Development of mobile phone based agro-advisory system through ICT mediated extension approach in North-eastern himalayan region of India

Journal Title: Journal of Applied and Natural Science - Year 2017, Vol 9, Issue 3

Abstract

To achieve gainful development in agriculture to ensure food security in the north-eastern Himalayan region of India, an initiative was taken to develop mobile phone based agro-advisory system with the objective to empower the farmers by providing right information at right time through Information and Communication Technology mediated extension approach. 2000 farmers and farm women were selected as beneficiaries through snowball sampling method based on certain criteria. The major features of the system to deliver the farm advices (Pull Based) and information services (Push Based) through toll free Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), Smart Phone Application, Mobile phone and Web based agriculture advisory system. It was found that on an average almost 200 advisories were provided every month, which even shoot up to almost 300 calls per month in the peak Kharif seasons as bulk of the advisories were provided during the months of May to November as most number of calls from the farmers came during the period. Majority of the advisories were provided on fishery management practices (17.32%), source of seed (9.95%), livestock management (9.18%), disease and pest management of crops (8.75%), training information (9.35%), rural development schemes (7.76%) etc. Moreover, the inclusion of need based training component and convergence with different extension functionaries helped to develop an ICT based Stakeholder Interface (Experts-Line Departments-Agripreneurs-Farmers) in the field of agriculture in the region. This alternate extension system also helped to develop better rapport with the farmers and can be replicated in other hilly region of the world.

Authors and Affiliations

Biswajit Lahiri, Swapinali Borah, Natasha R. Marak, Thiruchirapalli Sudarshan Anurag

Keywords

To achieve gainful development in agriculture to ensure food security in the north-eastern Himalayan region of India an initiative was taken to develop mobile phone based agro-advisory system with the objective to empower the farmers by providing right information at right time through Information and Communication Technology mediated extension approach. 2000 farmers and farm women were selected as beneficiaries through snowball sampling method based on certain criteria. The major features of the system to deliver the farm advices (Pull Based) and information services (Push Based) through toll free Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) Smart Phone Application Mobile phone and Web based agriculture advisory system. It was found that on an average almost 200 advisories were provided every month which even shoot up to almost 300 calls per month in the peak Kharif seasons as bulk of the advisories were provided during the months of May to November as most number of calls from the farmers came during the period. Majority of the advisories were provided on fishery management practices (17.32%) source of seed (9.95%) livestock management (9.18%) disease and pest management of crops (8.75%) training information (9.35%) rural development schemes (7.76%) etc. Moreover the inclusion of need based training component and convergence with different extension functionaries helped to develop an ICT based Stakeholder Interface (Experts-Line Departments-Agripreneurs-Farmers) in the field of agriculture in the region. This alternate extension system also helped to develop better rapport with the farmers and can be replicated in other hilly region of the world.

Related Articles

Biochemical analysis of Psophocarpus tetrgonolobus L. (Winged bean) and its role on restoration of degraded land of Raniganj and Barjora coalmine areas of West Bengal, India

To meet the growing demands of energy, continuous supply of coal is necessary because coal is the primary source of energy. About 70% of coal mining is being done by open cast methods which is most destructive activity a...

Efficacy of different fungicides for management of early blight disease of potato

The early blight of potato may be controlled by using bio-control agents and plant extracts but not effectively and rapidly. But using of chemical fungicides the disease can be controlled easily and losses of yield will...

Exploration of multitrait antagonistic microbes against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici

Fusarium wilt is one of the major diseases of tomato causing extensive loss of production. Exploration of agriculturally important microbes (AIMs) for management of the tomato wilt is an ecofriendly and cost effective ap...

Career development of women in the hotel industry: An Overview

This paper focuses on factors affecting career progression of women in the hotel industry as discussed by researchers in different geographical locations in the world and to investigate whether women are indeed blocked i...

Deteriorating rural ponds : A threat to overseas migratory wetland birds in Kurukshetra suburbs, Haryana, India.

The present study addresses the problem of ongoing destruction of traditional age old rural wetlands in Haryana in the last 10 years. It is a grave issue which stands accelerated due to anthropogenic unawareness and in d...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP286892
  • DOI 10.31018/jans.v9i3.1443
  • Views 93
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Biswajit Lahiri, Swapinali Borah, Natasha R. Marak, Thiruchirapalli Sudarshan Anurag (2017). Development of mobile phone based agro-advisory system through ICT mediated extension approach in North-eastern himalayan region of India. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 9(3), 1808-1814. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-286892