Poster on cell-phone based agro-advisory services for farmers in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka presented at the Horticulture CRSP Spring 2011 Conference.

Taking advantage of the information and communications technology, Michigan State University, in partnership with the International Horticulture Innovation and Training Center (IHITC) in India, has initiated a one year pilot project funded by the USAID supported Horticulture CRSP program to explore and test the cost-effectiveness of a cell‐phone‐mediated personalized advisory service for growers cultivating horticulture crops in poly‐houses, shade‐nets and open fields. Through public‐private partnership, the Tata Consultancy Services is providing technological support for the implementation of a model of “Mobile‐Agro‐Advisory‐System” called mKrishi.

In addition to mKrishi, there are many other public and private sector initiatives in India that are taking advantage of the new ICT technology (especially, cell phones) to provide information and advisory services to farmers. These include—Reuters Market Light, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited‐Value Added Services, and Kisan Call Center (a nationally implemented phone‐based agro‐advisory service by the Government of India). IHITC is interested in expanding collaboration with other private sector partners to bring these services specifically targeted to horticulture farmers in Rajasthan.