Chandra Shekar, a farmer who grows crops such as tomatoes and carrots and raises cows and other animals, lives in a remote village in Kolar, India in the state of Karnataka. For the past year, he's received daily voice messages with advice which have helped him to keep his sheep healthy, control diseases that threaten his crops and know what medicines to feed his animals. He has also had access to a helpline that allows him to ask questions to experts, while standing in the field of his farm, next to his animals. "Messages on animal husbandry are serving like daily doctor to me," Shekar said. "When cow was suffering from bloating, it was effectively controlled by making cow to drink groundnut oil which was given in the message."
Shekar is one of about one million farmers in India who receive these cell phone messages from the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, also known as IFFCO. The cooperative, which was founded in 1967, is the largest fertilizer cooperative in the world. In mid-2007, IFFCO began offering a voice message service to its members, which provided agricultural advice in the form of minute-long voice messages in local languages. Today, the program is one of the rare mobile projects that has successfully scaled and continues to grow.
The program, which is named IKSL, or IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited, is a joint venture between IFFCO and Indian communications company Airtel, the mobile provider with the highest subscriber rate in the country. The farmers receive SIM cards designed by Airtel, called green SIM cards, to receive the messages. The cards can also be used for regular calls. The IFFCO system is currently in 18 states, out of 28, in India, and messages are tailored to local languages and different climate zones. Farmers receive five messages, each one minute long every day, except on Sundays.
There is also a helpline service, which gives farmers access to experts on farming and veterinary medicine. "One advantage of this helpline is that the farmers can tell the symptoms from the field," said Shashi Kala, who works with the program in the state of Karnataka.
The content of the messages varies from how to use certain pesticides to information on market prices. For example, an English translation of one message on treating mastitis, or the inflammation of the mammary glands, in cows, says:
"This disease is very common disease of Cows and occurs due to improper milking method and unhygienic conditions. Diseased animal will have swelling in the Udder and blood clots are found in milk. To cure this disease, follow proper milking method by applying equal pressure. Clean the hands before milking and also clean the udder before and after milking with disinfectant. After drying the udder, injection to control the swelling should be given to each teed by consulting nearest Doctor."
Message are free to the farmers, although they pay to use the helpline service. They also must purchase their own mobile phones. While IFFCO could not disclose the cost of the service, it's quite expensive and the start up cost was quite high, said IFFCO administrator Tallapragada Sudhakar. The service was advertised through the cooperative, on TV and radio ads, and spread through word of mouth. "It's been a learning experience," said Sudhakar. IFFCO has had to adjust the content of the messages in terms of local language, regional accent, and type of advice requested by farmers.
In the future, IFFCO hopes to increase the quality of the content in the messages and strengthen their helpline system. "In a very short duration, we have grown to a very large-sized program," Sudhakar said.
IFFCO: Cell Phone Messages with Farmer Advice Locations
Chandra Shekar, a farmer who grows crops such as tomatoes and carrots and raises cows and other animals, lives in a remote village in Kolar, India in the state of Karnataka. For the past year, he's received daily voice messages with advice which have helped him to keep his sheep healthy, control diseases that threaten his crops and know what medicines to feed his animals. He has also had access to a helpline that allows him to ask questions to experts, while standing in the field of his farm, next to his animals. "Messages on animal husbandry are serving like daily doctor to me," Shekar said. "When cow was suffering from bloating, it was effectively controlled by making cow to drink groundnut oil which was given in the message."
Shekar is one of about one million farmers in India who receive these cell phone messages from the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, also known as IFFCO. The cooperative, which was founded in 1967, is the largest fertilizer cooperative in the world. In mid-2007, IFFCO began offering a voice message service to its members, which provided agricultural advice in the form of minute-long voice messages in local languages. Today, the program is one of the rare mobile projects that has successfully scaled and continues to grow.
The program, which is named IKSL, or IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited, is a joint venture between IFFCO and Indian communications company Airtel, the mobile provider with the highest subscriber rate in the country. The farmers receive SIM cards designed by Airtel, called green SIM cards, to receive the messages. The cards can also be used for regular calls. The IFFCO system is currently in 18 states, out of 28, in India, and messages are tailored to local languages and different climate zones. Farmers receive five messages, each one minute long every day, except on Sundays.
There is also a helpline service, which gives farmers access to experts on farming and veterinary medicine. "One advantage of this helpline is that the farmers can tell the symptoms from the field," said Shashi Kala, who works with the program in the state of Karnataka.
The content of the messages varies from how to use certain pesticides to information on market prices. For example, an English translation of one message on treating mastitis, or the inflammation of the mammary glands, in cows, says:
"This disease is very common disease of Cows and occurs due to improper milking method and unhygienic conditions. Diseased animal will have swelling in the Udder and blood clots are found in milk. To cure this disease, follow proper milking method by applying equal pressure. Clean the hands before milking and also clean the udder before and after milking with disinfectant. After drying the udder, injection to control the swelling should be given to each teed by consulting nearest Doctor."
Message are free to the farmers, although they pay to use the helpline service. They also must purchase their own mobile phones. While IFFCO could not disclose the cost of the service, it's quite expensive and the start up cost was quite high, said IFFCO administrator Tallapragada Sudhakar. The service was advertised through the cooperative, on TV and radio ads, and spread through word of mouth. "It's been a learning experience," said Sudhakar. IFFCO has had to adjust the content of the messages in terms of local language, regional accent, and type of advice requested by farmers.
In the future, IFFCO hopes to increase the quality of the content in the messages and strengthen their helpline system. "In a very short duration, we have grown to a very large-sized program," Sudhakar said.
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