ncap-adiguru

7/31/2019 NCAP-ADIGURU

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Can ICT transform thesustainable agriculture production

scenario and bridge the divide andthe inequalities among groups?

P. Adhiguru

National Centre for Agricultural Economics and

Policy Research (NCAP)

New Delhi


2/16

NCAP 2

Changing Agricultural Scenario

Globalization and liberalizationConsumer interest

Changing consumer preferences

Diversification of food basket

Quality food products

Value added/ processed food products

Competitive price


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NCAP 3

Changing Agricultural Scenario

National Raising and stabilizing income over seasons

Generating employment opportunities

Alleviating poverty and undernourishment

Participating effectively in new trade

regime

Regional equity

Improving food security

Improving sustainable farming systems


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NCAP 4

Information is vital-Why?(in the context of globalization)

Yield enhancement

Production efficiency

Judicious use of inputs

Knowledge intensive technologiesPrecision farming

Quality farm produce

Grading and standardizationInformation access cost reduction

Transaction cost reduction

Cold chain management


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NCAP 5

Information is vital-Why?

(in the context of globalization)

Post harvest processing

Overcoming price instability

Glut avoidance

Risk management

Export oriented production

Increasing cropping intensity

DiversificationReduction of intermediaries

Efficient credit utilization

Loss prevention (Natural/pests & diseases)


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NCAP 6

Information needs of farmers

Input market

Technological information (E.g. Enterprise mix)

Financial market Output market

Consumer market

Socio-economic development

Special information (e.g Early warning system,

Crop Insurance, )


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NCAP 7

Information flow inadequacy

Inadequate extension coverage

Less interactive

Time consuming

Multi-step communication channel

Traditional methods become expensive.


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NCAP 8

Dividers and issuesDividers Issues

Age Youth, middle, elderly needs, activities, physical &cognitive

access

Holding size Technology/ resources requirement, input & output transactionproblems

Gender Needs of women, nature of activities engaged, entitlements

Income Willingness to pay for services across income groups

Caste/community Level of backwardness and their technology orientation

Literacy &Computer literacy

Level of literacy, Basic operational skills, computer utilityawareness, Computer shyness, Attitude towards advanced ICT

tools

Enterprise Enterprise composition of the locality, risk associated with the

enterprise

Geographical Topography-plains and hills, remote- infrastructure development,.

Agro-climatic Irrigated, semi-arid, arid

Technology Technology baskets, technology clusters

Culture Homogenous, heterogeneous, cohesiveness

Infrastructure Level of development- tele-density, power stability, last mile

connectivity-internet-Reliability, bandwidth


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NCAP 9

Share of operational holdings by

size group

Source: Jha, D. Presidential Address, ISAE, 2001

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01* 2010-11*

Years

%holdings

Large(>4 ha)

Medium (2-4)

Small (


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NCAP 10

ICTs potential in transforming agriculture

and bridging the divide

Broadening content coverage

Providing time sensitive/customized/ early warning

information/standardized calculations

Complementing traditional extension/ information service

Disseminating messages far and wide very quickly.

Providing scope for equal accessibility to vulnerable groups

(small& marginal farmers, women)


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NCAP 11



Providing alternative solutions to a set of problematic

situations/ scenarios, thereby facilitating decision making based

on optimum combinations of solutions.

Improving two-way vertical and horizontal communications

within extension institutions and with other developmental

organizations.

Receiving bottom-up articulation of development needs/

perceptions of farmers and rural households.


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NCAP 12

Creating awareness and providing details about agricultural programs empower thefarmers.

Reducing transaction costs in accessing information, purchasing inputs and sale of

outputs.

Providing regional specific information to satisfy farmers needs (e.g. contents of

soils, local policies etc.)

Direct involvement of scientists/technology developer in the preparation of

technological messages and in answering queries thereby reducing distortion of

messages.

Flexibility in terms of time and frequency for accessing the information by users

add value to time.



S i d P li i


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NCAP 13

Strategies and Policies Formulate conducive ICT policy in Agriculture at national

and state level.

Policies with regard to tax and tariff to be conducive forfaster ICT infrastructure development in rural areas.

National Agricultural Research System to be more proactivein user friendly, need based and locally relevant content

development, hosting and inter-linking of web-sites. Periodic assessment of information needs and information

access preferences of farmers to be done so as to make ICTdemand driven.

Location specific need assessment is to include groupspecific needs.

Capacity building programs are to include group specific sensitivitytraining modules.

h i d i b idi


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NCAP 14

Emphasis on gender equity by providing womens accessesto ICT, ensuring women-oriented content, and increasedwomen participation in application of ICT.

Include contents so as to attract youth who can serve as sparkplug in

in use of kiosks. Because youth tend to be less computer shy. Pooling of resources, aggregation of demand, scale neutrality to

benefit small holders.

Self-help group approach to enhance affordability of the group toavail services or use resources.

Socio-psychological-cultural assessment be made to integrate ICTmodel with local culture.

Enterprise wise time sensitivity assessment for designing static,dynamic and real time content, early warning system.

More thrust on wireless ICT model to suit to remote areas/hillyareas/ less populated hamlets.

Use of graphics, voice-overs, vernacular user interface software toenhance cognitive access of illiterates- semi-literates.

Demand driven technology baskets to form the core content fordissemination.


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NCAP 15

To Sum up

Information and Interface: Media planning and capacity

building

Integrated support: Quality service & Infrastructure

Institutional arrangement: Complimenting Public-Private

partnership

Incentives: use of advanced & alternative technologies

Investment:Increasing public investment for infrastructureand Agri-ICT programs


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Thank you

ncap-adiguru

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