Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Farmers will soon get direct phone calls and video-call advice from agriculture scientists and farm experts on their queries related to crop varieties, seed quality, pest attacks, early maturity varieties of crops, drought-tolerant seeds, irrigation tips and other issues from Kisan Call Centres (KCC).At present, farmers get one-way automated voice responses to their queries, making the KCCs less effective.
The Ministry of Agriculture launched the call centres in 2004 to realise the potential of communication technology for the development of agriculture. The KCCs answer farmers’ queries via automated telephone calls in their language. There are 21 KCCs now spread across states.
The Union government now plans to revamp the KCC by making it more interactive, via a two-way communication system. The Centre has invited a bid asking interested parties to offer effective agricultural solutions in the digital age. In the tender floated, the Centre has mentioned how to make it a two-way communication, unlike in the current system.
A senior official associated with the development said, “The same way you enhance your culinary skills through YouTube videos, the farmers will receive videos on their smartphones. They can take suggested steps like how to spray pesticides, identify diseases, when and how much irrigation is required, and appropriate harvesting time and related facilities,” he said.
The government runs a dedicated television channel, DD KISAN, for farmers to address their challenges related to farming. “The channel demonstrates but seems ineffective in the age of smartphones,” said the officer, adding, “Our agriculture is facing more local problems due to climate change impact. The solution needs to be fine-tuned according to their need.”
“If things go as planned, we will connect farmers to a group of scientists at the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK),” he said. There are 731 KVKs functioning as knowledge resource centres of agriculture technology to improve the farm economy.
New features will make the scheme costlier
The Ministry of Agriculture now plans to revamp the Kisan Call Centre by making it more interactive, via a two-way communication system. The new features at the Kisan Call Centre may raise the cost of the scheme. The government has outsourced the KCC service to Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited for 2018-23, which is about to expire. The current yearly budget to run the scheme is around `30 crore.
NEW DELHI: Farmers will soon get direct phone calls and video-call advice from agriculture scientists and farm experts on their queries related to crop varieties, seed quality, pest attacks, early maturity varieties of crops, drought-tolerant seeds, irrigation tips and other issues from Kisan Call Centres (KCC).
At present, farmers get one-way automated voice responses to their queries, making the KCCs less effective.
The Ministry of Agriculture launched the call centres in 2004 to realise the potential of communication technology for the development of agriculture. The KCCs answer farmers’ queries via automated telephone calls in their language. There are 21 KCCs now spread across states.
The Union government now plans to revamp the KCC by making it more interactive, via a two-way communication system. The Centre has invited a bid asking interested parties to offer effective agricultural solutions in the digital age. In the tender floated, the Centre has mentioned how to make it a two-way communication, unlike in the current system.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
A senior official associated with the development said, “The same way you enhance your culinary skills through YouTube videos, the farmers will receive videos on their smartphones. They can take suggested steps like how to spray pesticides, identify diseases, when and how much irrigation is required, and appropriate harvesting time and related facilities,” he said.
The government runs a dedicated television channel, DD KISAN, for farmers to address their challenges related to farming. “The channel demonstrates but seems ineffective in the age of smartphones,” said the officer, adding, “Our agriculture is facing more local problems due to climate change impact. The solution needs to be fine-tuned according to their need.”
“If things go as planned, we will connect farmers to a group of scientists at the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK),” he said. There are 731 KVKs functioning as knowledge resource centres of agriculture technology to improve the farm economy.
New features will make the scheme costlier
The Ministry of Agriculture now plans to revamp the Kisan Call Centre by making it more interactive, via a two-way communication system. The new features at the Kisan Call Centre may raise the cost of the scheme. The government has outsourced the KCC service to Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited for 2018-23, which is about to expire. The current yearly budget to run the scheme is around `30 crore.
