23 25 jan 2013 csisa kathmandu agro-advisory services surabhi

Agro-Advisory Services In India

Surabhi MittalAgricultural Economist

CSISA Phase II- Obj 1 Work Plan meetingJan 23-15, 2013

Kathmandu

Farmers and information networks

Traditional mode

• Television, Radio, Newspaper

Modern ICT

• Landline phone, Mobile phones, Internet / Internet Kiosks

Other farmers

• Farmers in the same village or neighbourhood

Face to Face

• KVKs, AG Univ, NGOs, Co-op, markets, Private i/p dealers etc.

Source: CIMMYT survey, 2011

• present an opportunity to deliver useful information widely, on time and to targeted groups

Increasing penetration of mobile networks and subscribers

.Mar-04 .Mar-05 .Mar-06 .Mar-07 .Mar-08 .Mar-09 .Mar-10 .Mar-110

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Mobile Tele-density Fixed-Line Tele-density Internet teledensity

per

r 10

0 in

hab

itan

ts

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, October 2012

.Mar-98

.Mar-99

.Mar-00

.Mar-01

.Mar-02

.Mar-03

.Mar-04

.Mar-05

.Mar-06

.Mar-07

.Mar-08

.Mar-09

.Mar-10

.Mar-11

.Oct-11

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Rural Teledensity Urban Teledensity

BiharUttar Pradesh

West BengalHaryana

Punjab

14.21 17.8423.74

37.56 39

21.5 26.337.7

50.0 53.9

Rural teledensity

2010 2011

Major Agro-Advisory Models

5

Tele centre based

Kissan Call Centers, 2004

BSNL Help lineInternet based

Village Knowledge Centres, 1998

ITC e-chaupal, 1999

E-sagu, 2004

Video based

Digital Green, 2009

Mobile -SMS based

Reuters Market Light (RML) 2007

Warna Unwired- Microsoft, 2007

E agriculture- KVK’s- NAIP, 2009

Kisan Sanchar, 2010

Mobile based application

Fisher Friend- MSSRF, 2008

Nokia- Life tools, 2009

Tata- M Krishi, 2009

Kisan Sanchar, 2012

Mobile- Voice message based

IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), 2007

What Information farmer gets?

• Temperature• Market Prices• How to grow?

Information Farmer Receives

• Plant protection• Seed information• Weather- probability of rainfall• cultivation best practices and crop choice

Information Farmer wants

Source: Mittal S, Gandhi S, Tripathi G (2010); Mittal (2012)

States

Percent of farmers using mobile phone for agricultural information

Get better connected to markets

Getting better prices Increasing Yield

Bihar 51 99.2 65.9 21.1

Haryana 65 99.4 79.5 42.9

Punjab 26 77.8 82.5 49.2

Uttar Pradesh 45 69.7 69.7 29.4

West Bengal 17 65.9 48.8 34.1

Total 41 87.2 71.7 34.6

Fist Level-Perceived benefits of farmers getting information using Mobile phones

Note: This percent of farmers is from the 41% of farmers, who are using mobile phone to access agricultural information, Farmers have multiple responses

What hinders appropriate utilization of information?

Note: Farmers have multiple responses. Only selected constraints are reported.Source: CIMMYT Survey 2011

Constraint in accessing informationPercent of farmers

Poor extension facility 46.87

Inappropriate availability of quality inputs (seed, pesticides and fertilisers) 18.84

Poor access to electricity and irrigation facility 10.18

Shortage of labour 5.58

Poor or no access to soil and water testing facility 5.55

A multivariate probit model - Estimated effects of farmer’s attributes on adoption of different sources of agriculture information

Note: # Variable dropped in respective regression equation to avoid multi-colinearity; Figures in parenthesis are robust standard errors. *, **, and *** represent statistical significance at 1%, 5%, and 10% levels, respectively.

Likelihood Ratio Test H0: ρ21 = ρ31 = ρ41 = ρ32=ρ42=ρ43=0, χ2(6 = 69.4636 , p-value = 0.0000

.

Independent Variable Face to Face Other Farmers Traditional Modern

Age -0.014* -0.001 -0.010 * 0.004

(0.003) (0.003) (0.002) (0.002)

Educational Level -2.36* -0.139* 0.005 0.256*

(0.035) (0.043) (0.032) (0.032)

Farm size 0.057* 0.044* 0.081* 0.039*

(0.011) (0.013) (0.010) (0.007)

Access to Radio/television -0.246** -0.051 # 0.302**

(0.129) (0.147) - (0.127)

Access to Mobile Phone -0.596 0.067 0.312 #

(0.528) (0.490) (0.357) -

Constant 2.482* 1.528** 0.198 -1.560*

(0.563) (0.539) (0.385) (0.198)

Log-likelihood -2304.78

Wald test χ2 (DF=18) 266.25*

Likelihood ratio test of ρki 69.4636*

Number of observation 1199

Facts on the ground

10

Yes41%

No59%

Farmers use mobile phones for agriculture?

Yes77%

No21%

Don't know3%

Does mobile support local languge?

Bihar

Haryana

Punjab

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

IGP

70.7

56.7

45.8

47

35.4

51.3

45.8

25

25.8

23

23.3

28.6

Ability to read and type SMS

ability to type sms ability to read sms

Farmers Opinion

0.7%

89.8%

9.5%

Will like to receive information through mobile phone?

No response

Yes

NoSMS6.4%

Voice Message

60%

Indif-ferent

between two

21.8%

No response11.8%

Preferred mode of receiving in-formation

The missing link

• Choice of seed varieties• Timing of sowing and harvesting• Use of climate smart technologies• Best farm Practices• Efficient resource Management• Timely decision on application of

inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides.

• Organizing storage

Managing Production Risk

• Inputs availability• Type of inputs- package of it• Availability of machinery/ technology• Market variability in prices• Insurance• Credit

Managing Market Risk

Agro-Advisory services are mostly supply driven and their is limited understanding of its usability in action

IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL)• IKSL is a joint venture promoted by IFFCO and Airtel in 2007.- Green Sim Card• IKSL VAS rural subscriber receives 5 voice messages at no charge. Access to

helpline (at cost of the outgoing call), connected to ag graduates and experts at Universities.

• Crop-specific communities of farmers with common interests and issues are also developed- supported by other partners and NGOs to facilitate the delivery of precise information

• The proactive messages are predefined, based on the crop calendar, weather conditions, market rates and cropping pattern.

• The reactive messages are generated based on helpline queries and feedback, which might lead to the development of content that can go out as alerts and warnings

• Local partners, NGOs and private companies also partner with IKSL• The GSMA Foundation (Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association)helps in capacity-

building at IKSL and in strengthening infrastructure for quality management and up-scaling of the service-delivery platform.

As of December 2010, IKSL has more than 1.2 million active users of their services in 18 major states of India,managed by 17 full time content managers and 59 experts- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa.

Kissan Sanchar• Kisan Sanchar an enterprise-class communication platform to broadcast text and

voice messages on agricultural to individual framers through KVKs • Received ‘Vodaphone –Mobile for Good 2011 award’ of One million rupees

(approx. 18 thousand USD) for up-scaling their activities. • Registered as a NGO’ and transiting from SMS based system to mobile-based

inbuilt applications- tied with mobile phone manufacturers like MAX and Spice for having an inbuilt application in the handsets- low cost smart phones.

• School going children of farmers are being sensitised with these information’s through printed information bulletin on the last two pages of school notebooks.

• At the village level e-panchayat- is being exposed to use of internet to gather and distribute information-6000 farmers in 419 villages of District Kurushetra of Haryana, India are now linked with government extension system under this venture.

• Also 150 volunteers across 110 districts in 9 states of Northern India are trained as information networks to improve small farmers reach ability to information related to climate adaptation and mitigation.

• Database of all input providers

Partners and Users of Kissan Sanchar

• Kisan Sachar, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Input dealers, Farmers, Extension department, Village Panchayats, National Bank for agriculture and rural development (NABARD)

• Also 150 volunteers across 110 districts in 9 states of Northern India are trained as information networks to improve small farmers reach ability to information related to climate adaptation and mitigation.

• Explore- Database of all input providers

Answers sought for

• Do the farmers find the information useful and usable?• How are farmers using this information? If not, Why?• How does it vary across land size, states, type of mobile services, age, education

level, gender etc?• How do other information sources complement the information provided

through mobile phones?• How does the information affects decision making process, adoption of inputs

and technologies etc?• What's the magnitude of change/ benefit/ impact in cost, income, yield and

other socio economic benefits?

There are anecdotal evidences on use of

mobile phones to improve access to inputs, markets, and cost saving.

There is a need for methodological

assessment to quantify these impacts.

Lessons from past• Mobile phones and mobile enabled information services can

act as catalyst in removing existing information asymmetry• Bridge the gap between the availability and delivery of inputs

and infrastructure• Magnitude of economic benefits depends on quality,

timeliness and trustworthiness of the information • Need to improve the linkages between service providers and

service users and also need to create a feedback loop

• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)- Not to forget how policies/ regulations can can hinder the whole component of the project