Agriculture can serve as an important engine for economic growth in developing countries, yet yields in these countries have lagged far behind those in developed countries for decades. One potential mechanism for increasing yields is the use of improved agricultural technologies, such as fertilizers, seeds, and cropping techniques.
Public-sector programs have attempted to over- come information-related barriers to technologi- cal adoption by providing agricultural extension services (Aker 2011). Despite a wide range of reform initiatives in agricultural extension in India in the past decades, the coverage of, access to, and quality of information provided to marginalized and poor farmers is uneven. While such programs have been widely criticized for their limited scale, sustainability, and impact, the rapid spread of mobile phone coverage in devel- oping countries provides a unique opportunity to facilitate technological adoption via information and communication technology (ICT)-based extension programs.
Recent developments in information and com- munication technology (ICT) offer exciting new opportunities for rapid and efficient information transfer including transborder data flow through electronic systems such as the Internet. The ver- satile application of ICT in diverse fields includ- ing agriculture is in fact an outcome of its special capabilities in terms of speed, accuracy, consis- tency, and storage capability. In today’s fast- changing scenario, the Indian agriculturist cannot
afford to ignore the use of ICT for transfer of information. In the last decade, many ICT projects in Indian agriculture have emerged, which either substitute or support extension services by enabling farmers’ access to informa- tion. Recent global food price increases and high levels of inflation have provided an opportunity to increase farmers’ profitability. However, to real- ize the benefit of higher prices, farmers need to access a wider range of information, related not only to production technologies but also to post-harvest processes, access to remunerative markets, price information, and business develop- ment (Sulaiman and Van den Ban 2003). This information could be integrated with services that support the use of the information. Informa- tion that is context-specific to farmers’ local situations can have important farm outcomes.
The paper examines the challenges and constraints of each agricultural extension approach as it attempts to provide farmers with access to information that is relevant to their farm enterprises. The present paper reviews the issues associated with integration of ICT and agriculture as well as the novel developments that are evolving in agricultural information dis- semination. It is identified that extension service should reach smallholder farmers for sustainable agriculture. This paper concludes that there is an increasing need to work in partnership and to share knowledge and skills in order to provide locally relevant services that meet the informa- tion needs of marginal and smallholder farmers in India.
Research Problem
The economic performance of the agricultural sector in most countries has been largely deter- mined by the organized research and extension activity. The agricultural research system in India is a large and complex one. After the intro- duction of seeds-fertilizer-irrigation intensive agriculture of green revolution, information became more critical for agriculture. Due to sev- eral reasons the current agricultural extension system in India is unable to deliver the advice to the farming community in an efficient manner.
In this context the farming community started relying on private seed, fertilizer and pesticide companies, and local traders for agricultural information.
More than 81 % of Indian farmers cultivate an area of 2 ha or less (India, Directorate of Eco- nomics and Statistics 2009; NSSO2006). There is an increasing need for stronger intermediaries that can facilitate information access for diverse smallholder farmers. The 2003 National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) survey showed that 60 % of farmers had not accessed any source of information on modern technology to assist in their farming practices in the past year. Of those who had sourced information, 16 % received it from other progressive farmers, followed by input dealers. Of those farmers who had accessed information, the major prob- lem of extension services was found to be the practical relevance of the advice (NSSO2005).
The coverage and relevance of information provided to farmers through the agricultural extension system is therefore questionable.
While this may be partly due to inadequate con- tact by the services, which need to reach a large and complex farming community, inappropriate or poor-quality information could also be a key hindrance to the farmers’ use of extension services. In other words, the content of the infor- mation provided by agricultural extension approaches, and the information farmers actually need, may not be aligned. Advances in produc- tion technologies, particularly with relation to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.,
though increased productivity failed to improve net earnings for these group of farmers. The reason for such failure is attributed to the inade- quate agricultural information at the farmer level.
Therefore, there is a need to reexamine the cur- rent agricultural extension approaches in India to understand where information gaps exist and determine why farmers are not accessing in- formation through the large, well-established public-sector extension system in addition to emerging private and third-sector actors.
The diverse nature of the Indian subcontinent, with its wide variety of agroclimatic regions and broad range of socioeconomic conditions in the rural population, calls for agricultural extension approaches that are context and situation spe- cific. Further progress in poverty and hunger reduction crucially depends on the increased pro- ductivity and profitability of these farmers, which in turn depends on the successful delivery of agricultural extension.
In this context, advances in information and communication technologies attracted the atten- tion of researchers working in agricultural com- munication dissemination. It was believed that an expanding assembly of ICTs can be used to col- lect, store, and share information between farmers and scientists. One such attempt has been made in Andhra Pradesh, named e-Sagu, to provide ICT platform for agricultural commu- nication between the farmers and the scientists for the exchange of information, guidance, and suggestions.
Challenges of Traditional Agricultural Extension System
The most significant shortcomings of public agri- cultural extension in general have been (a) unresponsiveness to the variation in farmers’
needs, (b) lack of ownership by the intended beneficiaries, (c) failure to reach poor and women farmers, (d) limitations in the quality of field and technical staff, and (e) high and unsus- tainable public costs. Some of these problems have been eased by modifying the training and Role of ICTs in Sustainable Agriculture: A Study ofe-Sagu in Andhra Pradesh 111
visit system, for example, by working with groups rather than individual farmers or by increasing reliance on radio and other mass media. Several emerging challenges confront Indian farmers. These include limited land and water availability, which is further exacerbated by degradation of natural resources; climate changes; changes in demand and consumption patterns, moving toward high-value agriculture;
increasing population pressure; and liberalization of trade (Lele2010).
ICTs in agriculture enable two-way commu- nication between scientists and farmers via mul- tiple media, particularly, the Internet. In the past, farmers used traditional knowledge and practices to optimize output and were experts in their own right, as one knew the systems well and also had an intimate knowledge of their own land, cli- mate, and other inputs. However, with the advent of modern practices in agriculture, commerciali- zation of agriculture, and modern technology- derived inputs such as Bt seeds, herbicides, etc., farmer’s knowledge proved to be inadequate.
The existing conventional models of technology transfer have also found to be of little use. There is a growing technology-knowledge gap.
Structure and Function of e-Sagu
A personalized agricultural advisory system called e-Sagu was developed to improve the per- formance and utilization of agricultural technol- ogy and help farmers by providing personalized information at their doorstep or farm level. It is a Web-based personalized agro-advisory system, which uses information and communication technologies to provide scientific solutions to the farmers. “Sagu” means cultivation in Telugu local language. e-Sagu is a personal agricultural advisory system in which the farmer receives specific expert advice on the agricultural problems for each and at regular intervals. It was developed in 2004 using ICTs in agricultural extension activities.
The project was started in the year 2004 by delivering agro-advisory to 1,051 cotton farms for the farmers of three villages of Andhra
Pradesh. In the year 2005–2006, e-Sagu was scaled up to cover 4,894 farms in six districts of Andhra Pradesh in diverse agri-ecosystems. As part of this project, a nominal subscription fee in the form of registration fee is charged to the farmers who are interested in receiving the infor- mation. e-Sagu was developed based on a proto- type experiment which was conducted for 160 fishponds in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.
The expert advice is prepared by agricultural experts based on the crop status information received in the form of both digital photographs and text. Farmers trust and rely on the ideas and practices developed through scientific research.
e-Sagu aims at improving the farm productivity by delivering high-quality personalized (farm specific) agro-expert advice in a timely manner to each farm at the farmers’ doorstep without the farmer asking question. In e-Sagu, ICTs such as the Internet, digital photography, and database are extended to improve the performance of agri- cultural extension services.
Agricultural Extension Through e-Sagu
The agricultural information system of e-Sagu comprises of four key partners, namely, farmer, agricultural expert, coordinator, and computer operator. This social system is embedded into the technical system which comprises of com- puter, internet connectivity and digital camera.
Farmers register with the system by supplying relevant information about their farms (soil data, water resources, capital availability, etc). This piece of information is collected by the coordi- nator and digitized and fed into the system by the computer operator at the local center.
The system functions as follows:
• The coordinator visits the farms of those farmers who are registered with the e-Sagu.
The coordinator visits periodically to gather up-to-date information and take digital photographs of the crops and farm. The farmer is given prior information about the visits of the coordinator. If the farmer is not present during the visit of the coordinator, then the
coordinator visits his/her home or his/her fam- ily members to take the information and also to give the advice. In case of multiple farms of a single farmer, the coordinator visits each farm separately according to schedule.
• The photographs, which were taken by the coordinator, will be given to the computer operator. The coordinator takes the photos of the farm and also takes the photos of the notes prepared by him.
• The computer operator at the local center digitizes the photos and the texts and feeds into the computer. This information is properly labeled and sent to the main lab located in Hyderabad through the Internet. If the Internet connection is not available (normally local level bandwidth is not sufficient to send the photographs through the Internet), the computer operator prepares a CD for the photographs and other information of the farmer. The CD is then sent by parcel service to the main lab.
• In the main lab by accessing specific data of each farm, crop database, and the information sent by the coordinators, the agricultural expert prepares personalized advices and stores them in the system.
• The computer operator accesses information in the system through the Internet and downloads the advices to be disseminated to the farmer of their respective regions. As the advices are text messages, even with very little bandwidth, it is possible for the com- puter operator to download at the local center.
The advices are the text messages and are in the vernacular/English language. The com- puter operator passes this information to the coordinator.
• The coordinator then visits the farmer to explain the advice in the local language. The coordinator also collects feedback about the advice.
• The information gathered in the diagnostic process must be feedback into the information network if it is to have positive effect (Fig.1).
Farmers are the first feedback source in this system of extension. The coordinator then acts as the farmer’s representative and advocates by bringing information to the researchers and policy makers. The key to effective feedback is a system that values bottom-up input into continuous pro- cess of adapting itself to the needs and evolution of its clientele, i.e., farmers. The coordinator is the fundamental link of the system. He/she assures the contact with farmer not only in collecting infor- mation but also in disseminating the advices.
He/she also facilitates advice appropriation by explaining them in the farmers’ language.
Farmers’ confidence in any extension system depends greatly on the consistency and predict- ability of farm visits by the concerned personnel.
Any extension program can gain the confidence of the farmers only through proper interaction.
The key to agricultural information transfer in e- Sagu is the regular contact with farmers. The coordinator is mandated to visit farmers as per the schedule announced in advance. The farmers’
confidence in the extension system depends greatly on the consistency and predictability of farm visits (Fig.2).
e-Sagu functions at two key levels: one, at the local level, i.e., at the village level, and another, at the nodal level located at Hyderabad. The nodal level is known as e-Sagu lab. The local center is the one where the project is
Digital photographs/text C.D containing information, Sent through internet/courier
Text Textual messages through Internet
Farm and farmer e-Sagu
coordinator Agricultural Expert Fig. 1 Agricultural
extension through e-Sagu
Role of ICTs in Sustainable Agriculture: A Study ofe-Sagu in Andhra Pradesh 113
implemented. It is staffed by three members.
They are the administrator, computer operator, and coordinators. Each local center is equipped with two computers and other related equipments (Fig3and Table1).
With an aim to understand the functioning of e-Sagu at the village level and to know the perceptions of the registered farmers, the researcher interacted with select respondents in Malkapur village located in Warangal district.
The village was selected because it was the first village in the District where e-Sagu was introduced. e-Sagu has been functioning in the village for the past 5 years. About 50 % of the farmers who have registered for the 2008–2009 season were selected as respondents. The sample
was selected based on purposive sampling. The total number of farmers registered in the village in e-Sagu for the year 2008–2009 was 120. Most of them are small and marginal farmers, i.e., holding less than 5 acres of land. The researcher, using a semi-structured questionnaire, collected data from about 60 farmers.