ICFA

ICT IN AGRICULTURE

NATIONAL ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE

4 July 2017

INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, NEW DELHI

 ICFA

ICT IN AGRICULTURE OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION and technology, multiple options to access modern

technologies have become available. It is evident from
the replacement of indigenous varieties of seeds by

A gricultural practices and advancements differ

globally—since plants have their own
differences and the location plays a role on
their development as well. But through the exchange
of knowledge from different agriculturally-involved
high-yielding varieties and traditional equipment and
practices by power tillers, tractors and others
machines.

individuals from all over the world, improvement of INFORMATION AND

techniques can be experienced as well. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
It has made an impact on how information is shared,
and being able to use this information for the (ICT) IN AGRICULTURE
advancement of the agricultural sector gives a great
positive impact that is beneficial for everyone. IT has Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
become a bridge for people from all over the world. used as an overarching term incorporating all modes of
Agriculture in India is the core sector for food security, transmission like electronic devices, networks,
nutritional security, and sustainable development & mobiles, services and applications which help to
for poverty alleviation. It contributes approximately disseminate information with the help of technology.
16% of GDP. Milestones in agriculture development in In the recent years, ICT has proved to be extremely
India includes: Green revolution, Evergreen beneficial for farmers including small land holders,
revolution, Blue revolution, White revolution, yellow marginalized and poor farmers, and helped them in
revolution, Bio technology revolution and the most marketing, precision farming and improved profits.
recent one is Information and communication
technology revolution. Through ICT, farmers have been empowered to
Information and communication technologies play a exchange their opinions, experiences and ideas. It has
crucial role in disseminating information to farmers given farmers more exposure and allowed them to use
enabling them to decide on the cropping pattern, use of science that looks at agriculture from an integrated
high-yielding seeds, fertilizer application, pest perspective. Also, e-Agriculture is one of the action
management, marketing, etc. Traditionally, Indian lines identified in the declaration and plan of action of
farmers have been following indigenous production the World Summit on the Information Society. E-
methods and rely upon friends, relatives, fellow agriculture has the potential to put India on the higher
farmers and input dealers to get information regarding pedestal of ’Second Green Revolution’ by making
agriculture. With advancement of agricultural science Indian agricultural sector self-sufficient.

ICT - National Round Table Conference 2

 ICFA

Availability of timely information and technology has to create essential choices like what to plant? Once
proved very crucial in areas like disease prevalence to plant? A way to manage pests? Whereas
and drought management thereby helping the farmers considering off-farm factors like environmental
not only in avoiding crop loss but also thwarting impacts, market access, and trade standards. IT-
economic loss, this raised the demand of planning and based call web will certainly facilitate their
making strategies that could equip farmers with choices.
various information rights from sowing seeds to
harvesting. And, ICT has now become a reliable u It will give systems and tools to secure food
instrument for improving the quantity and quality of traceability and dependableness that has been a
the agricultural production. rising issue regarding farm product since serious
contamination like chicken contagious disease
The efforts of the Government in the area of ICT have was detected.
escalated the living standard of Indian farmers and
made them ICT-friendly, which has resulted in u It will facilitate rural activities and supply softer
increased penetration of useful information about and safe rural life with equivalent services to those
crops, soils, climate and cultivation processes. Several within the urban areas, like provision of distance
measures have been taken for encouraging Indian education, telemedicine, remote public services,
farmers to be more ICT – friendly, which include e- remote diversion etc.
choupal, e – krishi , e-aid and many more. And,
numerous mobile applications have also been u Empowerment of Stakeholders (Government
launched by the Government of India for the same officers, Research, Education & Extension
including Mandi trades, Mpower social, Kisan Scientists, farmers and different service suppliers
suvidha, Crop insurance, Agri market and m – Kisan like Community data centers.
application.
u Development of information Management, call
The need of marketing agricultural produce at Support and consolatory Systems to strengthen
competitive prices will change the farmers’ attitude Extension services and additionally used for
towards ICT. And, thus this new technology will help Farmers Redressal system.
and contribute more in sustaining the Indian
agriculture. u Efficient management (Development,
Conservation, allocation and utilization) of
ADVANTAGES OF ICT IN resources.
AGRICULTURE
u Improved productivity and profit of farmers
u Some of the advantages of Information and through higher consultatory systems
Communication technologies in agriculture are as
follows:

u It will initiate new agricultural and rural business

like e – commerce, realty business for satellite
offices, rural business, and virtual corporation of
small – scale farms.

u It will support political and analysis on optimum

farm production, disaster management, agro-
environmental resource management etc.,
exploitation tools like geographic Information
systems (GIS).

u It will improve farm management and farming

technologies by economical farm management,
risk management, effective data or data transfer
etc., realizing competitive and property farming
with safe product. As an example, farmer has got

ICT - National Round Table Conference 3

 ICFA

APPLICATION OF ICT IN Pradesh; Odisha: Bhulekh; Uttar Pradesh;

AGRICULTURE Uttarakhand: Dev Bhoomi and West Bengal: Banglar
Bhumi.
Digitization of Land Records
Agricultural Commodity Trading
Maintenance of land records and the availability of
easily accessible land information is one of the most The Government of India in 2003-04 had initiated
important issues facing governance today. "Land major steps towards introduction of futures trading in
Records" itself is a generic expression and can include commodities, which included removal of prohibition
records such as, the register of lands, Records of Rights on futures trading in all the commodities by issue of a
(RoRs), tenancy and crop inspection register, mutation notification and setting up of the National Level
register, disputed cases register, etc. It can also include Commodity Exchanges, such as National Commodity
geological information regarding the shape, size, soil- & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX), Multi
type of the land; and economic information related to Commodity Exchange of India Limited, National
irrigation and crops. Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited
(NMCE).
Thus, the Computerization of Land Records (CLR) is
necessary with a view to: Information Dissemination
u Ensure efficient, accurate, transparent delivery m – Kisan – SMS Based Farm: m – Kisan, a farmer
mechanism and conflict resolution in ownership can get a preferred advisory on his mobile through
SMS. Experts can register and send advisory messages
u Provide electronic record of rights (ROR) to land to farmers at www.mkisan.gov.in. The messages are
owners at nominal rates sent in the local language.

u Information empowerment of land owners Kisan Call Centres (KCC): To harness the potential
of ICT in Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture took a
u Low cost and easily reproducible data for reliable new initiative by launching the scheme “Kisan Call
and durable preservation Centres (KCCs)” on January 21, 2004 aimed at
answering farmers queries on a telephone call in
u Value addition and modernization in land farmers own dialect. These call Centres are working in
administration 14 different locations covering all the States and UTs.
This Scheme provides agriculture related information
u Integration with other data sets towards to the farming community through toll free telephone
comprehensive LIS lines. A countrywide common eleven digit number has
been allotted for Kisan Call Centre. The number is
Some of the initiatives in various states include, accessible through all mobile phones and landlines of
Rajasthan: Apna Khata; Chhattisgarh: Bhuiyan; all telecom networks including private service
Haryana: Jamabandi; Himachal Pradesh: providers. Replies to the farmers' queries are given in
HimBhoomi; Karnataka: Bhoomi; Kerala; Madhya 22 local languages

ICT - National Round Table Conference 4

 ICFA

Farm Advisory through Mobiles – Green SIM: This Information/Knowledge exchange and an e-
programme is implemented by IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Marketplace.
Limited (IKSL). The features of IKSL services include
delivering up to four free voice messages on areas of eSagu IT Based Personalized Agro Advisory
interest, and have a helpline services managed by System: e-Sagu is a web-based personalized agro-
experts and organize phone-in programmes and advisory system, which uses Information Technology
mobile-based quizzes. rmers' queries are given in 22 (digital photo based) to help farmers adopt
local languages. better/scientific management practices in agriculture.
In eSagu, rather than visiting the crop in person, the
IKSL is covering 19 states and 108 zones in those agricultural expert delivers the expert advice at regular
states and have a subscriber base of 11 lakh. IKSL intervals (once in one or two weeks) to each farm by
provides messages through both push- and pull-based getting the crop status in the form of digital
approach. The messages are delivered daily in regional photographs and other information.
languages and have content in 16 different categories
which includes Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Facebook for Farmers and Extension Workers: The
Husbandry, Floriculture, Poultry, Irrigation, social media platform such as Facebook is being
Fertilizers, Insurance, Banking, Rural Health, effectively used in Kerala for reaching out to farmers
Government Schemes, Market Prices, Sericulture, and extension workers. Based on the success of using
Employment Opportunities, Human Health and Co- Facebook by the Vattamkulam Krishi Bhavan
Operatives. To increase the access of information, (Malappuram District, Kerala), the Government of
IKSL have an online portal (voice, text and images) Kerala has decided to officially include Facebook as an
which can be accessed by anyone anytime and even on important tool to strengthen the extension activities of
a mobile app. Users can customize the app as per their the Department of Agriculture. The state agriculture
needs and receive information in the preferred department has urged all the officials under it to extend
language. the activities of the department through the social
media to enhance the productivity and profitability of
i – Kisan: A Nagarjuna Group initiative, Ikisan.com is farming.
a comprehensive Agri Portal addressing the
Information, Knowledge and Business requirements All the farmers registered with the department will
of various players in the Agri arena viz., Farmers, have to maintain a social media account to be in touch
Trade channel partners and Agri Input / Output with the local Krishi Bhavan. The government has
companies. Leveraging Information Technology and mandated that all agricultural officers should have
extensive field presence, i – kisan is positioned as an active Facebook accounts.

ICT - National Round Table Conference 5

 ICFA

asyaSree – a One Stop Telugu portal for video. There is an increasing shift from stand-alone
Information Dissemination: “SasyaSree – a One ICT initiatives to much more integrated ICT initiative
Stop Telugu portal for Information Dissemination” that basically works across the value chain.
was initiated based on the identified need of having
locally specific, demand driven knowledge solutions ICT can play critical role in strengthening the
in local language through a web portal. The project capacities of not only farmers but also for the field
caters to eight districts in Andhra Pradesh by level functionaries and intermediaries. Developing the
documenting the best crop management practices, right or relevant content at the appropriate level has
information related to Government schemes, market always been a challenge and more efforts are needed in
price and other information needs of the farming this direction.
community in local language by means of video,
audio, photographs etc. The project also tries to Content development is not a one-time process and it
integrate with other public extension initiatives and needs a continuous approach. There is a need to
provide information on other allied sectors such as explore the possibility of mandating district level
animal husbandry, poultry etc. organizations like Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in
developing locally relevant content.
CONCLUSION
Policy relevant research is needed to bridge this gap

I ndia has at least two decade long experience of

using ICT in agriculture. ICTs have gone through
different stages and many of these will continue to
evolve in response to changing technology and
business environment in agriculture as well as in
between practice and policy, including evaluation of
impact of ICTs in agriculture. As there is no platform to
share this data and analysis on a continuous basis,
these are not available for analysts and policy makers
to make informed decisions. Thus, there is a need to
response to emerging challenges in agriculture. design a platform where all the players in the ICT in
agriculture sector are willing to share and use data and
Lot of evolution has happened in this sector, the costs experience, so that people can collectively learn while
of accessing information through ICTs have come the initiatives are in progress and continuously
down, access have generally improved and many innovate.
initiatives are combining text, images, audio and

ICT - National Round Table Conference 6

 ICFA

DELIBERATIONS

I nformation and Communication Technology

(ICT) is used as an overarching term incorporating
all modes of transmission like electronic devices,
networks, mobiles, services and applications which
help to disseminate information with the help of
businesses, national institutions, academicians,
researchers, farmer leaders and top experts
participated in the conference.

Dr. M.J. Khan, Chairman, ICFA, welcomed all the

technology. participants and provided an overview of the working
areas of ICFA. He also talked about the importance of
Recognizing the benefits for farmers of ICT in information communication and technology in the
Agriculture, Indian Council of Food and Agriculture Indian agricultural sector, with special emphasis on the
constituted a Working Group on ICT in Agriculture, farmers.
which was launched on July 4, 2017 at a National
Round Table by Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Father of Dr. M. Moni, former DG-NIC, expressed his
Indian Green Revolution. The working group is gratification for the launch of the working group on
chaired by Dr. M. Moni, former DG-NIC. The ICT in Agriculture by ICFA. He briefly stated the
working group will be a holistic alliance of objectives of the working group:
policymakers, agricultural scientists, extension
specialists, industry and progressive farmers to u To promote ICTs in Food & Agricultural System
address the magnitude of challenges and in the ICT for productivity increase in all production stages;
sector. It mandates to act as a coordinator across
stakeholders for a meaningful and impactful u To d e v e l o p C o m p e t e n c y D e v e l o p m e n t
intervention. E forum will follow up important Programme for stakeholders for adoption of ICTs
recommendations with national and international appropriately;
agencies; Facilitate farmer's sensitization; Promote
ICT applications for farmers' empowerment and u To undertake steps to operationalize ICT enabled
international collaborations supply-chain and value-chain models facilitating
farming communities, especially small and
The brain storming session was chaired by Dr Ashok marginal farmers;
Dalwai, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
and Farmers Welfare and co – chaired by Dr. M. Moni, u To promote Digital India Programme;
former DG-NIC. The event was graced by the presence
of Dr. Anand Bhaskar Rapolu, Hon'ble Member of u To network with NGOs working in Food and
Parliament and 65 prominent CEOs, heads of Agricultural Development Programmes;

ICT - National Round Table Conference 7

 ICFA

u To undertake promotion and impact study of on- in the rural areas. He also emphasized on the eco–
going ICT projects (Digital Networks for technological interventions as that will help in the
Farmers) in the Food & Agriculture Sector; sustainable agriculture along with the involvement of
the youth in the agricultural sector, which has been
u To promote SMART Agriculture (Climate decreasing over the years. Last but not the least, he
Resilient Agriculture) through Agricultural pointed out that agriculture is a livelihood activity in
Resources Information System (AgRIS); India rather than a commercial industry.

u To undertake Demonstrable Pilot Projects through Dr. Anand Bhaskar Rapolu, Hon'ble Member of
Sponsorship; Parliament, drew the attention of the august gathering
to the gap prevailing between the expectations and
u To establish National Centre for Information realities of the implemented schemes in various states
Technology in Agriculture (NCITA) through PPP of India, which needs to be addressed. There is a need
Model; for new guidelines and solutions for climate resilient
agricultural practices and mandate the schemes from
u To strengthen South – South Cooperation through the lower level.
ICT for Agriculture (ICT4Ag) Programme;
Mr. Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary, Ministry
u To promote Agricultural Informatics Research and of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, acknowledged
Education through International Cooperation the presence of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan along with all
Programme; the other participants. He mentioned that the mission
of doubling farmers' income by 2022 is a time bound
u To network with Asian Federation of IT in exercise, which can be accomplished only by shifting
Agriculture (AFITA), European Federation of IT from supply driven approach to demand driven
in Agriculture (EFITA), PAN America approach, from farming to farmer based, from
production to market based approach.
Federation of IT in Agriculture (PAN-AFITA), CTA
(The Netherlands), CGIAR, FAO (UN), UNIDO, He also stated that agriculture extension and post –
ADB, World Bank, USAID, African-Asia Rural production activities have not been given the
Development Organization (AARDO), Global Forum importance from the very beginning, which needs to be
for Farmers (GFF), European Union (EU), etc. addressed now. For this purpose, the establishment of
ICT in the agriculture will help to reach out to the large
Apart from laying down the objectives of the WG, he number of farmers. He brought to the notice that the
also shared his experience in the field of ICT with scheme ATMA is now not in working condition and e –
respect to Agricultural sector in India along with the SAP demonstration, which effectively increased the
emphasizing on the need for the ICT revolution in the farmers' income by 3 – 4 times as it enabled farmers to
Indian agricultural sector. According to him, for this detect the diseases and suggested the suitable
purpose, there is a need for agriculture informatics and pesticides and other way outs. Thus, according to him,
capacity building along with the availability of online for being cost effective, there is a need for high
portals in the local languages of the states and districts penetration rate of telecom services among farmers so
so as to reach a larger number of farmers. He also as to transfer information to the farmers and vice versa.
mentioned about the concept of smart villages, which
can help in e – bridging the gap between farmers and
the information centers. Lastly, he concluded by
stating about the integration of rural development and
agriculture for the overall development of the farmers.

Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Founder, MSSRF, talked

about the technological empowerment in pro–poor,
pro–women and pro–nature manner. He brought to the
notice that the number of women may outnumber the
men in the agricultural fields in India. Thus, the focus
should be to make women technologically competent

ICT - National Round Table Conference 8

 ICFA

He also drew attention towards the need for Dr. Vivek M Damle, Chairman& MD, SkillNet
agricultural portals in the local languages and the need Solutions India, introduced his company as a retail
for marketing the same along with the focus on supply company and expressed his interest in contributing in
chain and value chain. He stated that agriculture can the development of ICT in the agricultural sector.
turn into agriculture enterprise and the monopoly of e – Mr. Prasanto K Roy, Head - Internet, Mobile & E-
NAM should be ended by establishment of such commerce Council, NASSCOM, threw light on the
portals by private companies. Lastly, he mentioned sustainable business led agriculture in India.
about the precision farming, water stress management According to him, there are numerous market
by geo – special technology instead of using micro – opportunities in the agricultural sector of India, thus
irrigation techniques. many startups have come up in this sector with
innovative ideas and projects. He also focused on
skilling the humans in the agricultural areas
especially, women as there proportion in the
agricultural field is more as compared to the men. He
also talked about the new technologies such as drones,
which can be adopted for optimization of ICT in
agriculture sector. However, there is a need of
integrated drone policy in India to execute the same.
Lastly, he mentioned about smart agriculture initiative
taken by NASSCOM.

Dr. Pooja Jain, Assistant Professor, IIIT Kota: Like

Medical colleges in India, the curriculum mandate
should be reformed so that engineering students
graduating from MHRD and private institutions
compulsorily undergo their two months training in
M s . A l i n a G u m p e r t , D i r e c t o r, G e r m a n rural areas, educating/training farmers about new
Agribusiness Alliance, highlighted the shift to innovations in agriculture. This will help them
sustainable agriculture with the help of innovative understand the difficulties faced by farmers to prepare
technology from innovative technologicalagriculture. their final year projects on practical solutions that can
According to her, IT can optimize agriculture through be implemented for comprehensive development of
various forms such as agri – machinery, transferring rural areas. The young generation has a fresh and
information to farmers, technology for post – harvest practical perspective which can be used to overcome
management, horticulture and etc. For this purpose, the problems faced in the Indian agriculture sector.
farmers need to realize the need of technology so that This will help creating solutions at minimal cost.
they can adopt it in every phase of their production, Agricultural Informatics can also be added as a subject
supply chain and etc. In fact, she mentioned that in the third year.
Germany can help India with the technology
perspective in Agriculture and proposed the ICT can be applied to various phases of agriculture like
establishment of Indo – German Business Council. crop selection, sowing, preventing crops from
diseases, harvesting, packaging, transporting,
Mr. Amit Bhardwaj Convener, Co-founder & CEO, marketing, selling etc. The government invests a lot of
Level A Commodities, drew attention of the money on top-class engineering institutes like IITs,
participants towards the export – import scenario of the IIITs and NITs. It is high time that the government uses
agricultural products. He mentioned that India imports this huge student resource and these engineers start
almost every product except for the paddy crops. Thus, repaying that debt by serving the nation before joining
there is a need for demand driven strategy rather than MNCs or going abroad.
supply driven strategy. He also stated that farmer is the
biggest risk taker in India as he does not know how the Prof S.D. Samantaray, Professor, G.B. Pant
environmental and market conditions will influence University, drew attention towards the shortage of
his crop. Therefore, he affirmed with Dr. Moni for educated and experienced project handlers in
inclusion and dilution of ICT in the Indian agricultural universities for the students' projects to be executed by
sector. the government or the concerned agencies.

ICT - National Round Table Conference 9

 ICFA

Thus, he recommended for the appointment of nodal information in various languages.

officers for the same as nodal officers know the exact
problems of the specific area and limitations in solving Padma Shree Dr. K.L. Chadha, President, HIS,
the same. Also, he mentioned about the All India suggested to make inventory of portals so that
Coordinated Research project (AICRP) on IT in information can be accessed for one database. This
Agriculture, which could pave way to engage inventory can be divided on the basis of region or
Engineering Colleges in Agriculture coordinated portal orientation such as farmers oriented portals and
projects. etc. In fact, he also recommended having a universal
statistics division of agriculture as various
Dr. Uma Chauhan, Director – e – Governance, organizations provide numerous statistics of the same
Ministry of EIT, mentioned that Ministry of EIT does component. Lastly, he asked to prioritize the tasks
not have a dedicated department for agriculture, under the Working Group as there are various
however, NIC, apex body for digital India has one, objectives with multiple tasks to be carried out.
which can be used to promote ICT in agriculture. This
is because NIC has an established infrastructure, Dr. S.K. Singh, Project Director DKMA, mentioned
which can help largely in providing cloud services and that their organization has already started collecting
etc. Although, requests for the same needs to be data regarding the agricultural portals.
through the Ministry of Agriculture. This is the
standard procedure, which is followed so as to avoid Dr. M Moni, Former Director General, National
duplicity. Informatics Centre, in his concluding remarks
mentioned the importance of multi – lingual portals at
Mr. D.K. Srivastava, CEO, IFFCO e-Bazar all levels of operations such as KVKs, State and central
Limited, stated about the e-bazar of IFFCO and its level. He also recommended to integrate IFFCO
achievements. However, he also mentioned about the Sanchar Network and e – Bazar so as to overcome the
challenges faced by them in the implementation of the issues faced by the IFFCO e – bazaar. Regarding the
same, such as availability of network and insecurity of students project, he suggested that students should be
farmers for online transactions. He recommended the given one problem to solve during their programme
formation of a platform for Aadhar Card identification tenure. Lastly, he invited suggestions and
so as to avoid spurious activities. recommendations for the working group along with
doubling the farmers' income.
Mr. Gaurav Vats, Head – ICT, M&E, ISAP, threw
light on the existence of social media in India. He Finally, the formal vote of thanks was presented by Mr.
mentioned that social media has proved to be the most N.S. Randhawa, Executive Director, ICFA, who
cost effective and widely propagated means of expressed his gratitude to all the participants for active
disseminating information in India. He provided a participation and making the discussion worth and
glimpse of ISAP Facebook group, with 1.82 lakh expressed his interest in bringing in the portal and
members, which has become a platform for various newsletter for the WG on ICT in Agriculture.
organizations, individuals and farmers to exchange

ICT - National Round Table Conference 10

 ICFA

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Technological empowerment is essential for competencies for its utilization.

evergreen revolution and digital agriculture is one 3. Information and Communication technology can be
of the best way outs for the same. However, digital utilized to create value chain for all the agricultural
agricultural interventions need to be pro-poor i.e. produce to enhance food security as well as
technology should be economical and affordable in alleviation of poverty of the stakeholders in the
adoption and implementation, as 80% farmers are chain. Online and mobile banking are almost
small or marginal and 22% of farmers are below bypassing the physical bank entities and human
poverty line. Hence, we need to identify the low bank teller, thanks to favourable policy environment
hanging fruits that bring disruption in the business in India. Amazon, Flip Kart and Olx have
as usual. It is recommended to identify at national, revolutionized the classified advertisements and
state and local level the time critical and mission person-to-person sale of all matter of items,
critical agricultural services that impact livelihoods including farm equipment. Big basket has changed
of poor farmers. From time to time, ICFA / the the way we buy fresh vegetables and fruits. Blending
working group on ICTs will recommend GOI initiatives like Jandhan Yojana and eNAM will
appropriate steps to governments and business have far reaching positive consequences in Indian
organizations to undertake activities in this regard. agriculture. It is recommended that ICFA may take
advantage of this situation and should work on
2. In rural India, the percentage of women who depend business plans with PPP mode.
on agriculture for their livelihood is as high as 84%.
Women make up about 33% of cultivators and about 4. The real impacts of digital / ICT strategies can be
47% of agricultural labourers, making them an realised only when these services are available,
important client for ICT. However, identifying accessible and applicable by the farmers. While
digital dividends for women empowerment is much computer based ICT projects (first generation
talked about, but less documented. The factorial ICT4Ag) critically failed to provide vernacular
contribution of ICT projects on the level of language content to farmers, the situation is
empowerment of women needs to be well changing thanks to mobile technologies especially
documented. It is recommended that appropriate social media. It is recommended to strengthening
digital strategies need to be designed where Women the existing initiatives that provide local language
Self Help Groups (like Jeevika in Bihar) can take knowledge and services.
advantage of digital strategies. Also, training of
women farmers need to be organized to abreast them 5. Inventory of all the portals and applications for
with the technology and to enhance their agricultural services should be created to maintain a

ICT - National Round Table Conference 11

 ICFA

database for future reference. This inventory can be ensured. Hence, technological innovations and
divided on the basis of region or portal orientation interventions need to be in pro-nature manner so as
such as farmers oriented portals and etc. There is to save environment and all the resources to make
a need to integrate the efforts of various portals agriculture sustainable. It is recommended to work
with the Farmers Portal of GOI. For this, it is out policy advocacy on digital infrastructures and
recommended to have an inventory of existing strategies in natural resources management with
portals. One area where ICFA can take the lead is strong multidisciplinary interfaces. ICFA can take
working on the concepts of Next Generation the lead in this with Corporate Social Responsibility
Transaction (Service + collaborative) Portals and also with the International Organizations where
that are mobile responsive. A policy dialogue on funding sources exist.
providing a single gateway (like Pay TM) for
Indian farmers can be advocated. 8. Various start-ups with innovative ICT application
have entered the agriculture sector in past few years
6. Government should introduce and promote the though sustenance is low due to lesser adoption of
concept of smart villages in the policy making as technology. Government should look into the
well as administration in order to make villages matter and should promote ICT adoption by
more techno-savvy and environmental sustainable. creating awareness among farming community.
Also the existing smart village should be used as
centers for exposure visits and training farmers. 9. NIC, apex body for digital India has a dedicated
Mission mode programme to develop clusters of department for agriculture, which can be used to
smart villages may be initiated. promote ICT in agriculture by providing cloud
services and etc. Further, channelizing things
7. Paying due regard to environment and the challenge through one gateway will also avoid duplicity of
of producing more from less, sustainability is to be efforts.

ICT - National Round Table Conference 12

 ICFA

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
1. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Founder, MSSRF Agriculture 37. Mr. T.P. Singh, Director, Bhaskaracharya Intitute for Space
2. Dr. M Moni, Former Director General, National Informatics Centre Applications and Geo-informatics
3. Padma Shree Dr. K.L. Chadha, President, HIS 38. Dr. Brijendra Pateriya , Director, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre
4. Mr. Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and 39. Mr. Pravin Khandelwal, Director, Vega Energies
Farmers Welfare 40. Mr. Ibrahim Ahmad, Group Editor, CyberMedia (I) Ltd.
5. Dr. Anand Bhaskar Rapolu, Hon'ble Member of Parliament 41. Ms. Eliza Jamal, Program Executive, Vodafone Foundation
6. Ms. Alina Gumpert, Director, German Agribusiness Alliance 42. Prof S.D. Samantaray, Professor, G.B. Pant University
7. Mr. Prasanto K Roy, Head - Internet, Mobile & E-commerce Council, 43. Mr. D.K. Manavalan IAS (Rted.), Executive Director, AFPRO
NASSCOM 44. Dr. K.M. Shivakumar, Professor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
8. Dr. Pooja Jain, Head Training and Placement, IIT Kota 45. Mr. Gaurav Vats, Head – ICT, M&E, ISAP
9. Mr. V.V Sadamate, Former Adviser Agriculture , Planning 46. Mr. G. Ramamohan, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement Lead,
Commission Monsanto Holdings Pvt. Ltd
10. Mr. Sunil Kumar, GGM – IT, IRCTC 47. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Global Organic Ambassador, Ifoam-OI
11. Mr. P.P.S. Pangli, President, Borlaug Farmers Association 48. Mr. Sudhanshu Jain, Operation Manager, CABI
12. Ms. Nancy J Anabel, Director Communication, MSSRF 49. Ms. Megha Datta, Industry Manager, Geospatial Media
13. Mr. Ravindra W Shevade, COO - NeML, NCDEXSPOT 50. Mr. Mehrban Singh, Senior Director, ERNET India
14. Mr. Niraj Prakash Garg, Group Head, ICT, NDDB 51. Er. Harendra Rana, Organic Farming Expert
15. Mr. Rajat Vardhan, CEO, AgroNXT 52. Mr. Nirmesh Singh, Editor, Agni Nation
16. Mr. Manoranjan Sahoo, Deputy General Manager, DCM Shriram 53. Ms. Anamika Das, VP - Policy Advocacy & Reseacrh, Geospatial
17. Mr. Puneet Pachauri, Sr. Manager, DCM Shriram Media
18. Dr. Ram Prasad Lal, Scientist-E (Administration) , India 54. Mr. Jackson Jolly K, General Manager, Custom Weather
Meteorological Department 55. Mr. Bhagwan D Dubey, Promoter, Jayi Innovative Solutions
19. Dr. Uma Chauhan, Director - E Governance, Ministry of EIT 56. Mr. Ashok Joshi, Founder, Jaivik Food
20. Mr. Asitava Sen, Senior Agribusiness Advisor, IFC South Asia 57. Mr. Rahul Garg, Founder & CEO, WPC Product Line
21. Dr. Ranvir Singh , Senior GM (Organic Farming), International 58. Dr. H Chandrasekar, Principal Scientist, IARI
Panaacea Limited 59. Mr. Dharmesh Verma , Head Remote Sensing, Agri Net Solutions
22. Mr. Kamlakanth, Manager IT, IFFCO 60. Ms. Shweta Gupta, Director, PESTOZ
23. Mr. D.K. Srivastava, CEO, IFFCO e-Bazar Limited 61. Mr. Abhishek Goyal, Co-Founder, AgroConnect
24. Mr. Suhel Bidani , Team ICT Agriculture, Gates Foundation 62. Dr. M.J. Khan, Chairman, ICFA
25. Mr. Syed Anjum Nabi, VP & BU Head, Agri Power Products, Usha 63. Mr. N.S. Randhawa, Executive Director, ICFA
International Ltd. 64. Ms. Mamta Jain, Director, ICFA
26. Mr. Amit K Srivastava, AGM Marketing, Power Products, Usha 65. Dr. Dinesh Chauhan, CEO, ICFA
International Ltd. 66. Mr. Kunal Tewari, Executive Director, CARD
27. Mr. Dattatray More, Managing Director, ISG Hospitality Services 67. Dr. Sucheta Arora, Director, ICFA
28. Mr. Amit Kalkal, Director, Agri Innovation
29. Mr. Amit Bhardwaj Convener, Co-founder & CEO, Level A
Commodities
30. Dr. Ranjna Nagpal, Head - ICT Agriculture, Nic.in
31. Dr. S.K. Singh, Project Director DKMA, DKMA
32. Dr. Vivek M Damle , Chairman & MD, SkillNet Solutions India
33. Dr. P Raman, Scientist, MSSRF
34. Mr. Mahesh Chandra Goel, Country Head – Aries Fertilizers Group
Pte Ltd.
35. Dr. Sudha, Co – Founder and Director, Waternet
36. Dr. Tagore, Founder and Chairman, Waternet Partners

ICT - National Round Table Conference 13