Kisan portal

mKisan portal (mkisan.gov.in) for farmers enables all Central and the State government organisations in agriculture and allied sectors to provide information, services or advisories to farmers by SMS in their own language. Users can get information on the Push SMS, Pull SMS, services, IVRS, mobile apps, etc.

Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy, contributing 22% of GDP and providing the main source of income for over two-thirds of the population. Given the sector’s importance, it is surprising that only 40% of farmer households are able to regularly access information or public advisory services aimed at raising produce yield and quality.

The proliferation of mobile phones however is enabling farmers, even in the most remote locations, to receive timely and specific advice using mobile phone agriculture advisory that bridge the information gap that conventional public extension services cannot reach. mKisan is a illustration of how mobile-based agriculture advisory services can overcome traditional geographical, financial and capacity barriers to information and advice provision.

The project, delivered jointly by CABI, Handygo Technologies, International Livestock Research Instituteand Digital Green, will provide practical farming advice to over a million subscribers across six states of India; Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharasthra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Subscribers receive real-time and interactive advice direct from a panel of experts on crop and livestock such as insects, diseases and nutrition helpline.

Farmers also receive regular weather bulletins, pest and disease alerts and market price information to support on-farm decision-making. Since the service was launched in mid-2012, one million farmers have used the service. Around 340,000 have on-going subscriptions although peak months of activity occur at the start and end of the season when cropping decisions and market price information are of prime importance.

The service has recently expaned to provide a farmer helpline across three Hindi speaking states of central and eastern India (Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh). The query data generated by the call centre will help mKisan gain a overview of the type and extent of farmers queries and will further help to expand and tailor the service’s content to better support its subscribers.