Dear Members,

I would like to share about a CDAC, Mumbai project in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram etc.  This project called Intelligent Advisory System for Farmers (IASF)  is a hybrid expert system which incorporates potentials of "Rule Based Reasoning" and "Case Based reasoning", which are majorly two techniques used in expert systems. The integration of these two techniques provide a powerful system which is used for complex decision making process. This system is used for answering queries related to farming activities carried out in Northeast states of India such that

• The system provides an online platform to agricultural experts on complex decision making process in farming related problems and provides timely and need based advice and advisory to farmers to solve problems related to their farming activities which otherwise, farmers will need the help of an extension personnel/expert.
• The system can be used as an instructional material in educational programs and students can use it for practical experience with real scenario.

IASF is also a knowledge repository for Agricultural/Horticultural crops (Rice, Maize, Potato, Mustard, Cabbage etc. ) which are major crops grown in the North Eastern Region of India.

This system over a period of time is designed to acquire intelligence such that human/expert intervention is reduced to a minimum. The system uses an artificial intelligence engine (developed by CDAC) to provide solutions to farmer's problems relating to Pests and Diseases of major crops, weeds etc.

This System is also integrated with the mobile service delivery gateway (MSDG) of the Government of India, in which CDAC is the designated agency appointed by DEITY. This provides the system to push the advisory directly to the farmer's mobile device as an additional delivery method apart from the web.

For more information on this system please log in to http://iasf.cdacmumbai.in/ias/. The system has also been translated into Metei and Khasi language, which are major local languages of Manipur and Meghalaya.

regards,

Canning S Shabong

IASF State Co-ordinator, Department of Agriculture, Meghalaya, India

Serving rural poor and rural small holders often is left on the Government to come up with certain schemes and programs. The private service provider will not venture into rural areas which do not have economy of scale. However, governments have limited resources and priorities, and its a challenge to address other needs, when other basic needs are yet to be fulfilled. If MNO looks primarily from a financial viability alone, there would not be any bussiness case in providing services to such stakeholders.

However, when a business case is look from a holistic view, like "value proposition"; then the whole paradigm of business case changes.

Government today are looking at alternate models like BOO, BOOT, PPP, Outsourcing of non sovereign functions etc.  The bottom of the pyramid model is something that is driving economic growth in rural areas, and Bangladesh is a case in point. 

The partnership eco-system is also another dimension that needs to be looked into and nurtured and this is where Government and MNO can work together to deliver value to customers in rural areas.

The bottom line is that there is a compelling business case today for MNO and Governments to work together to jump start the process and explore alternative business models which can be sustainable in the long run. As ARPU of mobile operators are declining and the stiff and fierce competition reducing the profitability of mobile operators, I think there is a need to find out solutions to address the needs of rural stakeholders to raise their income and economic livelihoods through effective and efficient use of information, knowledge and services.  

 

Any ICT project that that truly works on the ground will spread through word of mouth and other media among the communities and cultures that have benefitted from the same. However, there is also a tendency to hype about the so called benefits and success by the various actors. There is also a tendency to window dress and project only the rosy side of the picture by the players in this field. Therefore, objectivity and transparency are very important before these results are put in the public domain.

“Effective adoption of ICT has a proven record in many parts of the world and a demonstrated potential to attain significant economic, social and environmental benefits at local, national and global levels(Gelb et al, 2008). This is been amply demonstrated by the countless of initiatives in India. But it is also significant that more research needs to be carried out to quantify the quantum and the depth of such initiatives on the socio economic fabric of rural societies. ICT definitely can facilitate and stimulate trade in goods and services and play an important role in bringing transparency in the agricultural marketing system, where the players sometimes do not play by the rule. I think the bottom line is that ICT iniitatives has to be designed well, implemented well and promoted well in order to be of significance to rural communities.

Farmers are reluctant to pay for information. However, once the economic advantage is communicated in a clear and unambiguous manner, then rural folks could be motivated to pay for such information and services. ICT is like a bus which comes to the village at a particular time of the day. If we miss that bus, we have miss our journey. Therefore, rural citizen will understand the value of ict based information and services only if the information or service have economic impact on their lives. Eg. Market price information provides buying and selling decisions. Unless, the information and services delivered through ICT are translated into economic empowerment or social empowerment, then the exercise may not be sustainable. Hence, any ICT intervention should be backed by socio economic impact assessment, which quantify the economic gains or percieved value to society.