[quote="jo.cadilhon"] I have a more precise question on potential downsides of using ICT in value chains: Do we have estimates of how much it costs for a small business or farmer to start using new ICTs in its value chain, and the corresponding extra income that can be netted from this use? Such cost/benefit analyses would be of great use for development partners to promote the good practices to farmers and business stakeholders who, ultimately, wish to know whether they are going to get some profit out of it. Jo [/quote] Dear Jo, Your query is very pertinent but i would like to mention here that in case of developing countries, farmers will not be able to use these technologies unless these are funded by Government and other institutions.Like in india, ICt activities /infrastructure is funded by bothe private and public enterprises. government has started many portals to give updated info to the farmers as well as other intermediaries.One such portal is AGMARKNET, where most of the agricultural markets in India have been networked and the data on arrivals and prices of commodities is uploaded to be available to farmers throgh various nodes near to them. Farmers can have free access to this data. Similarly, agropaedia, a portal is being designed which gives informationmn about all aspects of agrivalue chain Sapna

Dear Dr. Zainul, with respect to your question as to examples where ICT have been used, I give below the following Reuters market light: Throgh SMS it has helped to plan farmers in punjab styate of india their crops. Noe they get info of weather, markets and prices and hence are able to earn more profits. As a result of this, more and more farmers are subscribing to this paid service. I will share some more models in other post. Sapna

The impact of ICTs on the agri value chain are multifarious. Let us analyse it in two ways ; Impact on backward linkages: The ICTS can assist in providing relevant information about procurement of agri-inputs, prices of agri-inputs and also the launch of new products and brands. They can be aware of new technologies / good agricultural practices. ICTs can also make the farmers aware about the various various Government schemes on agriculture finance/ health etc. Impact on forward linkages: ICTs can really help the farmers to link to the markets.First, they can be aware of the new markets , domestic as well as exports and can reach the alternative channels Next, ICts can help in price discovery and this is the most important area as far as farmers of developing countries are concerened as due to lack of awareness of prices prevalent at various mandis ( agricultural markets) they are unable to sell their produce at premium prices All this can really help to make the chains efficient and systems more transparent and empower the farmers in these countries. Please feel free to ask or share anything Thanks Sapna

[quote="jo.cadilhon"] Hi Lisa, I've read the responses to your first question. The discussion is already very enlightening for me. Most of the inputs for now deal with information dissemination. I wonder whether I'm still in the topic of this e-forum if I ask the ICT experts to share their thoughts about information management technologies and how these can work in developing country contexts. I'm thinking in particular about data bases used by market intermediaries and facilitators to manage their supply chains. In the more elaborate business partnerships of a strategic alliance between supplier and customer, such data bases are shared in order to optimize the logistics of value chains. Many food retailers in industrialized countries share this technology with their most trusted suppliers. Has this already been extended to developing countries? With the globalization of agrifood value chains, how can we help smallholder farmers and SMEs get prepared to face increased demands for data management about their practices? Jo [/quote] Dear Jo, The concept pof database sharing through the supply chain between customer and producer is in infancy stage in developing countries. rather developing countries have been doing more in backward linkages of the supply chain . Though the efforts have started. i.e. In india, we are also working to connect to global supply chains, but the infrastructure remains the constraint. to connect to global consumer we need ICT and marketing infrastructure to build efficiency across te chain. Government is also doing a lot through commodity-specific agri-export zones established at various locations Thanks, Jo

Dear all, There are different kinds of ICTs being used for improving efficiency in agriculture value chain. If we take the example of India Traditional media:TV and rdio have long been used by the Government to disseminate information throgh various programmes . the most important being krishi darshan . Radio is , thogh more popular among village folk. Now-a-days TV penetration has increased in farming households hence , it has become popular too Besides this modern tools such as Computers and mobile phones are also being used in various programmes by Ministry of agriculture. Nokia has come up with Nokia Life Tools , an SMS based service available on subscription to farmers Thomson Reuters has also started Reuters Market light Project and sell SMS based on need based customised information Multimedia based technologies are also quite useful as they provide the farmers to see and believe . Here, i would mention the case of Handygo, a informtaion service provider, who are using IVR (interactive voice response ) system, where a farmer gets automated response on their queries. Also all the questions put up are also recorded. would be happy to take any more questions/queries thanks

Hi all! Welcome to the forum! This is Sapna, one of your subject matter expert at the forum. I am working as Asstt. Professor in agribusiness management at a leading agriculture university in India. I teach courses such as agribusiness marketing, rural marketing, e-marketing, strategic management to MBA ( agribusiness )students. involved in research and extension activities at grass root level. I have around eleven years experience of working with rural communities regarding agri-input marketing, technology dissemination and supply chain management etc. One of my research areas is ICTs and agribusiness. I have worked on consultancy projects funded by Govt. of india on the same theme. I have also conducted many studies on how ICTs can effectively be used for agricultural supply chain development. I am here to learn as well as share my experience on this very relevant and contemporary theme.Please feel free to ask and share anything related to the forum. Wish you all a happy learning!!! Sapna

Dear Michael In response to your query, I would like to tell that many agri-input companies have taken help of SMS to deliver information regarding their new product launches, brand promotion,farmers' meetings. What is important is that with new kind of mobile handsets available , where we have facility for info delivery in regional languages, it has been very useful, in a country like india where we have regional diversty. this method of advertisement is cheap as well as effective. Thanks

Hi Michael there are many innovative applications of mobile phones to farmers. through smart krishi initiative, multimedia phones are being used to guide farmers regarding crop/disease attack. They send the crop pictures to the scientists sitting far away and get prescriptions regarding use of pesticides/ other practices. t has got applications in branchless banking where farmers are involved in money transfers throgh Sms They also get their account statements throgh SMS. Another application is in ehealth services Dr SMS project in Khozikode district which I have highlighted during previous part of discussion.

Dear all Mobile could be innovatively used as an advertisement means to the farmers, as new phones are supported by multimedia. This could also help in generating revenues for the project. We have seen the WARNa example , where internet was replaced by mobile phones

Dear Michael It is really great to find you at this virtual platform with a new agenda. With reference to your very relevant question, I submit herewith a few examples, tata chemical ltd, a leading corporate house in India has started smart krishi initiative where throgh mobile SMS thay will be delivering the following information to farmers: Commdity arrivals at mandis Commodity prices at mandis weather information Another new initiative called Dr. SMS has been set up in ditrict khozikode of Kerala state, where through mobile SMS, the people living in rural areas are delivered services related to health such names of doctors. hospitals, facilities such as emergency vans/ventilators etc. by calling a special no. and by return SMS , they will get to know the information on health services in their vicinity. This is an example of very specific and custyomised type of service in this field But in my view, these services should not be limited to only agriculture related information rather than be extended to medical and education services, as in one of my study, it has been found that rural people are devoid of the information on these two aspects regards