25 Mobile Phones for Agriculture and Development

P. Jaisridhar

1. INTRODUCTION

The past decade has witnessed a revolution in the use of ICT in Developing countries. Many people and offices as well as rural farmers own ICT facilities such as personal computers and mobile phones. The largest increases in the use of ICT has been in mobile telephony where subscriptions in developing countries increased from about 30 percent of the world total in 2000 to more than 50 percent in 2004 and to almost 70 percent in 2007 (Cieslikowsk, Halewood, Kimura, & Zhen-Wei Qiang, 2009). While internet use has not increased as rapidly as mobile communication, it increased tenfold in developing countries in the same period (Cieslikowsk et. al., 2009). Other ICT facilities such as telecast, radio FM and information centres have also increased in number remarkably during the same period. A study by Farrell & Isaacs, (2009) on ICT in 53 African countries revealed the wide use of ICT in the region with countries such as Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Botswana leading in ICT use. In East Africa, Rwanda is probably the most advanced country in terms of ICT use with 65% of its population being covered by mobile telephony. The country has also a high level of internet use and access to television and radio broadcasts. In Kenya, Uganda and Burundi the use of ICT is also well advanced, especially for mobile phone subscribers, TV and radio listeners (Farrell & Isaacs, (2009). This high use of ICT is likely to stimulate economic development in developing countries, including the agricultural sector where a high proportion of the African population derives their livelihoods. Before 1990, ICT use in Tanzania was mainly limited to radio and landline telephones. New ICT started in the mid-1990s, and by 2001 it was estimated that Tanzania’s ICT industry had generated USD 300– 350 million per year. There are now a number of ICT development initiatives in the country funded by the government, donor countries and the private sector. Such initiatives range from telecentres and mobile phones in rural Tanzania to e-Government initiatives being implemented in the major cities and towns of Tanzania.

Agriculture continues to be the most important sector of the Indian economy.Research, extension and farmers’ efforts have all contributed significantly in increasing food production from 50 million tonnes in 1950-51 to a land mark achievement of an estimated 259.32 million tonnes in 2011-12 (MoA, GoI, 2013). The total demand for food grains is projected to touch 280 million tonnes by the year 2020-21. Meeting his demand will necessitate a growth rate of nearly two per cent per annum in food grain production (Singh, 2011) and the agriculture sector needs to grow at a targeted four per cent per annum. Approach paper of the India’s 12th five year plan (2012-17) states that the “weakness in the economic performance thus far is that growth in the farm sector” (PC, GoI, 2011) and the average of annual growth rates of GDP in agriculture and allied sectors during the eleventh plan period (2007-12) was 3.3 (PC, GoI, 2013).Hence, there is an immediate need of vibrant, dynamic and innovative approachto be adopted for agricultural extension in order to achieve targeted growthrate and serve the farmers better. Further, land and water resources are almost reaching their limits; hence, achieving food security heavily relies on “Knowledge Resource”. Estimates indicated that 60 per cent of farmers do not access any source of information for advanced agricultural technologies resulting in huge adoption gap (NSSO, 2005). In India, there are about 120 million farm holdings and the number is growing year by year. To provide at least one village extension personnel to 800-1000 farm families, the requirement of field level extension personnel is estimated to be about 1.3 to 1.5 million, against the present availability which is only about 0.1million (100 000) personnel. According to estimates, on an average a public extension personnel spends 40 minutes per year for a farmer. With this kind of contact intensity, a complementary service is a non-negotiable need of the country’s farmers. In this existing scenario, it is expected that the integration of ICTs in agricultural extension will provide much needed motivation to agricultural sector and ICTs can complement the traditional extension system for “Knowledge Resource” delivery to the millions of the farmers (Saravanan, 2010). Among ICTs, impressive penetration of mobile phones in many of the developing countries changing the agricultural communication process and mobile phones have made personal communications readily accessible, for the first time, to women and men, poor and prosperous, rural and urban dwellers in developing as well as in industrial countries (Colle, 2010).

2. Impact of mobile phones in agriculture

While most farmers reported that they used their mobile phones primarily for social purposes, almost all interviewees also used it for agricultural activity, with some respondents citing significant productivity gains as a result. Information regarding seeds is the most frequently accessed information in our sample. The mandi (market) price is the second most important piece of information accessed by farmers, followed by plant protection and fertiliser   application.   While   the   rankings   differ   somewhat,   information   on    fertiliser application and plant protection are crucial in many surveys.

Table 1: Ranking of the use of modern technology by farmers to access agricultural information

3. Impact of mobile phones on small farmers

Among small farmers, it has been reported that, there is some increase in convenience and cost savings by using mobile phones as basic communication devices to seek information such as input availability or to check on market prices. But, there were differences between the usage and benefits of mobile phones between farmers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The Maharashtra farmers are far higher in using their mobile phones to access information in general as well as mobile-enabled information services. A diverse set of benefits accruing from mobile usage including yield improvements, price realisation and increased revenues through better adjustment of supply to market demand was noted among the farmers of Maharashtra. In contrast, benefits were limited only to improvements in yields among the farmers of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The areas where farmers benefited from improved access to information included seed variety selection, best cultivation practices, protection from weather-related damage, handling plant disease and price realisation. ‘Best cultivation practices’ was the most significant category across both information services, while the impact of market price and demand information was mostly reported among Reuters Market Light (RML) subscribers. Market information influenced farmers to alter where and when they sold their crop in order to maximise revenues and in some cases, provided ammunition to farmers to negotiate better pricing terms from local traders. The RML service was active in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana while IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited(IKSL) served Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. Second, the farmers in Maharashtra are significantly wealthier than farmers of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in terms of infrastructure gaps, access to credit or other potential limitations on leveraging information.

4. Impact of mobile phone on fisherman

The impact of the fisher friend programme ranging from larger catches (the fishing sector equivalent of ‘yield’) to the prevention of losses was found by a team of researchers. They found that, weather and optimal fishing zone information had an impact on overall revenue by inducing fishermen to venture out to sea on days when they would otherwise have remained on shore. The personal impact of the programme is decreased vulnerability and isolation while the fisherman are at sea. The researchers found thatthe programme had ‘saved many lives’ by helping fisherman avoid being caught in severe weather conditions at sea. As with the farming community investigation, there are difference in the impact, depending on whether a mobile was used as an information platform or was used merely as a communication device. In several cases, the value of the mobile as an information platform was greatly enhanced because it could be used as a means to communicate newly accessed information to others and allowed even those who did not have access to the fisher friend service to share in the benefits. An analysis of the fisher friend service in the light of Jensen’s study of Kerala revealed that, fishermen used mobile phone as an information platform to disseminate information over its use simply as a communication medium. The study derived the benefits of arbitrage and wastage-reduction through the optimal use of mobile phone as a communication medium, the fisher friend service enhanced the gains to fishermen by providing a bouquet of information critically useful to them. In particular, it was found that the information on weather forecasts and the optimal-fishing-zone helped fishermen haul in a bigger catch with less effort, augmenting their economic gains. The receipt of the weather forecast information also lowered significantly the chances of loss of life as well as damage to their boats and nets in extreme weather conditions. However, poor road connectivity to markets and the non-existent cold-storage infrastructure affected fishermen from taking the fullest advantage of communication technology. Similarly, the lack of GPS facility in small-boats limited their gains below the potential.

The impact of the mobile as a basic communication device was critical for dealing with emergencies like an engine breakdown at sea. It additionally provided some advantages in terms of time/travel savings by co-ordinating activities such as calling for net repair services and ensuring that ice was made available when a fisherman returned to shore. One fisherman reported that this improved the quality of his fish and helped him realise a higher price.One fisherman reported that using a mobile phone helped him reduce wastage. This was not because he exercised market arbitrage, but because information he received from friends on the shore regarding supply conditions in the local market helped him adjust his time at sea and the quantity of his catch. If supply was already high, he would stop fishing earlier, whereas if supply was low (and consequently prices high) he continued fishing longer.

While the fisher friend programme allowed fishermen to access several types of information, it was only weather and potential fishing zone information that were cited as having real impact. Weather was most consistently reported by fisherman in their research. The impact here is especially significant for fishermen in simpler boats (catamarans and simple fibre boats) who are more vulnerable to damage from rough sea conditions. These fishermen also have lower thresholds for wind speed and wave height. The optimal fishing zone information identifies ‘zones’ where a high catchment of fish is predicted on a given day. The team found the impact of this information to be mixed among those who acted on the information. Several interviewees cited increased catches while others reported frustration at achieving no positive results. One criticism levelled at this information was that it was substantially more beneficial to larger boats that could use GPS information to locate the given coordinates and that frequently, though not always, the zone identified was at a distance accessible only by large boats.

5. Impact of mobile phones on large farmers and large fisherman

Smaller farmers are now using mobile phones as their source of communication for social rather than business purposes. It has been reported by many researchers that, small farmerswhen used their phones for business reasons, they derived greater value from their access to information on market prices and in dealing with input and disease problems. There was also some reports that larger farmers were able to extract greater benefits from being able to access resources to deal with input availability and disease control. Apart from being able to obtain information, input dealers have also helped large farmer deliver information. They were also able to access professional help immediately from the fields in case of plant disease. As noted previously, speed in crop disease control, especially in the case of perishable crops, can prevent catastrophic losses. Unlike the smaller farmers, none of the larger farmers mentioned any value derived from accessing information about new cultivation techniques. There was some indication that these farmers were already well versed with modern farming practices and could access multiple sources of information to stay informed. With that said, a few of the farmers indicated that they would like more information ‘delivered to them’ via mobile, but they were not pro-actively seeking it out.

6. Benefits of mobile phone in agriculture

Mobiles confer distinct advantages as a communications link in isolated circumstances. Mobile users can determine when and where they can communicate and access information. Mobile phones are the means of two-way communication in accessing information both on and off the sea. This included dealing with emergencies and acting on weather information in time to return safely to shore. Mobile use allowed fishermen to avoid potential losses to boats and nets as well as risks to personal safety. Emergency and safety benefits were consistently described as the most important benefits from the fisher friend service. As described above, benefits were also reported to change fishing location while at sea in order to profit from the optimal fishing zone information and by communicating with friends at sea. Fishermen at sea reported examples of communicating with others on land to allow them to share in the benefits of a good fishing location. Thus, the access to mobile communications amplified the value of the information provided by fisher friend by enabling information sharing between subscribers and non-subscribers. Farmers also reported benefits from being able to make and receive calls while working on the farm. This included the ability to describe plant diseases from the field to experts and to co-ordinate better with their hired labour. Traders and commission agents reported improvements from their ability to deal with truck breakdowns and the ability to shift crops en-route in response to changing market conditions.

7. Constraints

Lack of infrastructure and knowledge regarding production and marketing of non-traditional crops and their inability to access credit are the major hindrance in realising the full benefits of mobile telephony. Infrastructural constraints limits the ability of farmers to leverage information such as insufficient availability of critical resources, inadequate irrigation, poor physical access to markets and inadequate crop storage facilities.

8. CONCLUSION

As a telephonic device, the mobile enables access to information sources that may not otherwise be reachable. As an information platform to receive sms, menu or voice message information, mobiles provides the ability to get connected to new knowledge and information sources not previously available with the possibility of real-time, highly tailored information delivery.Even at this early stage, mobile phones are being used in Indian agriculture and are starting to deliver agricultural productivity improvements, an impact that is enhanced by the new mobile-enabled information services. The most common benefit of mobile telephony found in the research was derived from the use of mobile phones as a basic communications device as for many of the farmers interviewed, it was the only convenient phone access they had.

Realising the full potential benefits of mobile phones is limited, however, by a set of constraints that prevent farmers from fully leveraging the information they receive. The barriers apply more to small than to large farmers; large farmers are more able to leverage the benefits of the communication and information they can access. The constraints include shortcomings in physical infrastructure affecting access to markets, storage and irrigation. Issues regarding the availability of critical products and services including seeds, fertilisers, medicines and credit to small farmers also exist. This array of constraints means that additional interventions may be required to improve agricultural productivity growth. Increased public and private investment will be necessary to resolve critical infrastructure gaps. Policy changes may also be needed to encourage better access to high-quality inputs and credit for small farmers. Increased extension services and capacity-building efforts can complement information dissemination via mobile phones and associated services to accelerate the adoption of new techniques. Social networks may play an important role in building the trust and confidence required to influence the adoption of new mind sets and actions by small farmers. Additionally, basic information will need to be supplemented by a range of other activities such as demonstrations and broader communication efforts.

Web links

• Colle, D. Royal, (2011). Book Review on ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments,Innovations and Experiences, (Ed) R. Saravanan (2010). Journal of DevelopmentCommunication, Vol. 22, No. 1. http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-279462004/rsaravanan-ed-icts-for-agricultural-extension.
• MoA, GoI., (2013). State of Indian Agriculture 2012-13. Published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, New Delhi. agricoop.nic.in/Annual report2012-13/ARE 2012-13/pdf
• PC, GoI., (2011). Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth-An Approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17). Planning Commission, Government of India, October,2011. http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans /appraoch_12plan.pdf.
• PC, GoI., (2013). Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–2017) Economic Sectors. Volume II,
• PlanningCommission, Government of India, http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/12thplan/pdf/vol_2.pdf.
• Saravanan, R., (2010). ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences. New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi.
• Singh, Manmohan, (2011). ICAR-83rd Foundation Day Address. ICAR press release, dated 16th July, 2011, www.icar.org.in (Accessed on 7th August, 2011).