Wednesday 27 May 2015

Mobile services can perk up returns for small farmers: Vodafone survey

NEW DELHI, MAY 26:
The introduction of simple mobile services designed to help small scale farmers could boost farm gate incomes rise by Rs. 56,000 crore by 2020, according to a report released on Tuesday by telecom giant Vodafone.

Based on research commissioned by Accenture Strategy and supported by the Vodafone Foundation, the ‘Connected Farming in India’ report found that average farming household lives on less than Rs. 250 per day.

Mobile services - including early warning for weather events, harvesting best practices techniques to enhance yields, access to financial products, field auditing and communication channels between buyers and sellers – could help increase earnings to Rs. 8,000 each year, it said.

“The basis for the next green revolution in India will be a knowledge revolution, and technology, particularly mobile, will play a key role in driving it … this offers a new channel for delivering agricultural services and an opportunity to engage rural communities in new ways,” said Sunil Sood, MD & CEO, Vodafone India.

The company estimates that 46 per cent of rural Indians own a cellphone and access to services is growing rapidly.

National e-Governance plan

Government officials present at the function, organised by ASSOCHAM, noted the potential of mobile services in the rural space.

“This Government is committed to connecting our farmers on the information highway and bringing latest technology advantages to them right to their fields and into their hands,” said Mohanbhai Kundariya, Minister of State for Agriculture.

Raghav Chandra, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Agriculture Ministry, said that a national e-Governance had been put in place to leverage technology.

“Increasingly, there is a realisation that use of IT has to become more pervasive…that is why a national e-Governance plan has been carved out in the field of agriculture. This includes internet use, touch-screen kiosks, agri-clinics, common service centres, ‘kisan’ call centres and others along with physical outreach,” he said.

Agriculture contributes 13.7 per cent to India’s GDP with 56 per cent of the population directly connected to the sector, he added.
Source : The Hindu Businessline

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