Hi Gigi, if I may add, ICT offer opportunities (seeing communities evolve into virtual networks and e-communities interact via internet telephony) for participatory approaches to knowledge sharing recognizing that many actors are involved, hence, it follows a lot of different sources, forms and types of information and knowledge  will be shared, communicated, aggregated, and circulated supporting agricultural research for development.  

Yes, Andy; this brings to mind delivery mechanisms (technology and offered language options). The use of popular language, local language or the simple non-technical tone I think is central to the usefulness of ICT within the agricultural development context.

In my previous post on access/availability, I mentioned aAqua (almost ALL questions answered)- it is a free online multilingual, multimedia agricultural portal that provides agricultural and weather information and advisory through a farmer to expert Q & A service, the aAqua knowledge bank. Basically, it works through a Q & A service on an open online forum. Questions are posted by registered users to experts over the different spaces provided by the portal; anyone can answer questions, but this ICT project employs experts from Farm Science Centers, International Crops Research Institute, and several universities. Most of the questions raised are related to crop production.

Other ICT projects in agriculture:

- RML (Reuters Market Light), a private mobile-based service which sends SMS about market prices, weather and other agro-advisory to subscribed farmers' phones.

- IKSL (IFFCO KIsan Sanchar Limited), a value added service of the cellular service provider Airtel, in partnership with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited), which delivers voice messages with similar information and also operates a helpline.

- Lifelines, a donor-funded project based on a question and answer (Q & A) interactice voice response system (IVRS).

- e-Sagu, an Asia Media-lab project that requires local staff to take digital photos of farmer fields, which are sent to experts who, in turn, provide the necessary advice.

Source: Glendenning, C.J., & Ficarelli, P.P. (2011). Content development and management processes of ICT initiatives in Indian agriculture. Information Development, 27(4), 301-314.

Exactly, Andy; Take the case of DigitalGreen, I checked on DigitalGreen (thanks to Riikka for the link), a non-profit organization that works through a video-based platform in disseminating agricultural practices,  and I found out thousands of videos accessible for free on its web.

One of the sources I checked RE DigitalGreen is the case study of Glendenning and Ficarelli (2011) on content development and management processes of ICT initiatives in Indian agriculture; the study noted DigitalGreen's open access policy- videos are upoloaded on its website and on the social media- Youtube. Field data are uploaded and freely available through COCO- an open source website. Of the ICT initiatives they studied, only DigitalGreen and aAqua are openly available- DigitalGreen that provides open source database of videos and aAqua which stores archived Q & A.

This is certainly a matter of concern for the future development of ICT in agriculture- lack of access to digital repositories of agricultural information.

That's right; the Philippines, with the Philippine Digital Strategy (PDS), through previous ICT road maps that laid the foundation for its development, will build it up even 'further' and 'farther' given the PDS's aspiration for a citizenry that's knowledgeable and adept on ICT-- digitally empowered.   

Thank you very much. It's very interesting to know that more than 2 thousand videos have already been produced and are all accessible, and DigitalGreen partners with NGOs in the different states in India featuring farmers or farmer groups explaining or describing a particular technology or practice. I think this NGO partnership helps a lot in understanding user demands and in providing relevant content.

I heard of this DigitalGreen from a colleague from India as a non-profit org that uses video as a medium in disseminating agricultural practices. Does DigitalGreen provide open source database of videos? Thanks.

-Arnel

Hi Andy, I believe the utilization of ICTs in agriculture sure supports farmer access to relevant information especially in intensifying within the farming community itself the creation, management, and dissemination of appropriate and pertinent knowledge and information. But, I am sure these ICT initiatives face a number of challenges. It could be a case of inadequate knowledge and skills in modern farming techniques, language barriers (Nong Bry’s comments on materials in the local tongue), telecom connectivity, etc.; there could be a ‘disconnect’ between a certain ICT project and the end users— not relevant to the local needs and the local context (i.e. localized context in an appropriate language), or perhaps this draws attention to appropriate ICT policies?

-Arnel