Grant Amount: US$ 30,000

Keywords: AGRICULTURE, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, TELECENTRE, INDIA

Geographic coverage: India

Objective

The objectives of this project are to disseminate crop advisory and disease forecasting services to farmers in a resource-constrained environment.

Research context

aAQUA farmer clubs and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Baramati use online information kiosks to provide crop advisory and disease forecasting services to farmers. The usefulness of the predictions, however, is limited due to the nature of the input parameters, which change from place to place. This project plans to enhance the accuracy of forecasts to farmers by placing more sensors in surrounding regions. The project uses existing kiosks and mobile networks to distribute the information. To benefit a wider number of farmers the project also provides content to a local community radio station, hosted by KVK Baramati. The disease forecasting services model can be replicated across the country using the network of KVKs.

Target beneficiaries

The main beneficiaries are farmers in Pune district and kiosk operators in Pabal and Baramati. KVK experts also benefit by learning to use new information and communications technology (ICT) tools for disease forecasting. Others who are implementing agri-extension services can use results from the project to establish disease-forecasting centres.

Outputs

Documentation of the model for expert crop assistance using remote sensors;

Information on diseases presented in user-friendly interfaces;

Alerts and recommendations for farmer clubs; and

Feedback from agri-experts and farmer clubs.

Research results and outcomes

The start-up for this project was delayed due to legal problems and at the time of writing, reports on project progress were not yet due. The project team has communicated that to date it had defined the tasks to be undertaken by various partners, selected the field sites for the pilot and identified several methods for dissemination of project results.

KVK Baramati and Developmental Informatics Lab of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay will be responsible for assessment of sensors and design input. KVK Baramati farmer clubs and possibly, Godrej Agrovet will undertake the task of interpreting sensor information to predict crop diseases. Vigyan Ashram will host field staff and provide security of equipment. Students from IIT Bombay will participate in the project development through site visits and assessment studies.

A site survey was conducted and six locations have been identified of which four will be chosen for the pilot starting in July 2006. Good agricultural practices will be documented and disseminated in the local language. These will include recommendations on organic and chemical-based production methods. The project intends to submit publications in leading technical and ICT conferences. In addition, the project foresees that some of its results can be applied to the development of a Masters level course offered at IIT Bombay titled ICT for Socio-Economic Development.

Duration

Start Date: September 2005
End Date: May 2007
Total Duration: 21 Months

Contact information

Krithi Ramamritham
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
KReSIT, IIT Campus, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
Telephone: +91 22 2576 7900 / 01 / 02
Fax: + 91 22 2572 0022
Email: Krithi@cse.iitb.ac.in, Krithi@it.iitb.ac.in

Website: http://www.iitb.ac.in