[quote=Sameera] Hi I am not trying to emphasize on the innovations in the mobile phone sector alone, no doubt it is amazing but what is the relevance to the rural farmers? Today in Sri Lanka you can get mobile phones and advanced services such as 3G video calls, high speed mobile internet, mobile based email services, but I wonder about their relevance to the rural farmers. This may be a common scenario among the rural farmers in Asia as well as Africa. [/quote] Although 3G, mobile internet & mobile email services may not be very relevant at the moment, we have been working in Rural e-Services on just a basic GPRS service. We have then used FileTransfer Protocol (ftp) so that service providers working with the farmers can upload audio-visual messages (up to 6 photos & an audio track) to a webserver, where the agricultural advisor from their farmer owned co-op can respond (by voice). This way we have managed to create a service that doesn't need high literacy, and is available in most of the area that we are working in. Andy

Pete Cranstron wrote: [quote] 4. I am sure we need applications using both SMS (targetted, low content potentially high interactivity applications - low infrastructure needs, albeit still expensive for many) and voice (richer content, more complex infrastructure). I agree with those who argue for the value of simply being able to ask a simple question to another human, and SMS or voice can work as well. Is that interactivity the key added value of mobiles in any mix?[/quote] The Rural e-Services Project in Madhya Pradesh, India has been using camera phones in the context of a farmer owned producers company. These are provided on a shared basis to 'service providers', thus spreading costs. The queries are sent asyncrhonously to a website that is read by the company's agricultural advisor, who can then respond by voice. (http://linux.odi.org.uk/eservblog) Yes, interactivity is a factor, but also the existing relationships between the advisor and the farmer is very important. Andy

I am Andy Dearden. I am a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University, UK and I am leading a project in Rural India using mobile camera phones to support advice giving in a farmer-owned crop producers company. We are using software specially developed for the mobile phones so that farmers can provide pictures & audio questions to the agricultural advisor who is paid for by the profits of their company. The advisor can see their photographs at a full size resolution by sending the photos from the phone to a website. My background is in designing interactive ICT systems.