#WithTheFarmer — A FarmGuide Initiative

Being in an agriculture driven country, we might have gone through these type of headlines many a times.

Farmers go on 10-day strike, vegetable supplies take the hit — Times of India

50,000 farmers march towards Mumbai — The Business Line

Farmers have called a 10-day strike in Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala — The Quint

Stories behind farmer suicides in India — FarmGuide India

So all these headlines state a similar point — Farmers in India aren’t happy. The reason behind it is the unstable behavior of their profession. We all know farming is not a profession that guarantees returns. But then the question arises, why?

Why is farming not profitable in India?

Team FarmGuide visited a farm in order to interact with farmers in a village and we got to know some surprising facts. There are a wide range of problems in Agriculture and every farmer has an individual problem. We are often mistaken with the thought that an entire village has a similar kind of problem. But, the real life scenario is different. Different farmers have different farming problems.

Through the conversations we had with the farmers, we figured out some problems that they have been facing from a long time

Farmer Problems in India

1. Indian farmers do not have much information about basic things like soil health, the amount of fertilizer the land demands for, the type of fertilizer to be added, the kind of crop suitable to the land, and the pesticides to be used in case of pest attack.
2. Farmers lack information about Government schemes that provide them subsidies, schemes that help them in claiming an insurance in case of crop loss and other schemes.
3. Farmers complaining about changing weather and crop loss due to sudden weather changes makes it clear that farmers are not notified about emergency weather situations.
4. As every farmer has a different problem, one-solution-fits-all approach is of least help to Indian farmers.
5. Farmers have zero idea about marketing their produce as there isn’t any source of information about the original market price.

We felt there is a need. Need of information that can solve all the above mentioned problems. That’s when the idea of information services begin.

Who are we?

We are an Agri-Tech organization committed to eradicate the asymmetry of information in the Indian agriculture sector. We dedicated 1.5 years to create products that contribute to the betterment of Indian Farming community.

How do we help farmers?

We developed an IVRS system that has a capability to shoot 10,000 calls per second. Through this system, we aim to broadcast customized information to farmers across India. A customized call calendar is built for every individual farmer based on which, calls are sent to the farmer at regular intervals

What information does FarmGuide IVRS system provide?

• Advisory Calls
• Marketing Calls
• Government Scheme Calls
• Market Information Calls
• Weather Report Calls
• Contingency Calls

Advisory Calls

As there are new hybrids and varieties of seeds and fertilizers emerging everyday, it is important to educate the farmers about them. Also, information about pests, water spacing, and requirements required to prepare their soil for cultivation can be very useful for the farmers to increase the quality and quantity of yield produced.

The information services would also advise farmers about various precautions that can be taken to prevent losses due to pest attacks, overuse of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs.

Marketing Calls

In most cases, the small and marginal farmers are not aware of the market prices due to presence of middlemen and commission agents in the market. Farmers do not profit from the high consumer prices due to unawareness and exploitation of middlemen in the agriculture market system.

In order to create a medium where farmer can be educated about the existing market prices and mandis where maximum profit can be obtained, we decided to extend market advisory to farmers.

Government Scheme Calls

Policies and Schemes released by the government are targeted towards benefiting the small and marginal farmers in India. But due to lack of symmetry in information and a proper medium, the small and marginal farmers fail to benefit from the government schemes. Lack of information, local infrastructure, and absence of robust communication channels are the main reasons behind a farmer not profiting from the government schemes.

FarmGuide information services include calls that provide information about not only the government schemes but also the way to get maximum benefit from the schemes. These calls are filtered as per region, crop and cropping cycle. The calls also facilitate communication channels for farmers in order to reach out to local agricultural office and stay updated with any new government introduced schemes.

Weather Report Calls

If a farmer has knowledge about location specific and quantified weather forecast, real time needs could be easily met. Also, crop management strategies which are weather based and farmer operations to improve crop production and food security can be increased and improved.

By linking the Information Service Module with Automatic Weather Stations present in different regions of the farmers, FarmGuide information services provide differentiated weather advisories and forecasts. This helps the farmers to manage their crops according to areas.

Contingency Calls

Right from the time of sowing, agricultural production in India faces risk from natural calamities. Floods, drought and excess rainfall affect the farming community. The hard work, labor, and time put in by the farmers gets wiped of in just a single stroke.

At times, farmers have to be vigilant for the entire nights to take protective measures against natural calamities. If contingency calls are provided and sudden changes in the weather conditions are notified to the farmer, the loss of harvest overnight can be reduced to some extent.

What do we expect from you?

60 INR for a farmer

These above mentioned information services are being extended to farmers in 60 INR for 6 months through IVRS phone calls throughout the week. The phone calls extended would be in regional languages of the farmers in order to promote smooth two way communication.

Information services available in the market already can surely benefit the farmer. But the involvement of technology increases the cost attached and makes it impossible for a small or marginal farmer to afford them.

We have decided to turn the tables. We wanted our information services to be the best in the market and also to be cheap and affordable for the farmer. With a lot of hard work and dedication for more than an year, we trained our information services to be the best in the market.

It is time we realize that agriculture is the future of development in India. It is our responsibility to make agriculture not only a sustainable profession but also a profitable one.

If you are ready to sponsor a farmer, stay tuned to our Facebook page as we plan to launch our Sponsor A Farmer portal soon.

We are #WithTheFarmer

Are you?