3. A crop nutrient management decision support system: India

Abstract

Rural poverty reduction is closely related to increase in agricultural growth and productivity. While, agriculture remains the main occupation in villages, agriculture sector growth has been showing a declining trend in since 1991. One of the key reasons for this is poor crop and soil management practices, and imbalanced application of fertilizers historically over years by farmers due to lack of timely, accurate and reliable information on nutrient management and crop cultivation practices. Mobile phone growth over last few years have made it a ubiquitous device and can help reach out to large number of farmers. Through this action-research a system was designed, developed and implemented at the farm level to answer the question whether providing customized crop cultivation and nutrient management practices to farmers can improve livelihoods and if so what are the implications of such an effort. This study has shown that ICTs when appropriately harnessed can increase farmers' access to information. Tailor-made information to individual farmers can improve farm productivity. Farmers still need to attain greater level of awareness on new crops and management practices and mobile phones can be the vehicle to support this. Farmers are interested in bundled services providing a variety of information related to crop production, processing and sale. This study also indicates the importance of socially embedding the technology with the help of local institutions to effectively address information needs of farmers

The Little We Know: An Exploratory Literature Review on the Utility of Mobile Phone‐Enabled Services for Smallholder Farmers

“…A service disseminating information on the correct use of soil nutrients via SMS and voice alerts in India led to a perceived 15 per cent increase in incomes among intervention farmers compared with the control group, mainly through cost reductions because of the application of appropriate (i.e. lower) amounts of seeds and nutrients (Raj et al, 2011). Farmers were given individualised instructions for nutrient management and other crop cultivation practices via SMS and voice alerts, which they were then required to implement.…”

What's Cooking: Digital Transformation of the Agrifood System

“…It improved farmer income by $262 per dairy calf, according to one report (Qiang et al 2011). In one study in India, farmers receiving customized crop cultivation and nutrient management practices via mobile phones and the internet earned 15 percent more income than the control group (Raj et al 2011). But further empirical work is needed to draw conclusions about e-extension's impact on profits and incomes.…”

Globalisation Has Double Sides on Developing Countries: The Benefits and the Harm

“…Firstly, they believe that globalisation promotes academic exchange among countries. In Tamil Nadu, Southern India, farmers with the utilization of mobile technology can reduce cost by applying seeds and soil recommended on the website by experts from other countries [20]. However, this opinion is based on the assumption that developing countries are equipped with advanced technologies.…”