers. Based on the research findings and analysis of
existing ICT initiatives, the IIDS framework was developed. The IIDS framework
is currently being pilot-tested in Andhra Pradesh as Annapurna Krishi Prasaar
Seva and in North-East India as m4agriNEI.
16 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

(Media Lab Asia, 2013 & m4agriNEI Project Folder, 2013)

Fig. 9: Integrated Information Dissemination System (IIDS) Framework

Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva: Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva is being

pilot-tested with 600 farmers from six villages of two districts of Andhra Pradesh
by the Media Lab Asia (Department of Electronics and Information Technology
(DeitY), Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, GoI and
Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University through its KVKs namely KVK -
Nalgonda and KVK – Nellore. Personalized agro-advisory on agriculture
(paddy), animal husbandry (dairy) and fisheries, local market price of important
crops, weather based advisory, crop calendar based services, special message
services are being provided to the farmers under this project (Media Lab Asia,
2013).

3.1.10. Mobile based Agro-Advisory System in North-East India (m4agriNEI)

m4agriNEI is a mobile based pull and push based system where agriculture
related information can be pulled by the farmers and pushed by the advisory
service providers using their mobile phones. There would be a mobile interface
at the front end for the farmers and web interface at the back end for the
agricultural experts. The system allows transmitting data through voice, text,
images and videos from both ends (farmers to expert and back). Furthermore,
a farmer can call the system to get any information as well as to get agro-
advisory. This system will provide options to farmers to subscribe to the various
information services. A farmer will receive information (SMS/ voice call/ data
on smart phone) for only those services for which she/he has subscribed to and
has an option at a later date to either select some more services, or unsubscribe
to some of the existing services. The system will be connected to a centralized
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 17

database, which should have all the information on farms, farmers and previous
transactions. The experts at back end (data centre and virtual expert) can
access the database of the farmers while responding the farmer’s queries. The
major component of the proposed m4agriNEI system is as follows: Personalised
Agro-Advisory by having an advisory lab (Query Processing Lab) with the
components such as web-based virtual lab, virtual experts, and web-based Expert
Support System (ESS) software. Further, information aggregation and
dissemination system has been established with the Quality Control Team
(QCT). The salient features of m4agriNEI system are IVRS, smart phone
application, web application, expert support system, and centralized database.
The m4agriNEI project was initiated since June, 2012, in the four districts of
Meghalaya, North-East India. The m4agriNEI is being implemented by Central
Agricultural University (CAU) and Media Lab Asia. The project experiments
with the smart phone based agro-advisory system (m4agriNEI project folder,
2013).

(Source: Medial LLab Asia- CAU- m4agriNEI Project Proposal Document, 2012)
Fig. 10: Working Architecture of m4agriNEI
18 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

3.1.11. mKisan
The mKisan project has been launched with the support of mFarmer initiative
challenge fund. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), India is
implementing the mKisan project in partnership with Handygo technologies, a
mobile value adding service provider, CABI South Asia, and Digital Green, an
NGO for video enabled extension. The project proposes to develop a
comprehensive agro-advisory services for small holders with access to a mobile
phone in India. The project has objectives such as to provide daily bulletins on
agro-meteorology, crop pest and livestock diseases outbreaks, market
information, and information on local service provision sources and information
access to women farmers. The CABI will be providing scientifically validated
and actionable information from its “Direct2Farm Repository”. mKisan project
aims to reach-out one million small holder farmers in the states of Utter Pradesh,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in India,
over a 24 month period (ILRI project profile, 2012).

3.1.12. AGMET Services by IMD

India Meteorological Department (IMD) delivers Agro-meteorology services
to farmers by public-private partnership with the mobile service providers such
as Reuters Market Light (RML), Handygo, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited
(IKSL), Nokia Life Tools and State Govt. of Maharashtra.

3.1.13. Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF)

In the states of Manipur and Meghalaya, India, IASF is currently catering to
the needs of 1886 registered farmers in six districts of Meghalaya and nine
districts of Manipur which uses the platform to redress of their farm related
problems. Fifty Subject Matter Specialists are also registered in the portal to
respond to farmers’ queries.
The project is funded by the Department of Information and Technology,
Government of India, and was launched in collaboration with the Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Mumbai, the Department of
Agriculture, Government of Meghalaya, Farm Science Centres (Krishi Vigyan
Kendras) of Meghalaya, the Department of Agriculture, Government of Manipur
and Central Agricultural University, Imphal. The farmers’ queries related to
Insect Management, Disease Management, Weed Management, Rice Variety
Selection and Fertilizer Management along with their solutions (by an agriculture
expert from his/her registered mobile phone via SMS to 51969) are stored in a
database, thus forming a large database which the farmers can access anytime
in case of contingencies (IASF, 2013).
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 19

Fig. 11: Working Structure of IASF ([Link], 2013)

3.1.14. Kissan Kerala

It is a multi-modal agricultural information system for farmers of Kerala by the
Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala, in collaboration with Indian
Institute of Information Technology and Management – Kerala (IIITM-K).
The Kissan mobile-based advisory services provides the farmers with up-to-
date agricultural information through SMS based service (both push and pull),
voice-based agro-advisory service and videos in the local language. The farmers
can register to the service either by sending SMS or can register online
([Link], 2013).

3.1.15. Kisan Help Line

Since 2012, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, has started a help line for the
farmers of the region. The farmers can call on the helpline number 0641-2451035
and ask their queries to the agricultural scientists from different streams. The
helpline works from 10 a.m to 5 p.m on all working days.

3.2. Mobile Advisory Services by the Private Sector

3.2.1. Lifelines India

Connectivity by innovative mix of internet and telephony reaches 200 000 farmers
in 2130 villages in four states of India ([Link]) with more than
400,000 questions and answers in their knowledge base and eight completed
20 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

crop cycles. It operates in partnership mode with other organisations and NGOs.
Lifelines India- Soochna Se Samadhan (Solutions through Information), is an
initiative to use the power of voice as the primary means of information
dissemination. It facilitates the exchange of critical and timely information
among marginalised communities so that it helps in improving their quality of
life. It aims to provide connectivity, content and capabilityvia a phone-based
service. Specifically, it will provide grassroot communities with access to wide
information and knowledge pool.
OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) with the support of British Telecom and CISCO
systems is piloting the service in North India in partnership with other civil
society organizations. British Telecom and CISCO Systems have supported the
initiative as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme which
assumes that access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
can improve people’s lives and open doors to education, jobs, entertainment
and interactions. The technology solution development has been supported by
Tech Mahindra and WIPRO.
The farmer calls a designated number using a land line/mobile telephone. The
call first reaches the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) where she/he
registers the query with the help of a voice menu. The query is stored as a
voice clip in a database server. The knowledge worker (KW) logs in to the
application through a web interface, views all the calls that are waiting for
attention, and searches the FAQ database for the answers. If the KW finds
the answer, it is retrieved and stored in the IVRS. If the answer is not found,
the KW forwards the question to the subject matter experts. Once a response
is received from any of the subject matter experts, the application alerts the
KW, who examines the response and if appropriate, stores the answer in the
database and makes it available for future queries. Voice Clip of the answer is
played back to the farmer when he/she calls back.
The information can also be retrieved in text format from the Information Centre
near the village. The farmers can send pictures along with their questions, and
also voice clips to clarify on the issue (Soochna Se Samadhan, 2009).
Lifelines India which was launched in 2006 as an information delivery service
at the grassroots was started in 700 villages in north and central India (Lall and
Sahi, 2009), in partnership with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals
and TARAhaat. Local volunteers will facilitate the use of the service by the
farmers. The farmers can also visit the nearest information centre to access
the offline database in local language, listen to the audio clips and also to send
pictures of affected crops (Saravanan, 2010).
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 21

([Link]/decn/cr/[Link])
Fig. 12: Information Dissemination Pattern in Lifelines India

3.2.2. Fisher Friend

QUALCOMM, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Tata Tele-
services and Asute System Technology jointly implemented mobile based advisory
services (instant access to helpful information such as weather conditions, where
they can and cannot fish and seeking information on market prices) to fishing
communities of costal Tamil Nadu since, 2007. Due to technical challenges,
availability of services only 5 nautical miles created mixed impact. Some of
successful case studies on mobile services impact were reported by Mittal et
al., 2010.
QUALCOMM, MSSRF, Tata Tele-services and Astute System Technology
collaborated to develop a Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW)-
based mobile application, which empowers fishing communities in India. Fisher
Friend is a mobile application, which is based on QUALCOMM’s BREW solution
and works on 3G CDMA and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple
Access) handsets. The new application allows fishing communities to use ICT
and wireless technology to earn their livelihood. Fishermen can send request
form from menu-driven client software on the mobile phone. Fishermen can
access vital updates on opportunities, risk and market information in their local
language. Presently, the application is implemented in the coastal areas of Tamil
Nadu, India. Fisher Friend project aims to be extended to other communities in
22 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

the coastal belts of India (News-i4d, 2009).

3.2.3. Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP)- Query Redress

Services (QRS)
QRS enables ISAP to provide solutions to farmers’ queries pertaining to
agricultural practices, problems, productivity improvement, scientific farming
and improved technology for production to farming community. This service is
based on an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), wherein farmers can
register their queries by dialing a dedicated number. ‘Soochna-Se-Samadhan’
is a programme owned by OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) and funded by CISCO
and British Telecom. This is facilitated through ISAP field coordinators and
ISAP experts provide answers to these queries within 24 hours. The programme
is being run in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh. More than 10 000 queries per month from 280 villages are responded
under this program ([Link]

3.2.4. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL)

Through voice messages in local languages. 95 000 voice messages have been
delivered and 81 000 Q&A repository with 5 000 feedback messages from the
farmers have been received. 1.3 million active farmers are benefiting from
IKSL’s Value Added Services and IKSL enrollment has crossed four million
with forty thousand cooperative societies operating as IKSL Retailers
([Link]).
Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s leading integrated telecommunications services
provider, and Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative limited (IFFCO) launched
a joint venture company IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) in 2008, that is
set to provide a major boost to Indian agriculture and the rural economy at
large. The joint venture company will harness the power of telecom to add
value to the farm sector and empower the rural farmer by giving him access to
vital information, which will enhance his livelihood and quality of life. Innovative
telecom products and services, especially created for the farming community,
will enhance their productivity and play a bigger role in India’s growth story.
The Indian farmer can now look forward to the benefits of mobile telephony
and mobile internet through this initiative. Synergizing on IFFCO’s presence in
about 98 per cent of villages throughout the country, Airtel would use IKSL as
a vehicle to make its mobile telecom services reach the rural masses (IFFCO,
2008). IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd. is, therefore, a unique venture to strengthen
the Cooperative movement in rural India, to empower the farmers through
information, to boost the rural economy, and also to create rural employment.
IKSL will offer products and services, specifically designed for farmers, through
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 23

IFFCO societies in villages across the country. On offer will be affordable

mobile handsets bundled with Airtel mobile connection. The farmers will also
get access to a unique VAS platform that will broadcast five free voice messages
on mandi prices, farming techniques, weather forecasts, dairy farming, animal
husbandry, rural health initiatives and fertiliser availability etc. on a daily basis.
In addition, the farmer will be able to call a dedicated helpline, manned by
experts from various fields, to get answers to their specific queries. This is
IKSL

Database Specialist Farmers

Input companies 5 messages per day (free)

Universities
Q P
Research u a
a I More info
l d
i
t
y
control • IKSL Experts
•Helpline (24/7)

Fig. 13: Information Dissemination Pattern in IKSL

expected to promote community building within the society and rural community
at large ([Link]

3.2.5. Reuters Market Light (RML)

Micro-information Services designed specifically for the farming community
was launched by RML in 2007. It currently covers over 440 crops and varieties
with more than 1 400 markets and 2 800 weather locations of 15 000 villages in
13 States of India. Timely and personalized information and individual farmers
have reaped significant return on their investment achieving up to INR 200 000
($ 4 000) of additional profits, and savings of nearly INR 400 000 ($8000) by
using RML ([Link]).

3.2.6. Farmers’ Helpline by Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited

24 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

Telephonic help lines called “Hello Uttam” have been set-up. Farmers can
raise issues over phone by calling one of the local numbers of “Hello Uttam”
helpline ([Link]

3.2.7. mKRISHI by TATA Consultancy Services

mKrishi sucessfully pilot tested in Maharastra (Pande and Arve, 2009) and
Punjab (Pande et al., 2011). mKrishi is having three combimnation of services
using Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), mobile based and automatic
weather station information integrated service to the farmers (http://
[Link]). Initially mKrishi was pilot tested among the grape growing
farmers of Bargaon village in Maharastra state of India. Camera enabled mobile
phones with mKrishi aplication software were distributed to the farmers.
Automatic weather station with weather, soil and leaf wetness sensors were
installed at the farmers’ fields. This set-up was connected to a wireless modem
to send the dynamic weather and soil information to the expert over a cellular
network. The camera in the mobile phone was used to send high resolution

(Pande et al., 2011)

Fig. 14: Integration of Several Technologies for mKrishi Solutions
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 25

pictures of the crop to the experts. Farmers uploaded fertilizer and pesticide
history of the crop through the mobile phone having mKrishi client application
software. A local person was deputed to assist the farmers to feed the
information throrugh the mobile. Remotely located experts from the Rallis
(A Tata Company) got the farmer specific information and provide personalised
advisory to the farmers. The mobile software design interface was provided in
the local language. During the nine months of field trial, farmers opined that the
mKrishi service was very useful, especially during the critical stages of the
crop growth (Pande and Arve, 2009).
Pande et al., (2011) indicated that “mKrishi has been successful in taking the
farm to the expert rather than asking expert to visit farm”. mKrishi solutions
have been developed to integrate the technologies of sensors, solar power,

Mo bile
Information and Advice
Agro-Adviso ry System

Mobile 1. Fertilizer
based 2. Pesticide/ Insecticide
3. Farming Best Practices
Agro-
Advisory 4. Herbicide
System 5. Micro-nutrients
6. Availability of the products
7. Yellow Pages
8. Govt. Polices
9. Loans and Insurance
10. Alert Services
Platform 11. Health Care
12. Education
13. Railway and Bus Timings

\\\
(Pande et al., 2011)
Fig. 15: Schematic Diagram of the mKrishi Information and Advisory Solutions
CDMA technology, Global Positioning System, mobile handset with camera,
handset application environment, expert console software servers, and
application engines for content localisation (Pande et al., 2011).

The second phase of mKrishi deployment was carried out in the state of Punjab
by the Reviving the Green Revolution (RGR) initiative of the Sri Ratan Tata
Trust (SRTT) and Punjab Agricultural University. mKrsihi was implemented
among 120 farmers in six villages for disseminating best practices along with
the Decision Support System on IPM for Cotton and Wheat crops. The project
funded 80% subsidy for a handset to a farmer and the farmer need to pay a
subscription fee Rs. 100 per month. mKrishi enabled farmers to send queries
26 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

(text/vice/pictures) to the experts by using mobile phones, and experts at the

remote location (Punjab Agricultural University) can view or listen the farmers’
queries with the dashboard view on farmers’ profile, farming history and other
farm field data which enabled better services to the farmers (Pande et al.,
2011).

3.2.8. Nokia Life Tools

Nokia Life Tools is a range of services which include agriculture, education
and entertainment services designed specially, for the consumers in small towns
and rural areas of the emerging markets. The service provides timely and relevant
information customized to the user’s location and personal preferences directly
on their mobile phones. Nokia Life Tools Agriculture services aim to plug the
information gaps and needs of farmers by providing information on seeds,
fertilizers, pesticides, market prices, and weather (temperature, rainfall, wind

(Blom, 2009)
Fig. 16: Nokia Life Tools

conditions) via their mobile phones. Information on weather, agriculture tips

and techniques, as well as market prices are provided to improve farmers’
productivity and earnings. Farmers are empowered with tailored and reliable
information in sync with the cropping cycles delivered regularly to their mobile
phones ([Link]

3.2.9. KHETI (Knowledge Help Extension Technology Initiative)

KHETI, has been implemented since August, 2008, by the Sironj Crop Producers’
Company (SCPCL), which is a co-operative of small farmers from the villages
around Sironj in Madya Pradesh State of India with the financial support from
the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council. KHETI provided
solutions by integrating mobile phones, the internet and desktop computers, and
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 27

(Dearden et al., 2012)

Fig. 17: Kheti-Using the IVRS System

(Dearden et al., 2012)

Fig. 18: Using Short Dialogue Strips to Seek Advice
also by using Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) (Dearden et al.,
2012). The main features of KHETI solutions are: members’ profiles, member
land details, crop POP profiles, Short Dialogue Strips (SDS), synchronising
conversation of mobile with server and recording conversation by mobile,
transfer of conversation from mobile to server (Rizvi, 2010).
Kheti software has three major components: a mechanism for recording and
logging telephone conversations between the farmers and the advisor, software
28 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

on mobile camera phones to create Short Dialogue Strips (SDS), and web
database of the farmers. The local facilitator (service provider) called “Munna”
was responsible to visit 5-6 villages at least once a week to each village with
the camera enabled mobile phones. Five local facilitators regularly visited 28
villages and initiated the discussion with the farmers. Based on the discussion,
farming issues were identified and SDS were created by the facilitators and
sent for expert advice. Next morning, based on SDS information, a conversation
between an expert and a farmer takes place through the facilitators’ mobile
phones (Dearden et al., 2012).

3.2.10. Behtar Zindagi (Better Life)

Behtar Zindagi was conceived by the Handygo’ product team and based on
Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) on mobile in the regional languages
to reach the rural population to deliver voice based information services on
improved package of practices in agriculture. Information on commodity prices
(mandi rate), weather forecast & agro-met advisory, advisory for fisherman &
management of inland fisheries, managing livestock, women & child health,
HIV & STDs and towards reducing mortality rate, rural finance & ongoing
Govt. schemes, education & self employment options in rural sector are also
provided. The service can be accessed by dialling the number 556780 (toll
free) from a mobile phone. The key features of voice based mobile rural service
- “Behtar Zindagi’ are: Information delivery in 20 regional languages covering a
wide range of information touching every aspect of rural life, content sourced
from Govt. institutions and state level universities, giving platform to many Govt.
organizations to disseminate information, state level content segregation delivered
through regional voice based menu, irrespective of whichever handset used
and 24X7 availability. Behtar Zindagi provides state wise information on
cultivation practices on all the major crops, best practices, recent technologies,
integrated farming system, animal husbandry and dairying and livestock integrated
farming system. Costal fisheries advisory is a unique voice based service for
the fishermen of India and the fishermen can find out the Potential Fishing
Zones (PFZs), wind speed, wave height, cyclones and earth quake alerts across
eight states having costal area by dialling the number 556780 (toll free) from
mobile (Jain, 2011).

3.2.11. Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management Decision Support System

Ekgaon Technologies and Farmers Federation (Kazhi Kadamadai Farmers
Federation-KKFF) implemented a pilot project to provide simple, customized
and effective last mile accessibility tool for nutrient inputs and management in
paddy cultivation by using Short Message Service (SMS) and Interactive Voice
Response System (IVRS) through mobile phones, and also provides detailed
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 29

information through web pages (Raj et al., 2010). The project was applied to
216 farmers who are members of KKFF in five villages of Nagapattinam district
of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Data on farmers’ fields, crop and nutrient
management history was collected by field survey using interview schedules
and supplemented by farmers’ meetings and focussed group discussions. Based
on farmers’ field and crop data, SMS/ voice alerts were delivered to the
registered mobile phones of the farmers. These alerts were synchronized with
the age and date of sowing of the crop. Through this system each farmer
received approximately 106-110 SMS alerts on crop cultivation practices with
nutrient management advice during the cropping season of four months. Every

(Raj et al., 2010)

Fig. 19: Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management Decision Support System Design

farmer was visited fortnightly to verify whether they have implemented all the
alerts received by them and at the same time, whether they had sent the
implementation reports to the server. The confirmation on field activity by the
farmers has been facilitated through SMS and IVRS and automatically updated
on the central data base on a real time basis (Raj et al., 2010).
Impact assessment among the registered farmers and control group indicated
that farmers using this system were able to increase their income by 15% and
got Rs. 475 (USD 42.5) additional income per acre in a four month cultivation
period (Raj et al., 2011).

3.2.12. Awaaz De (Give your voice)

30 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

([Link]
Fig. 20: Schematic Diagram of Awaaz De Software Platform

Awaaz. De is a software platform enabling organizations to engage with poor,

remote, and marginal communities by providing on-demand, many-to-many
information access through mobile phones. People access [Link] applications
by dialling regular phone numbers to create, browse, and share voice (http://
[Link]).
It is centered around [Link]’s voice message broadcast functionality. With
streams, anybody can create a stream or voice message group, which is
accessible over a unique, dedicated phone number. Then they need to add
members to join particular stream, and they get a welcome SMS with a reminder
that they can unsubscribe at any time by calling the dedicated number and
pressing number 9. Then they post a voice message on the flyvia phone by
calling the stream’s dedicated phone number, or web upload. Next, each of
their group members automatically gets a phone call to listen to the message. In
case they miss the call or their phone is off, they can call back the stream’s
dedicated number and listen; an SMS notification follows each broadcast phone
call. Non-members can request to join in the group by calling the dedicated
number and submitting a join request. One way to think of streams is a Voice
Twitter.
Streams allow two-way communication between a member and their group
members. Members can record voice message responses to the broadcasts,
enter touch-tone input or can call into the dedicated stream phone number to
give their voice.
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 31

([Link]
Fig. 21: Schematic Diagram of Awaaz De Admin Console

(http:/[Link]/mobile-tools/awaazde)
Fig. 22: Schematic Diagram of Awaaz De Working Mechanism

From the web, streams allows one to create groups, schedule broadcasts, listen
to community member responses, manage group membership, upload a custom
greeting message, and more. Setting up a stream is absolutely free, and it takes
only a few seconds. After setup, one can choose to have pay-per-usage or free
stream ([Link]

3.2.13. Spoken Web

VoiKiosk (Avaaj Otalo) is like voice-based information kiosk or voice

32 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

based portal. VoiKiosk is designed and developed by IBM Research to reach

out to masses based on oral communication, which is the forte of a country like
India. Voikiosks are a central point of access for a community where information
relevant to the community can be posted and accessed directly by the users

(IBM-ILRI Workshop Brochure, 2010)

Fig. 23a: Architecture of VoiKiosk

([Link])
Fig. 23b: Architecture of Voikiosk
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 33

themselves. This solution doesn’t rely on internet connectivity. It allows end

users to directly interact with the services removing the dependence on the
kiosk operator. VoiKiosk is a voice based service available on the Telecom
network and based on World Wide Telecom Web technology (http://
[Link]/section_full_story.asp?id=669).
The basic principle of Spoken Web lies in creating a system analogous to the
World Wide Web using a technology most of us all have in common - speech.
Spoken Web helps people create voice sites using a simple telephone, mobile or
landline. The user gets a unique phone number which is analogous to a URL
and when other users access this voice site they get to hear the content uploaded
there. Interestingly, all these voice sites can be interlinked creating a massive
network, which can work like the World Wide Web. Spoken Web has a huge
potential in the developing regions, where most of the people are either illiterate
or cannot afford a PC, but many of them own a mobile phone and can speak in
their local language ([Link]
[Link]). A study conducted by Cole and Fernando (2012) on cotton
farmers in Gujarat indicated that Awaaz Otalo (AO) was the main source of
information among the farmers (58%) who knew about the service and accessed
it by a toll free number and preferred it to public extension service and sources
like fellow farmers, input dealers, etc. It was also observed that the farmers
after accessing the service were more aware about usage of pesticides and
avoided the hazardous ones, opted for diversity of crops and developed a wide
knowledge base after accessing the service.

3.2.14. Mrittikka
Mrittikka is a mobile phone and web-based online/offline application for the soil
nutrient analysis and recommendation to the farmers. Mrittikka is a joint venture
between Grameen Intel Social Business Limited and eKutir Social Business,
Orissa, India. Based on the type of crop, soil type, size of the land, planting
season, and irrigation access, Mrittikka recommends specific fertilizers and
application amounts along with proper application method, source of fertilizer
availability and cost estimation ([Link]/products/agriculture/
mrittika).

3.2.15. Fasal
Fasal is a free SMS based product connecting rural farmers to buyers and
provides them up-to-date price information. Fasal, which started in 2008,
establishes buyer-seller connection using SMS. The service is currently available
in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Farmers can register by calling a
toll free number to the local language call centres at 1800 102 8767 and a Fasal
34 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

agent creates a profile of that farmer with location, crops grown, farm size,
cropping dates, personal assets, annual income, etc. The farmers then receive
personalised SMS based on his crops and location from time to time. Moreover,
Fasal facilitates the relationship between buyer and sellers by finding market
places and determining market rates using comples and patented matching

([Link] 2013)
Fig. 24: Fasal Project Working Mechanism

algorithms and creating an online marketplace. Farmers can also access the
call centres any time at the toll free number. More than 1.5 million farmers are
currently registered to the service and the income level of the farmers accessing
the service has been found to increase by around Rs. 15,000 (USD 250)per
month ([Link] 2013).

3.2.16. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Ltd. (KRKL)

A Joint venture of Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO) and
Reliance Communication Limited, KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Ltd. was launched
in 2009 to provide value added services related to agriculture to the farmers of
rural India. KRKL aims to create a distribution model that will cover 72 per
cent of the rural population through its network of over 25 000 cooperatives, 6
300 member cooperatives and 60 Krishi Seva Kendras (Reliance, 2013).

3.2.17. Videokheti
Videokheti, developed by Microsoft Research India in collaboration with Digital
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 35

Green, an NGO, is a multimodal interface with speech, graphics, and touch on

a smart phone or tablet designed to make available to the farmers agricultural
videos on a click and in their own dialect. There are a total of 147 videos are

Choose 1 out of 22 crops

Crop

Crop Pre-sowing Success stories Sowing + crop Harvesting

cycle management

Action Interculture
Harvesting Post
harvesting
Field Germination Irrigation Nutrient
preparation test management

Seed Seed Sowing Disease

selection treatment management

Method
Choice of 3 Choice of 5 Choice of 3 Choice of 5
methods methods methods methods

(Cuendet et. al., 2013)

Fig. 25: Navigation tree of the application

(Cuendet et. al., 2013)

Fig. 26: A screenshot of the application

36 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

available in the application for 22 crops classified and organized in four levels
according to their content: crop, crop cycle, type of action, and type of method.
The four levels are organised in a navigation tree for easier user interface. It
uses SALAAM Automatic Speech Recogniser (ASR) to create a multimodal
interface with speech, touch and graphics to make it easy-to-use for low literate
farmers in rural areas.
In the study conducted by Cuendet et al. (2013) to understand the effectiveness
of the application in rural settings, it was found that the higher literates were
more efficient in handling the application than the lower educated ones. Even in
understanding the voice guided navigation, the well-educated were better.
However, the tendency to use speech navigation was more, compared to graphics
among the respondents.

3.2.18. Mandi Bhav

Launched jointly by Tata Teleservices and Impetus Technologies, Mandi Bhav
is a value added service aimed at providing commodity prices to farmers in
rural areas. Available to Tata Indicom subscribers, Mandi Bhav provides real
time market prices to farmers and commodity traders from approximately 3000
local commodity markets across the country for about 500 major commodities
on various platforms like J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition), BREW,
Wireless Apllication Protocol (WAP) and SMS charging Rs 30 (USD 0.5)per
month for this service. The application supports Hindi, English and Marathi
with plans of adding more languages irrespective of the handset model (The
Financial Express, 2009).

3.2.19. Kisan Sanchar

Initially started for informing daily prices of Basmati rice to farmers under
Contract Farming Project in 2008, Kisan Sanchar by Srishti Gyan Kendra, a
Rohtak based NGO, at present caters to 34,483 farmers in seven states of
India. Mobile based field advisory services are provided to the registered farmers
free of cost on their crops and allied professions. The service is sponsored by
Indian Council of Agricultural Research and is provided in collaboration with
ten State Agricultural Universities and their KVKs. At the beginning, the SMS
alerts were sent using SMS plan of service providers and a specific number so
that farmers would not get confused. Later the system was changes to online
content management. Even though the service is free for farmers, any institution
willing to provide the service to farmers have to pay Rs. 3 000 (USD 50) as
annual registration fee. Due to this service, Haryana State Co-operative Supply
and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED) is now able to procure paddy
from 90 per cent of its contact farmers whereas earlier, it was able to procure
from only 15-20 per cent of them (Mittal, 2012).
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 37

3.2.20. Warana Unwired

This project by Warana Cooperative, a sugarcane farmers’ group and Microsoft
Research India was launched in January, 2006, and was functional till November,
2007. The project was mainly an up-scaling of the previous Warana Wired
Village project where agricultural information was passed on to the farmers of
the region through kiosks. But in the up-scaled version, mode of information
transfer was mobile phones with the aim of making it faster and efficient.
An SMS alert is sent through SMS toolkit which provides a PC-based
programmable interface to SMS messaging via a connection to an SMS sending/
receiving port. A single PC is connected to the Warana Cooperative’s server,

(Veeraraghavan et al., 2009)

Fig. 27: Warana Unwired Working Mechanism
one Windows mobile smartphone as a server phone is connected as SMS sending/
receiving port and a number of cell phones are used to replace the PC’s in the
village kiosks. The SMS toolkit provides a software filter to intercept the incoming
messages which are forwarded to the agent running in the PC. Farmers and
kiosk operators send messages via basic mobile handsets to the server phone.
The server system receives the message and looks up the information in the
database. The gateway then sends back a reply SMS containing the information
requested (Veeraraghavan et al., 2009).

3.2.21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory System (MAAS)

Launched in 2009 by the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT-M),
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in collaboration with National Agro
Foundation (NAF), Erode Precision Farm Producer’s Company Ltd. (EPFPCL),
38 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

(Sriram et al., 2013)

Fig. 28: Schematic Diagram of Mobile Phone based Data Collection and Periodical Updates
of Farming Details

(Sriram et al., 2013)

Fig. 29: Flow Chart on Farmer’s Registration and Expert’s Advisory to the Farmer
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 39

Dharmapuri Precision Farmers Agro Services Ltd. (DPFASL) and sponsored

by Indian Council of Agricultural Research – National Agricultural Innovation
Project (ICAR-NAIP), the basic objective of the initiative is to provide multi-
media agro-advisory to the farmers through SMS and voice based interactive
system. The service is further strengthened by Global Positioning System (GPS)
and Geographical Information System (GIS) to further strengthen the data source
for more personalised information. The system does not develop any agricultural
information but helps the farmers to get in touch with agricultural experts for
answers to their queries (TNAU, 2013).

3.2.22. Kissan SMS Portal

With the aim of reaching agricultural information, advisories and services to
more than 120 million farm families of the country, the Government of India
launched Kissan SMS Portal ([Link]) in 2013. SMS regarding
weather forecast, weather alerts, advisories on outbreak of disease/pests of
plants and animals, crop advisories on appropriate technologies suited to local
situations, etc., advisories on new or most suitable crop variety/ animal breed,
market information, information on schemes and programs of Government of
India and soil test results will be delivered to the farmers completely free of
cost. Language opted by the farmer at the time of registration will be used for
sending the messages (PIB, 2013).

3.2.23. Mahaagri SMS

This techno-social networking project is launched by Department of Agriculture,
Government of Maharashtra. A total of three lakh farmers from forty-thousand
villages have registered for the service since its launch on August, 2009. Advisory
dissemination for market intelligence and for price realization of farm produce
through scientific storage facilities and commodity markets for farmers is being
integrated in this service in collaboration with state Marketing Board and State
Warehousing Corporation. Indian Agro Meteorology Department delivers location
specific Agro-met advisory to the farmers. Under this project, SMS can be sent
to the farmers by Block/Taluka Agriculture officer, Sub-Divisional Agriculture
Officer, District Superintending Agriculture Officer, Divisional Joint Director,
Director Agriculture, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture
and scientists from State Agriculture Universities. From April, 2012 to July,
2013, 58.5 million messages were sent to the farmers under the project (DoA,
GoM, 2013).
40 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

3.2.24. aAqua Mini

Designed for the mobile browser and working in a revenue generating model,
aAqua Mini is the handset compatible version of aAqua by Agrocom and designed
by Development Informatics Lab at IIT Bombay. The services are broadly to
the farmers and include localized crop diagnostic solutions, audio prompted
guide application in English, Hindi and Marathi, disease diagnostics based on
remote crop and land properties, micro weather information and SMS enabled
register and query mechanism on GSM and CDMA networks.

3.3. Other Mobile Applications in Agriculture

3.3.1. mFMS
Mobile based Fertilizer Monitoring System (mFMS) is a mobile based tracking
of fertilizer movement up-to retailer level. Daily fertilizer stock and sales
information by the wholesalers and retailers will be documented. mFMS
facilitates web, mobile and IVRS based access channels for the stakeholders
([Link]

3.3.2. Nano Ganesh

Nano Ganesh is a mobile based remote control system for controlling water
pumps. The device has been designed to help farmers save time, water and
energy and increasing crop yields. Nano Ganesh is manufactured by the Ossian
Agro-Automation Pvt. Ltd, India. Calls made to the pump are free to the farmer
([Link]

4. An Analysis on Mobile for Agricultural Extension Projects in

India

4.1. Public Vs Private Initiatives (Free Vs Business Model)

Among public sectors, research-extension organisations (ICAR-KVKs),
University (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) and commodity based research
and development institute (Rubber Board) providing services in colloboration
with information technology and software solution providers such as; Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC) were collaborating with content providers. Interestingly,
private initiatives are from the NGOs (MSSRF, IASP etc.), Co-operatives
(IFFCO), and also from the business firms (Airtel, Nokia, TCS, Thomson &
Reuters etc.). Almost all the private players are exploring business model by
value addition in the information services and hence, innovating continuously
like mKrishi of TATA Consultancy Services. But, unfortunately, most of the
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 41

mobile based agro-advisory initiatives of the public sector provide routine

information with limited refinement and validation (Refer Annexure I for the
public-private m-agriculture initiatives in India).

4.2. Content Generation

The public sector mainly relies on their research resources (like universities
and ICAR institutes) for content generation but private sectors appoints dedicated
teams to generate location specific information and some of the them engaging
in partnerships with others who can provide better content (like Life Lines of
India having association with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals
(ISAP).

4.3. Partnership
Most of the mobile based projects had partnership with information technology
solution providers and agricultural technology experts like TNAU- C-DAC,
private mobile software solution providers and KVKs, Airtel-IFFCO etc.
Collaboration ensures better looking-after of the information needs of the farmers
and ensures a sustainable, as well as dynamic portal where the information is
updated regularly.

4.4. Information Coverage

Market and weather information and crop advisory are generally given by most
of the mobile based advisory services. However, preliminary analyses of Lifelines
of India indicate that majority (57 per cent) of the questions are on horticulture
sector followed by field crops (27 per cent) and animal husbandry and dairy (5
per cent).

4.5. Sustainability & Scaling-up

Few projects like IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited and Lifelines of India sustains
(system and financial sustainability) over the years and continue to expand
their services to the larger clients. However, most of the other projects are
stuck in pilot basis or not scaled-up. Projects like Warana Wired Village have
been up-scaled to Warana Unwired and pilot tested but has not yet been applied
on a long-term basis.

4.6. Cost Effectiveness

A sustainable revenue generating model as in aAqua, IKSL, Nokia Life Tools,
RML, SMS broadcast Service of KVK, Bhabaleshwar, Fisher Friend, etc. is
the main reason behind their sustainability for over a long period and benefits
42 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

the farmer ultimately. Even the farmers and subscribers are voicing the same
concern saying that the utility of the SMS alerts are more when they come with
a cost rather than free of cost (Bhaskar, 2013).

4.7. Voice Vs Text

The literacy rate of India might show an upward trend but as of now, there are
many farmers in rural areas who are illiterate or functionally illiterate as was
found in the study on KMAS in Meghalaya and for them, a voice or speech
guided system is far more effective than a simple text. In the preliminary study
of Videokheti, the researchers also experienced that the participants were more
interested in using the voice command rather than using the touch interface to
navigate among the videos in the application. The integration of IVRS is found
to be a common trend in most of the mobile based advisory system which is
also an indicator of the same.

4.8. Add-ons, Not Replacements

The projects for mobile based advisory systems have been found to be add-ons
rather than replacement of the existing ones with the negativities addressed.
Sustainability of the advisory systems beyond project period and without the
continued funding has been a problem with extension in India . While private
approaches like IKSL, Lifelines of India, RML are expanding their user base,
other projects are just being piled up in the growing list of mobile based advisory
services.

4.9. Research on impact

Impact studies of the projects after a certain period of project implementation
has been insignificant. Even though the number of subscribers is listed and
updated, studies regarding the actual impact of the project on the socio-economic
condition of the subscribers have been less. Individual researches have been
conducted for Kisan Call Centre, IKSL, Lifelines of India, Spoken Web, etc.,
but the integration of research to find-out the impact as in m4agriNEI has been
taken up by very few projects.

5. Key Ingredients for Success of the Mobile for Agricultural

Advisory Services
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 43

5.1. Partnership
Partnership with appropriate content generators and software solution providers
will be the key for success of the mobile based agricultural advisory services.

5.2. Content
Location specific and farmer specific contents are more useful to the farming
community than generalised contents. Further, additional information like
availability of fertilizers and pesticides in local areas, as found in the study on
KMAS in Meghalaya, is highly regarded and required by the farmers.

5.3. Media Mix

In addtion to text messages, voice, image and multimedia based services need
to be initiated to sustain momentum in the mobile advisory services, make them
more interactive and change with the changing needs of the next generation
users and mobile phones.

5.4. Innovation
Continued innovation and appropriate mobile application development is
necessary to ensure the sustainability of the services. Agricultural information
has moved beyond 60-80 character SMS and voice, pictures and videos are
more in demand. Development of applications for smart phones as well as
medium range phones can go a long way in increasing the effectiveness and
popularity of the service with mobile phones getting cheaper every day.

[Link]
Timeliness is a factor that impacts agricultural information to a great extent.
Late or too early messages do not have much utility for the farmers and ultimately
the service loses its credibility.

5.6. Quality and Credibility

The quality of the message sent to the farmer, irrespective of the format,
determines to a great extent the success of the service provided. Personalised
and location specific messages have more utility than general ones; real time
market price of commodities, price forecasts; weather and disease and pest
attack forecasts are much more desired than preventions. The credibility of the
service providers among the clientele is imporant for the sustainability of the
services.
44 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

6. Lessons
Most mobile based projects were operational as pilot projects. Except few
(IKSL, LifeLines India) most other projects were operated in a small scale.
Systematic impact studies are yet to be conducted. However, some of the
private initiatives are making a lot of promise for scaling up with innovative
business model (like IKSL). At the same time much hyped projects like Reuters
Market Light (RML) evaluation report by the experts from the Oxford University
and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) indicated no significant
impact among farmers due to mobile based market information services
(Fafchamps and Minten, 2012). At the same time farmers are paying for the
services of the IKSL where they feel value for agricultural information and
farmers’ enrolment is continuously increasing. An evaluation of Avaaz Otalo on
cotton farmers in Gujarat showed that the information source of the farmers
for taking major agricultural decisions changed from peer groups to the mobile
advisory service once it established credibility with the farmers. This indicates
the behavioural change of subscribers by reliable mobile advisory services. But
again, some attempts have failed to register with the subscribers like KMAS of
some of the KVKs as they did not properly address the needs of the farmers.
The need of information as text messages have changed and farmers are more
interested in voice, pictures and videos which give them a better idea about
agricultural methods and practices. With these needs, the services have evolved
fast. Kisan Call Centre, which was basically a land line (wired phones) based
pull service has given way to mobile applications for high end smart phones;
basic text messages in KMAS, mKrishi, etc. have evolved to voice messages
(IKSL) to multimedia content (m4agriNEI) to mobile applications (Videokheti).
The use of basic phones are reducing and making way for Enhanced Data
rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
enabled smart-phones. Operating systems of mobile phones have evolved a lot
with Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s iOS. Along with it
has increased the opportunity to evolve the research and development in mobile
for agricultural and rural development. Applications developed for Apple App
Store, Nokia Ovi Store, Nokia Marketplace can be accessed through 2G, 3G
and 4G internet connections. And with the prices of smart-phones coming down
and user base increasing every day, these applications can go a long way in
making agriculture both attractive and profitable. Even the nature of impact
studies have changed from mere calculation of user base to increase in income
of the subscribers, effect in their socio-economic conditions, their behavioural
changes before and after accessing the service to profit of the service providers
to make the projects sustainable and take them from pilot experiments to up-
scaled sustainable ones.
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 45

7. Conclusions and the Way Forward

Along with incredible opportunities, implementation of mobile applications also
poses a lot of challenges in India due to lack of mobile friendly and locally
relevant digital content, rural mobile infrastructure limitations (network and signal,
electricity problem), illiteracy, large number of local languages and tribal dialects.
Further, numbers of pilot projects are undertaken in project mode and after the
project period sustainability becomes the major hurdle. Hence, instead of
standalone projects, mobile based applications need to be integrated with ongoing
agricultural extension programmes and methods. Public –private partnerships
for project implementation and web to mobile, voice, image and text integrated
applications need to be developed to cater to the farmer specific information
and knowledge. Mobile based advisory services for farmers will be encouraged
from the National Agricultural Research System (Agricultural Universities, Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions and NGOs) in collaboration
with the technology solution providers such as IITs, C-DAC, Private (TCS,
Wipro, Nokia, Airtel etc). Based on farmers need assessment, location and
farmer specific information need to be generated in multimedia format for the
dissemination among the millions of farm families. Systematic studies on farmers’
Table 1. mAgri initiatives in India and their particulars
46

Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

1. Hello Uttam Chambel Fertilizers Mobiles 2000 Toll free telephone Any queries related Farmers of Free of
([Link] and Chemicals Landlines, number working on to farming can be Rajasthan, phones, cost
[Link]) Limited (Private) etc. IVRS platform asked using the Punjab, service
helpline numbers Uttar Pradesh
and Haryana
can access
the service
2. Via SMS (http:// Chambel Fertilizers GSM 2000 Push and pull Any crop and market Farmers of Free of
[Link] and Chemicals Limited based SMS related queries Rajasthan, Punjab, cost
.com) (Private) service Uttar Pradesh service
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

and Haryana
can access the
service
3. Kisan Call DAC, GoI; TCIL Mobile 2004 Accessible on toll Any queries related Accessible all Free service to
Centre(http:// and IFFCO phones, free telephone to agriculture are over India the farmers by
[Link]/) (Public & private) land line number working answered at three Ministry of
on IVRS platform levels Agriculture and
Co-operation,
Govt. of India
4. Lifelines of India One World South Mobiles 2006 Innovative mix of Agriculture Farmers of north Free of cost
([Link] Asia , British phones, telephony, internet and advisory services and central India service
Telecom & CISCO landlines and IVRS by voice mode through
(Private) mobile to the farmers
by IVRS and web

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

enabled system. Text

information, viewing
offline database,
listening voice clip
can be done from the
information centre near
to the farmers.
5. Warana Unwired Warna Sugarcane GSM and 2006 Pull based Personalized information Sugarcane farmers -
([Link] Co-operative and CDMA messages about crops and of Maharashtra
[Link]/en Microsoft Research market information
-us/um/india/projects India (Private)
/waranaunwired/)
6. Fisher Friend MSSRF and QUAL CDMA 2007 Software application Weather forecasting, Fishermen of Free of cost
([Link] COMM, Tata Tele- with dedicated market price, sea Tamil Nadu service
[Link]/media/ services, Astute icons on mobile wave height information,
videos/wireless-reach- System Technology phones fish shoal location via
(Private) satellite scan data
fisher-friend-project)

7. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar IFFCO and Airtel GSM 2007 SMS, Voice On a VAS platform, Service available Free of cost
Limited (Private) mobiles, messages farmers can know in 18 states of the service
(IKSL)([Link] landlines and farmers’ about mandi prices, country
Helpline on Green farming techniques,
SIM cards weather forecasts
and fertilizer
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

availability for free.

(Contd.)
47
 48
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

Every day farmers

receive 5 messages
each one minute long
voice messages.
Helpline for farmers
from Green SIM Card.
8. Reuters Market Light Reuters Group GSM 2007 SMS based service Localized pricing of Farmers of Subscription of
([Link] Plc.(Private) onion, soybean, pulses, Maharashtra and Rs 175 for 3
[Link]/) pomegranate, etc., Punjab months,
weather updates, Rs 350 for 6
agriculture news. months,
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

Rs 650 for 1
year

9. DMI (Dynamic TNAU & C-DAC, GSM 2008 SMS to the Daily market information Registered farmers Service is free
Market Information) Hyderabad registered farmers by SMS on 161 of Tamil Nadu. of cost.
([Link] and uploading in perishable commodities
[Link]/dmi/2013/) e-Agriculture web from 13 markets of
portals South India.
10. Fasal Intuit (Private) GSM and 2008 Push and pull Personalized SMS Farmers of Gujarat, Service is free
([Link] CDMA based SMS based on crops and Andhra Pradesh of cost
location of the farmer; and Karnataka
market prices of
different commodities
of the farmers’ interest

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

11. KHETI Sironj Crop Producers’ Mobile, 2008 Integrates mobile Any crop related Farmers of Service is free
Company (SCPCL) landlines phones, the internet queries Madhya Pradesh of cost
and UK Engineering and desktop
and Physical computers and
Science Research IVRS
Council(Private)
12. Kisan Sanchar Srishti Gyan Kendra GSM and 2008 Push based SMS Personalized Caters to 34,483 Free of cost
([Link] and ICAR CDMA service information about farmers in seven service
[Link]/) (Private & public) crops and allied states of India and
professions of the agriculture
farmers are given professionals
13. Nano Ganesh Ossian Agro Mobile 2008` - Connected with Tata Farmers of -
([Link] Automation application Indicom mobile phone Maharashtra
[Link]/) (Private) and a modem that
attaches to the starter
of the electric pump,
it switches on and off
the pump starter and
also signals the
farmers on availability
of electricity.

14. SMS Broadcast KVK, GSM 2008 Farmers receive Weather forecast, Farmers of
Service Babhaleshwar SMS. Mostly push disease forecast, Ahmednagar District,
([Link] (Public) based agro-advisory market information,etc.; Gujarat.(Saravanan
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
49
 50
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

[Link]/) services. information on training

R, 2010)
to farmers’ SMS to the farmers
organizations,etc. against Rs. 100
subscription fee for
one year
15. Avaaj Otalo IBM Research Mobiles Voice based portal. Any information related Accessible in Free of cost
(Voikiosk/ Spokenweb) (Private) and Portal can be to agriculture can be selected villages service
([Link] landlines accessed by accessed on the kiosk in Andhra
com/p/avaajotalo/) dialing a number. using a wired or Pradesh
wireless phone.
16. Kissan Kerala Dept. Of Agriculture, 2009 SMS based SMS based information
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

([Link] Govt. of Kerala(Public) information services, service, voice based Registered farmers Normal SMS
net/sms/[Link]) voice based Agri. agro-advisory service, in Kerala charge as per
advisory services, videos, SMS alerts service
and videos though regarding schemes, providers.
the mobile; both training programs, Farmers can
push and pull ‘Krishideepam’. also use free
SMS package
by service
providers.
17. mKRISHI Tata Consultancy CDMA 2009 mKrishi Lite – IVR Information on Registered farmers Subscription
([Link] Services SmKrishi Regular – microclimate, fertilizer of Punjab, Uttar based service
offerings/technology- mobile appmKrishi dose, market info both Pradesh, (Annual
products/mKRISHI/ Plus – Weather info in voice activated Maharashtra, subscription fee
Pages/[Link]) using Automated service and SMS Gujarat, Andhra Rs. 300).

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

Weather Station Pradesh, Tamil

(AWS) Nadu and
Rajasthan
18. Mandi Bhav BSNL, Tata Tele Software 2009 Available to Tata Real -time price updates Accessible all over Free of cost
([Link] Services and application Indicom subscribers from different commodity India
circle/vas/gsm/ Impetus on mobile on various platforms markets (mandis) based
vas_new.html) technologies phones like J2ME, BREW, on the list of states,
(Public and private) WAP and SMS markets and
commodities available
on the application
(which are updated
from the server).
The application provides
mandi rates from 3000
mandis across India,
covering more than
500 commodities.
19. MAHAAGRI SMS Department of CDMA 2009 Push based SMS can be sent to Registered Service is
([Link] Agriculture, and SMS service the farmers by Block/ farmers of free of cost
[Link]/) Government of GSM Taluka Agriculture Maharashtra
Maharashtra officer, Sub Divisional
(Public) Agriculture Officer,
Dist. Superintending
Agriculture Officer,
Divisional Joint Director,
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
51
 52
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

Director Agriculture,
Commissioner
Agriculture, Secretary
Agriculture and
scientists from State
Agriculture Universities;
Location specific
advisory service is
provided by IMD
20. Life Tools Nokia and Idea VAS from 2009 Nokia life Tools is Information on seeds, Can be accessed Information
([Link] Cellular(Private) both GSM software embedded fertilizer and pesticide by anyone from available at
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

[Link]/in-en and CDMA in certain Nokia dosage, weather anywhere in the Rs. 30 per
/support/faq/) phones to provide forecasting and country in 11 month
agricultural commodity prices regional languages
information services in Marathi and
to the farmers. Hindi.
21. Mobile Multimedia TNAU, NAF, GSM and 2009 Pull based service Provides multimedia Registered farmers Free of cost
Agriculture EPFPCL, DPFASL CDMA through SMS and agri-advisory through of three districts service
Advisory System and IIT-M and IVRS GPS and GIS; the of Tamil Nadu
(MAAS) sponsored by system does not
([Link] ICAR-NAIP develop any agricultural
[Link]/govt_ (Public & private) information but helps
schemes_ the farmers to get in
services/aas/ touch with agricultural
[Link]) experts.

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

22. KRIBHCO Reliance Krishak Bharati GSM and 2009 - - - -

Kisan Limited Cooperative Ltd. and CDMA
([Link] Reliance
in/rcom/StoreLocator/ Communications
press_release_detail. Ltd. (Private)
jsp?id=335)
23. Awaaz De Awaaz De Info- Software 2010 Mobile-web Awaaz De solutions Marginal and Free service to
(Give your voice/ systems Private platform interface to used by Development small farmers farmers. But,
Voice porch) Limitedsystems accessible create, browse Support Centre standard calling
([Link] Private Limited over a and share voice (an NGO), Gujarat rates apply for
about-us/) unique messages. working on issues users.
dedicated Interactive of natural resources However,
phone voice response management, clients (user
number systems (IVR), agricultural organizations)
SMS, and the productivity need pay for
web to create enhancement [Link]
seamless voice and rural hosting
messaging groups advocacy. charges.
connected over -Digital Green
mobile phones. and PRADAN
Users can create, are using Awaaz.
disseminate and De in Madya
browse voice Pradesh to offer
messages. UNNATI Kisan
Seva (The UNNATI
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
53
 54
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

Co-operative
Farmers Service)
which supports
and connects
their network of
field workers.
-Jatan Trust in
Gujarat is using
[Link] to
offer Sajiv Kheti
Samvaad (Organic
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

Farming Helpline)
to teach and create
awareness on basics
about organic
farming, answer
questions and
connecting local
organic product
buyers ([Link]

24. Kisan Mobile KVKs of ICAR GSM 2010 Farmers receive Based on the Farmers from Free service to
Advisory (Public and SMS. Mostly cropping season and respective the farmers by
Service private) push based major crops of the districts. the KVKs
(KMAS) agro-advisory area, SMS is sent

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

([Link] services. to the farmers in

[Link]/ local dialect on the
node/1238) package of practices,
varietal selection,
dosage of chemicals
used, pest and
diseases management,
weather information etc.
25. Market Price Rubber Board GSM 2010 SMS and IVRS Market prices of natural Rubber farmers Subscription
on Mobile of India (Public) facility by dialing a rubber in domestic and and dealers in based service
([Link] specific number international market by India. SMS (Annual
[Link]/) SMS. services subscription fee
accessible all Rs. 300).
over India.
26. v-KVK ICAR, IIT-K and 2010 SMS, IVRS and SMSs and voice Selected districts Free of cost
ZPD Zone IV web based based advisory of Uttar Pradesh, service
service; push Uttarakhand and
and pull based Karnataka
27. Mandi on Mobile BSNL tied up with GSM 2011 SMS and IVRS Market rate of Farmers of Uttar Free of cost
/Digital Mandi state Govts. and facility by dialing vegetable, grain, pulse Pradesh and service
([Link] IIT Kanpur a specific number or fruit on software that Himachal Pradesh
[Link]/) (Public) work on voice
command. To access,
user needs to call up
a specified BSNL
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
55
 56
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

number. Voice based

service to the farmers

28. mKisan ILRI, CABI, Digital Mobiles, 2011 Voice messages, The project will provide Farmers of Utter Free of cost
([Link] Green, CGMA and Landlines text messages, daily bulletins on agro- Pradesh, Bihar, service
[Link]/ Handygo on-demand videos, meteorology, crop pest Madhya Pradesh,
category/projects (Public and private)) and a Farmer and livestock diseases Maharashtra,
/mkisan-projects/) Helpline outbreaks, market Andhra Pradesh
information, and and Karnataka
information on local
service provision
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

sources and information

access to women
farmers
29. SMS Service Dept. of Agril., GSM 2011 Both push and pull Queries on all aspects Accessible to Free SMS
([Link] Govt. of Haryana based service of agriculture can be farmers of service by
[Link]/ext_ (Public) sent on a specific Haryana Govt. of
[Link]) number Haryana
30. Annapurna Krishi Media Lab Asia, GSM 2012 Integration of mobile, Mobile, Web and IVRS 600 farmers from Free of cost
Prasaar Seva ICAR-NAIP, ANGRAU web and IVRS by platform for farmer- 6 villages in service
([Link] (KVK-Nalgonda and dialing a specific specific agro-advisory Nalgonda and
[Link]/index. KVK-Nellore) number services through voice, Nellore districts
php/gallery) (Public) text and multimedia. of Andhra Pradesh

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

31. Behtar Zindagi Handygo Push and 2012 IVRS on Mobile to Package of practices in Farmers of South Subscription
(Better life) (Private) pull based deliver voice Agriculture, free and Central India based service
([Link] SMS messages. Farmers Commodity Prices (Rs. 30 for 30
com/handy/NewSite/ service and others can (Mandi rate), Weather days)
[Link]) access information Forecast & Agro-met
by dialing toll free advisory, Advisory
number. for Fisherman &
management of Inland
Fisheries, Information
on managing Livestock,
Advise on women &
child Health, HIV &
STDs and towards
reducing mortality rate,
Rural Finance &
ongoing Govt.
schemes, Education
& Self employment
options in rural sector.
32. Kisan Help Line Bihar Agricultural Mobiles, 2012 Pull based service Queries related to Farmers of Bihar Free of cost
([Link] University landlines, farmer’s field and service
[Link]/[Link]/ (Public) etc. crops are answered
site/page/
kisanhelpline)
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
57
 58
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

33. m4agriNEI Media Lab Asia GSM 2012 Integration of mobile,

Mobile, Web and 5000 farmers from Service is free
([Link] (MoC&IT) & CAU, web and IVRS by IVRS platform for Ri-Bhoi and East of cost.
[Link]/ Barapani, Meghalaya dialing a specific farmer-specific Khasi Hills district
[Link] (Public) number agro-advisory of Meghalaya
[Link]) services through
voice, text and
multimedia.
34. mFMS Department of Mobile 2012 Web application with The application helps Farmers and Govt. The app can be
([Link] Fertilizers, application integration of Web, monitor the movement officials all over downloaded
Government of mobile and IVRS of the fertilizer from the the country free of cost
India (Public) and mobile manufacturer to from mFMS
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

application for warehouse to website

Java/Android wholesalers and from
mobiles wholesalers to
retailers. The
system will also
act as a tool for
Government Bodies
to track and ensure the
timely distribution
of fertilizers to the
farmers
35. SMS Weather IMD & other mobile GSM 2012 SMS alerts Weather related -All over India As charged by
Alert service providers information and where RML, IKSL, the service
([Link] (RML, Handygo, forecasting Handygo and providers

(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

[Link]/) IKSL, Nokia Nokia services

and State Govt. of are available.
Maharashtra) -Farmers of
(Public and private) Maharashtra can
access the
service

36. Intelligent Advisory C-DAC, DIT, GoI, 2013 SMS and call Queries related to Accessible to Free of cost
System for Farmers Mumbai; Dept. Of based service farmer’s field and farmers of service
(IASF) Agriculture, GOvt. crops are answered Meghalaya and
([Link] of Meghalaya, Manipur, agriculture
.in/ias/) Dept. of Agriculture, experts and
Govt. of Manipur; students
KVKs of
Meghalaya and
CAU, Imphal
(Public)
37. Kissan SMS Portal Govt. of India CDMA 2013 Push based SMS regarding Any farmers Service is free
([Link] (Public) and SMS weather forecast, registered with of cost
[Link]) GSM service weather alerts, state Govt. in
advisories on out any state of the
break of disease/ country
pests of plants and
animals, crop advisories
on appropriate
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
59
 60
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

technologies suited
to local situations, etc.,
advisories on new or
most suitable crop
variety/ animal breed,
market information,
information on schemes
and programs of
Government of India
and soil test results
will be delivered
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

through SMS
38. aAqua mini Agrocom GSM and SMS and IVRS Localized remote crop Registered users Free of cost
(redesigned (Private) CDMA based services diagnostic solution, audi of the country service
for mobile prompted guide application
browser) in English, Marathi and
([Link] Hindi, remote crop and
[Link]/products. land based diagnostics,
php) microclimate, SMS
enabled register and
query mechanism.

39. ISAP-QRS ISAP and OWSA Mobiles, Based on Solutions to farmers’ Farmers of Free of cost
([Link] & CISCO landlines IVRS system queries pertaining to Himachal Pradesh, service
[Link]/static/ (Private) agricultural practices, Madya Pradesh
[Link]) problems, productivity and Uttar Pradesh
(Contd.)
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

improvement, scientific states of India.

farming and improved
technology for production.
40. Mrittika Grameen Intel Mobile Mobile phone and The app recommends Farmers of Mrittika is
([Link] Social Business application web based online/ specific fertilizers and Eastern India licensed to loca
[Link]) Limited and eKutir offline application application amounts entrepreneurs
Social Business along with proper who pay a
(Private) application method, onetime fee of
source of fertilizer Rs. 600.
availability and Amount paid
cost estimation based by farmers is
on the type of crop, determined by
soil type, size of individual
the land, planting entrepreneurs
season, and
irrigation access
41. Mobile based Crop Ekgaon Technologies SMS and IVRS by Based on farmers Farmers of Free service to
Nutrient Management and Farmers mobile phone. field and crop data, Nagapattinam the farmers
Decision Support Federation SMS/ voice alerts district of
System (Private) delivered to registered Tamil Nadu.
farmers. Crop
cultivation with
nutrient management
advice during the
cropping season.
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India

(Contd.)
61
 62
Sl. No. Mobile Service Service Provider Network Year Working Nature and type of Target User Business
Mechanism Agro-Advisory Model
Services

42. VedioKheti Microsoft Research Mobile Application with 147 videos available in Any farmer or Free of cost
([Link] India and Digital application dedicated icons the application for 22 agri. experts service
[Link]/ Green (Private) crops classified and with a mobile
apps/video/[Link] organized in four levels phone supporting
?id=192973) according to their the application
content: crop, crop
cycle, type of action,
and type of method.
The four levels are
organised in a
navigation tree for
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

easier user interface.

It uses SALAAM
Automatic Speech
Recogniser (ASR)
to create a multi
modal interface
with speech, touch
and graphics
43. Soil Based Plant Department of - Push based SMS Soil nutrient advisory Farmers of Kerala Free of cost
Nutrient Agriculture, Govt. and voice calls is delivered to service
Management of Kerala and registered farmers in
Information IIITM-K (Public) local language
System
([Link]
asoilfertility.
net/pages/farmer_
sample_details.jsp)
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 63

Table 2. Categorization of the mobile based agro-advisory services based on the type of service
provider

Sl. No. Mobile service Year Service provider

Public Private Public
and private
collaboration
1. Hello Uttam 2000 
2. Via SMS 2000 
3. Kisan Call Centre 2004 
4. Lifelines of India 2006 
5. Warana Unwired 2006 
6. Fisher Friend 2007 
7. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) 2007 
8. Reuters Market Light 2007 
9. DMI (Dynamic Market Information) 2008 
10. Fasal 2008 
11. KHETI 2008 
12. Kisan Sanchar 2008 
13. Nano Ganesh 2008 
14. SMS Broadcast Service 2008 
15. Avaaj Otalo (Voikiosk/ Spokenweb) 2009 
16. Kissan Kerala 2009 
17. mKRISHI 2009 
18. Mandi Bhav 2009 
19. MAHAAGRI SMS 2009 
20. Life Tools 2009 
21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory 2009 
System (MAAS)
22. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Limited 2009 
23. Awaaz De (Give your voice) 2010 
24. Kisan Mobile Advisory Service (KMAS) 2010 
25. Market Price on Mobile 2010 
26. v-KVK 2010 
27. Mandi on Mobile/ Digital Mandi 2011 
28. mKisan 2011 
29. SMS Service 2011 
30. Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva 2012 
31. Behtar Zindagi (Better life) 2012 
32. Kisan Help Line 2012 
33. m4agriNEI 2012 
34. mFMS 2012 
35. SMS Weather Alert 2012 
36. Intelligent Advisory System for 2013 
Farmers (IASF)
37. Kissan SMS Portal 2013 
38. aAqua mini (redesigned for mobile browser) 
39. ISAP-QRS 
40. Mrittika 
41. Mobile based Crop Nutrient 
Management Decision Support System
42. VedioKheti 
43. Soil Based Plant Nutrient Management 
Information System
 64

Table 3. Categorization of the mobile based agro advisory services based on mode of service

Sl. No. Mobile service Year Mode of service

SMS IVRS Pictures Videos Web interface Software/ All
mobile app

1. Hello Uttam 2000 

2. Via SMS 2000 
3. Kisan Call Centre 2004 
4. Lifelines of India 2006  
5. Warana Unwired 2006 
6. Fisher Friend 2007 
7. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) 2007  
8. Reuters Market Light 2007 
9. DMI (Dynamic Market Information) 2008  
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

10. Fasal 2008 

11. KHETI 2008   
12. Kisan Sanchar 2008 
13. Nano Ganesh 2008 
14. SMS Broadcast Service 2008 
15. Avaaj Otalo (Voikiosk/ Spokenweb) 2009  
16. Kissan Kerala 2009  
17. mKRISHI 2009   
18. Mandi Bhav 2009 
19. MAHAAGRI SMS 2009 
20. Life Tools 2009 
21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory System (MAAS) 2009  
22. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Limited 2009
23. Awaaz De (Give your voice) 2010   
24. Kisan Mobile Advisory Service (KMAS) 2010 
25. Market Price on Mobile 2010 
Sl. No. Mobile service Year Mode of service
SMS IVRS Pictures Videos Web interface Software/ All
mobile app

26. v-KVK 2010   

27. Mandi on Mobile/ Digital Mandi 2011 
28. mKisan 2011   
29. SMS Service 2011 
30. Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva 2012      
31. Behtar Zindagi (Better life) 2012 
32. Kisan Help Line 2012 
33. m4agriNEI 2012      
34. mFMS 2012 
35. SMS Weather Alert 2012 
36. Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF) 2013  
37. Kissan SMS Portal 2013 
38. aAqua mini (redesigned for mobile browser)  
39. ISAP-QRS 
40. Mrittika 
41. Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management  
Decision Support System
42. VedioKheti 
43. Soil Based Plant Nutrient Management Information System 
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India
65
 66
Table 4. Categorization of Mobile based agro-advisory services based on content

Sl. No. Mobile service Year Content

Crop information Market Weather Holistic Other

1. Hello Uttam 2000  

2. Via SMS 2000  
3. Kisan Call Centre 2004 
4. Lifelines of India 2006 
5. Warana Unwired 2006  
6. Fisher Friend 2007  
7. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) 2007 
8. Reuters Market Light 2007 
9. DMI (Dynamic Market Information) 2008 
10. Fasal 2008 
Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

11. KHETI 2008 

12. Kisan Sanchar 2008 
13. Nano Ganesh 2008 
14. SMS Broadcast Service 2008 
15. Avaaj Otalo (Voikiosk/ Spokenweb) 2009 
16. Kissan Kerala 2009 
17. mKRISHI 2009 
18. Mandi Bhav 2009 
19. MAHAAGRI SMS 2009 
20. Life Tools 2009 
21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory System (MAAS) 2009 
22. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Limited 2009
23. Awaaz De (Give your voice) 2010 
24. Kisan Mobile Advisory Service (KMAS) 2010 
25. Market Price on Mobile 2010 
26. v-KVK 2010 
Sl. No. Mobile service Year Content
Crop information Market Weather Holistic Other

27. Mandi on Mobile/ Digital Mandi 2011 “

28. mKisan 2011 
29. SMS Service 2011 
30. Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva 2012    
31. Behtar Zindagi (Better life) 2012 
32. Kisan Help Line 2012 
33. m4agriNEI 2012    
34. mFMS 2012
35. SMS Weather Alert 2012 
36. Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF) 2013 
37. Kissan SMS Portal 2013 
38. aAqua mini (redesigned for mobile browser) 
39. ISAP-QRS
40. Mrittika 
41. Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management Decision Support System 
42. VedioKheti 
43. Soil Based Plant Nutrient Management Information System 
Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India
67
68 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

Table 5. Categorization of Mobile based agro-advisory services based on Business model

Sl. No. Mobile service Year Business model

Free of cost Service charge
required

1. Hello Uttam 2000 “

2. Via SMS 2000 “
3. Kisan Call Centre 2004 “
4. Lifelines of India 2006 “
5. Warana Unwired 2006
6. Fisher Friend 2007 “
7. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) 2007 “
8. Reuters Market Light 2007 “
9. DMI (Dynamic Market Information) 2008 “
10. Fasal 2008 “
11. KHETI 2008 “
12. Kisan Sanchar 2008 “
13. Nano Ganesh 2008
14. SMS Broadcast Service 2008 “
15. Avaaj Otalo (Voikiosk/ Spokenweb) 2009 “
16. Kissan Kerala 2009 “
17. mKRISHI 2009 “
18. Mandi Bhav 2009 “
19. MAHAAGRI SMS 2009 “
20. Life Tools 2009 “
21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory 2009 “
System (MAAS)
22. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Limited 2009
23. Awaaz De (Give your voice) 2010 “
24. Kisan Mobile Advisory Service (KMAS) 2010 “
25. Market Price on Mobile 2010 “
26. v-KVK 2010 “
27. Mandi on Mobile/ Digital Mandi 2011 “
28. mKisan 2011 “
29. SMS Service 2011 “
30. Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva 2012 “
31. Behtar Zindagi (Better life) 2012 “
32. Kisan Help Line 2012 “
33. m4agriNEI 2012 “
34. mFMS 2012 “
35. SMS Weather Alert 2012 “ “
36. Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF) 2013 “
37. Kissan SMS Portal 2013 “
38. aAqua mini (redesigned for mobile browser) “
39. ISAP-QRS “
40. Mrittika “
41. Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management “
Decision Support System
42. VedioKheti “
43. Soil Based Plant Nutrient Management “
Information Sys.
 Mobile Phone Applications for Agricultural Extension in India 69

Table 6. Categorization of mobile based agro-advisory services based on target users

Sl. No. Mobile service Year Target users

Country wide Regional

1. Hello Uttam 2000 “

2. Via SMS 2000 “
3. Kisan Call Centre 2004 “
4. Lifelines of India 2006 “
5. Warana Unwired 2006 “
6. Fisher Friend 2007 “
7. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) 2007 “
8. Reuters Market Light 2007 “
9. DMI (Dynamic Market Information) 2008 “
10. Fasal 2008 “
11. KHETI 2008 “
12. Kisan Sanchar 2008 “
13. Nano Ganesh 2008 “
14. SMS Broadcast Service 2008 “
15. Avaaj Otalo (Voikiosk/ Spokenweb) 2009 “
16. Kissan Kerala 2009 “
17. mKRISHI 2009 “
18. Mandi Bhav 2009 “
19. MAHAAGRI SMS 2009 “
20. Life Tools 2009 “
21. Mobile Multimedia Agriculture Advisory System 2009 “
(MAAS)
22. KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Limited 2009 “
23. Awaaz De (Give your voice) 2010 “
24. Kisan Mobile Advisory Service (KMAS) 2010 “
25. Market Price on Mobile 2010 “
26. v-KVK 2010 “
27. Mandi on Mobile/ Digital Mandi 2011 “
28. mKisan 2011 “
29. SMS Service 2011 “
30. Annapurna Krishi Prasaar Seva 2012 “
31. Behtar Zindagi (Better life) 2012 “
32. Kisan Help Line 2012 “
33. m4agriNEI 2012 “
34. mFMS 2012 “
35. SMS Weather Alert 2012 “
36. Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF) 2013 “
37. Kissan SMS Portal 2013 “
38. aAqua mini (redesigned for mobile browser) “
39. ISAP-QRS “
40. Mrittika “
41. Mobile based Crop Nutrient Management “
Decision Support System
42. VedioKheti “
43. Soil Based Plant Nutrient Management “
Information System
70 Mobile Phones for Agricultural Extension

mobile use behaviour and impact of on-going projects to be carried out to

understand the real benefits of mobile based agricultural advisory services. To
say mobiles are going to revolutionise agricultural extension might be overstating
the facts right now, but so far, within a few years of its introduction in the
country, it has changed the mode of agricultural extension and has proved to be
a great aid to the human resource of the extension system. It has added personal
touch to the machines through voice calls, made understanding easier through
pictures and videos and instant communication with agricultural experts anytime
anywhere a reality through mobile communications. All that is needed is to
learn from the success and failures alike and make mobiles an integral part of
agricultural extension as it has become an integral part of the life of the people.

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