Climate Exchange

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griculture

and fertilizer information. These enterprises send the

bulletins on to farmers as SMS messages of up to 160

characters in the local language. Although content

is also sent in English, the real advantage is that the

language of the local people is used to communicate

with them.

An Indian language-compatible handset enables

messages in local languages to be received and assures

farmers that SMS text messages originate from IMD by

identifying this organization as the sender. In parallel,

private companies call farmers to receive feedback on

the advice given and any queries they may have. The

companies are also teaching farmers across the country

how to subscribe and use the SMS service for advice on

farm management.

Sixteen states (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,

Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West

Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra

Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh)

have been covered by this service, with around 3 million

farmers receiving SMS messages.

Private companies and their partners participate in

direct farmer contact meetings to raise awareness of

the SMS system, facilitate its use and explain how this

service benefits them. Additional education includes

farmers’ awareness programmes and fairs.

Lessons learned about users and their needs

To date, the PPP is working well. Private companies

have been asked to verify the district-level bulletin and

advice for improvement in the AAS system. They have

also been asked to collect feedback from farmers so

that IMD, in collaboration with AMFUs, will be able

to provide a better service. A two-way communication

channel has been developed for the free flow of infor-

mation between scientists and farmers.

The following crop losses were recorded in the southern states of

India in 2011 due to adverse weather conditions:

• Banana plantations and coconut trees were damaged by heavy

rain and lightning in the Tiruppur district of Tamilnadu in April

• Crops such as turmeric, tomato and ladyfinger were damaged

by heavy rain in the Cauvery Delta Zone in September, while

banana trees were uprooted by high winds in the Coimbatore

district of Tamilnadu during October

• Rubber and banana trees were uprooted by high winds and

damaged by heavy rain, which also affected other vegetable

crops in the Thiruvanathpuram district in Kerala, with similar

crops affected in other parts of Kerala, including areca nut, cocoa

and coconut

• Banana and ginger crops were damaged by heavy rain in the

Wayanad district of Kerala in November.

Agromet advice is disseminated in a range of different ways.

Conventional

Communicating advice to agricultural users should be a quick

process. Conventional methods, including bulletins, pamphlets,

posters, postal letters, newspapers, radio, TV, mobile phones, local

announcements, village meetings, local time-bound markets and

personal communication, are most commonly used, with advice

delivered to farmers through a multichannel system.

Mobile technology

Under the IAAS scheme, efforts are being made to extend the reach of

advice in relation to the needs of farmers. In addition to the multichan-

nel system, the Integrated Agromet Advisory Service (IAAS) project is

disseminating advice to the Indian farming community through SMS

messaging and Interactive Voice Response Technology (IVR).

In a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, AMFUs are

preparing and sending district AAS bulletins twice weekly to private

companies, including Reuter Market Light, Nokia and Handygo,

comprising weather forecasts along with crop, pest, disease, seed

Image: Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu India

Coconut palms are vulnerable to the effects of heavy rain

and lightning

Banana trees damaged by heavy rain and uprooted by high winds in

Tamilnadu and Kerala