3.3. Role of IT in Agriculture

Applications of IT in support of agricultural and rural development fall into five main areas. These are:

♤ Economic development of agricultural producers;

♤ Community development;

♤ Research and education;

♤ Small and medium enterprises development; and

♤ Media networks.

Precision farming, popular in developed countries, extensively uses IT to make direct contribution to agricultural productivity. The techniques of remote sensing using satellite technologies, geographical information systems, agronomy and soil sciences are used to increase the agricultural output. This approach is capital intensive and useful where large tracts of land are involved. Consequently it is more suitable for farming taken up on corporate lines.

The indirect benefits of IT in empowering Indian farmer are significant and remain to be exploited. The Indian farmer urgently requires timely and reliable sources of information inputs for taking decisions. At present, the farmer depends on trickling down of decision inputs from conventional sources which are slow and unreliable. The changing environment faced by Indian farmers makes information not merely useful, but necessary to remain competitive.

Here are some agricultural development services that can be provided in the developing world using ICT:

♤ Online services for information, education and training, monitoring and consultation, diagnosis and monitoring, and transaction and processing;

♤ E-commerce for direct linkages between local producers, traders, retailers and suppliers;

♤ The facilitation of interaction among researchers, extension (knowledge) workers, and farmers;

♤ Question-and-answer services where experts respond to queries on specialised subjects ICT services to block- and district-level developmental officials for greater efficiency in delivering services for overall agricultural development;

♤ Up-to-date information, supplied to farmers as early as possible, about subjects such as packages of practices, market information, weather forecasting, input supplies, credit availability, etc.;

♤ Creation of databases with details of the resources of local villages and villagers, site- specific Information systems, expert systems, etc.;

♤ Provision of early warning systems about disease/ pest problems, information regarding rural development programmes and crop insurances, postharvest technology, etc.;

♤ Facilitation of land records and online registration services;

♤ Improved marketing of milk and milk products;

♤ Services providing information to farmers regarding farm business and management;

♤ Increased efficiency and productivity of cooperative societies through the computer communication network and the latest database technology;

♤ Tele-education for farmers;

♤ Websites established by agricultural research institutes, making the latest information available to extension (knowledge) workers and obtaining their feedback.