Rural VAS is gradually surpassing
the realms of the SMS and voice. The simple farmer is set to walk into an era of
digital revolution. The sight of a farmer sending and receiving immediate
updates using mobile devices, including phone cameras may no longer remain a
dream. However, that may not happen very soon as these devices are very
expensive and also farmers will need to be trained to use them.
A small step in this direction is a scheme developed by UK
based Sheffield Hallam University that recently won the Manthan South Asia
Digital Empowerment Award. The scheme enables farmers in rural India to get
tailored and expert advice on resolving problems with their crops.
Kheti, as the project is called was developed by academics
from Sheffield Hallam University, who worked with a farmers' co-operative to
design a software package for use on a mobile phone, allowing farmers to take
pictures of particular problems and also describe what they saw on an audio
track.
Information thus gleaned, would be sent to experts with local
knowledge who could discuss and help to resolve the problems. According to Dr
Andy Dearden, reader, Sheffield Hallam who managed the project, "The Kheti
system-which was first launched in rural India in the beginning of 2009-provides
the means and 'knowhow' for farmers by receiving immediate updates using modern
communication. It has made a real difference to the lives of farmers in rural
India by strengthening connections between people and their co-operative
institutions, and by adding to their knowledge through mobile phone
communications. Since the reaction from farmers was great and the service proved
to be a real benefit for them, we are now discussing the next steps, but we are
hopeful that we can make further inroads to improve communication across the
third world."
Service providers in India have been striving hard to bring
innovations to rural VAS. With cell phone usage in the rural sector on the
increase, and the main occupation in that area being farming, it has been
unequivocally reiterated time and again that providing better VAS to farmers is
the best way forward.
Reuters Market Light (RML) has a network of over 1,000
markets, wherein it provides information on local news and data, covering 250
crops and weather forecast in1,800 locations. It is all set to announce its
subscriber base in Q2, this year.
"Since the launch of RML two years ago, our subscriber base
has grown by eight to ten times; and from one state in October 2007, we now
operate in twelve states," says Amit Mehra, managing director, Reuters Market
Light-which was the first content provider to offer SMS alerts for the farming
sector in India.
Home Contribution
Tata Teleservices, launched a similar service for its rural subscriber base.
According to Pradeep Dwivedi, senior VP, product development,
TTSL, "RML was not sustainable from the cost point of view, and thus, we started
three-four services for our rural market. This was in the form of data services
for agriculture related information regarding the latest market rates, the
nearest and best market and the market providing best returns on mandi-bhav,
weather alerts, information on crop cycles, fertilizers and pesticides."
"We also started on-call services at a
fixed fee for mandi bhav two years ago-a service that is present in almost all
states across India, while our advisory services were started six months ago in
three states," he continues.
TTSL claims that 25-30% of its subscribers
are from the rural belt, and although these services are in the initial phase,
the company expects almost half of its rural market to subscribe to these new
services in the next two to three years.
"Scaling up has not happened yet; we are
exploring various models and hope to emerge with the model of highest acceptance
in the next three to six months," remarks Diwedi.
Nokia Life Tools (NLT) also recently
started offering their own set of services available all over the country,
especially catering to individual farmer's needs.
NLT uses an icon based, graphically rich
user interface that comes complete with tables, and which can even display
information simultaneously in two languages on the same screen.
Behind this rich interface, SMS is used to
deliver the critical information on seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, market
prices, and weather (temperature, rainfall, wind conditions) to ensure that this
service works wherever a mobile phone works, without the hassles of additional
settings or the need for GPRS coverage.
These services are delivered in a manner
that addresses literacy and infrastructure at an affordable price, and are
constantly reviewed on the basis of consumer feedback.
Currently the two plans available are the
basic plan, available across India at Rs 30/month which provides daily weather
updates and relevant agriculture related news, advice and tips. The premium
plan, at Rs 60/month, is available in ten states including Maharashtra, and
provides the closest market prices for three crops chosen by the subscriber as
well as weather, news, advice and tips.
Nokia Life Tools was first piloted in
Maharashtra before its commercial rollout to other states later last year. The
feedback from actual subscribers during the pilot project that was concluded in
April 2009 revealed that the service had a wide appeal, and connected with
subscribers at both emotional and rational levels.
Nokia worked with senior Maharashtra
StateAgriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) officials and collaborated with Reuters
Market Light (RML)-which was the exclusive provider for agriculture services in
the successful pilot project-for this service. Also, recently Nokia extended its
offerings to consumers by extending its partnership with another partner to
provide real-time to farmers on commodity prices through an extended network of
e-choupals.
Keen on not being the last one to catch
the current VAS bandwagon, Reliance Communications has also launched several
services for farmers.
Says Krishna Drubha, head of VAS, Reliance
Communications, "RML is doing a brilliant job as a content provider, and we do
not consider them competition, whatsoever. The challenge is to provide local,
updated information to farmers. We are always willing to tie up with any
enterprise that will provide such information based, multi-lingual data
applications for farmers. With this view in mind, eight months ago we started
offering M2M applications (including irrigation level checking, power supply,
water level indicator) in the form of SMS alerts. We also started a farmer's
channel on voice, which is a radio portal on which a farmer can call and get
information from a local expert on crops, poultry, mandi bhav and weather
conditions. This portal also allows them to talk to other farmers by means of a
one-to-many conference call, where they could exchange updates, say on the next
panchayat meet."
Reliance Communications expects a triple
digit growth for its rural applications within the next financial year,
estimating the figure at approximately 2 mn subscribers. Says Drubha, "We are
excited about our group messaging service and all other voice and data
applications, as VAS has a huge penetration in the rural areas, almost equal to
that in urban areas."
Kheti for India
So can Kheti be launched in India on a wide scale basis?
According to Mehra, "As far as Kheti system is concerned, we are exploring such
prospects for enhanced solutions as the sector matures. For now SMS is enough,
probably in the next three to five years, we should be able to offer more
solutions."
Remarks Dwivedi, "We are exploring various
kinds of solutions. As far as the Kheti system is concerned, it sounds
interesting. However, the first step is to make camera phones affordable to
farmers, which is not currently possible. We are looking at voice, video and
data applications and trying to find what will work best for farmers. We are
therefore looking at all technology options, and would be happy to work out the
best pilot projects for the same."
Says Drubha, "I haven't heard of the
Sheffield Hallam project. But I think the scope is large for such technology. We
already have a live call-center expert to help farmers on voice, but would be
very interested in working with Sheffield Hallam. Basically, content is the key
now, and we want to work with the best providers to help farmers in rural areas
to the best of our ability."
Beryl M
berylm@cybermedia.co.in
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