Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management

p-ISSN: 2394-0786, e-ISSN: 2394-0794, Volume 5, Issue 3; July-September 2018, pp. 135-137
© Krishi Sanskriti Publications
http://www.krishisanskriti.org

Enhancing Efficiency of Agri-input Marketing

through ICT Applications
Shobha Pandey1 and Mukesh Pandey2
1
Research Scholar, College of Agribusiness Management, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India
2
Professor, College of Agribusiness Management, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract—India’s average farm productivity in food grains is nearly transformations over thousands of years from Green
one-third of that of a comparable economy like China. Extension revolution to Bio technology revolution. The most recent one
services of the government have been resource intensive, limited by is Information and communication technology revolution. The
the extent of actual coverage, competence, motivational and diligence exponential growth of Information and Communication
levels of the individuals and their ability to stay updated with the
latest developments. If we analyze the difference between the farming
Technology (ICT)over the last decade has been remarkable.
practices in developed nations like USA and a developing country ICThas become a bridge for people from all over the world. It
like India, the biggest difference is in availability of information. means incorporating all modes of transmission like electronic
devices, networks, mobiles, services and applications for
Agri-input industry is facing international competition due to the capturing, storing and disseminating information.ICT play a
arrival of WTO regime and pressures on its profitability on account crucial role in disseminating information to farmers enabling
of fiscal deficits encountered by the government. Agri-input them to decide on the cropping pattern, use of high-yielding
marketing, especially, pesticide, fertilizer, seed and farm equipment’s seeds, fertilizer application, pest management, marketing, etc.
marketing, has its own peculiarities like widespread customer base, ICT has proved to be extremely beneficial for farmers
multi-tier and multi-product distribution system, inaccessibility to
millions of farmers. With the growing enormity and complexity of
including small land holders, marginalized and poor farmers,
business dimensions, decision-making by hunches is replaced by data and helped them in marketing, precision farming and
based qualitative decision-making process. improved profits.

Information has acquired a strategic role in the business processes 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVES
and is reckoned as power. The essence of decision-making is now
speed, quality and accuracy. Marketing efficiency of agri-inputs can All agricultural extension and farmer-outreach programs face
be improved through Information Technology applications. Data major challenges such as cost-effective outreach,
based decision-making due to its speed and capability to provide tailoredsolutions to individual farmer, a farmer-
comprehensive services can help in developing a strong and loyal friendlylanguage, timely and adequate information. All
customer base, thus providing a competitive edge in the market place. stakeholders of agriculture industry need accurate, complete
This research paperlists various business applications and case and timely information in user friendly form to manage each
studies that a customized ICT can be put to thus enabling an
all activities efficiently. At present,most of the farmers don’t
agribusiness organization to utilize its resources efficiently and
productively. have knowledge of demand and supply of their produce in the
market. Majority of the farmers still rely on receiving market
Keywords: Agri-input marketing, Data based decision-making, ICT information through the traditional sources like regulated
applications, Multi-product distribution system markets, traders and fellow farmers visiting the market yards
because of trustworthiness.ICTplays a significant role here.
Gathering data, its storage, analysis, accessing and sharing has
1. INTRODUCTION assumed large dimensions over the last decade and it has
become humanly impossible to manage them manually. All
Agriculture is the core source of our food security, sustainable these facts accentuate the need for detailed study of ICT
development and poverty alleviation.Almost 1.3 billion applications with anobjective to understand potential role of
mouths to feed, imports are not going to help if there is severe ICT in agri-input marketing for enhancing farmer market
dearth of food. This is further aggravated by climatic linkages, food security, and poverty alleviation.
conditions, scarcity resources, limited availability of arable
land, disease and pest infestations, food loss and waste among
others.These challenges are massive for smallholder farmers
and family farmers.Agriculture has undergone many
136 Shobha Pandey and Mukesh Pandey

3. ICT IN AGRI-INPUT MARKETING 4.1 aAQUA

Agricultural marketing involves the process of developing, aAQUA stands for almost All Questions Answered is a
pricing, promoting, and distributing of farm specific farmer-expert Q&A database supporting Indian languages. It
products& services leading to exchange between farmers and simultaneously addresses two major challenges ofgeographic
intermediaries. ICT can be used as a great facilitator in reach and customized delivery. It answers farmers queries
agricultural marketing by providing connectivity between the based on the location, season, crop and other information
market and exporters/ growers/ traders, industry consumers. provided by farmers. An aAqua question is posted either by a
Some of the benefits of ICT for the improvement and registered user directly or through a telecenter/ kiosk operator
strengthening of agriculture sector in India include timely who has an account in aAqua. Usually the question is from a
information on weather forecast and calamities, better and farmer whose profile information provides details such as
spontaneous agricultural practices, better marketing exposure crop, farm size, pesticides and fertilizers used, dosage etc. The
and pricing, reduction of agricultural risks and enhanced prices of various commodities along with their varieties are
incomes,better awareness and information, improved displayed spatially over a map. The user can decide where to
networking and communication, facility of online trading and sell his produce to get the maximum profit, depending on the
e-commerce, better representation at various forums, prices and the distance of the markets.
authorities and platform, etc.

Figure 3: Model of aAQUA

4.2 Apni Mandi: Farmers’ market in Punjab

Figure 1: Agribusiness hub-centre
Traditional marketing system of fruits and vegetables is
Information has acquired a strategic role in the business and is unfavorable for farmers as major share of consumer spending
reckoned as power. ICT can help in bridging the gap between is engulfed by the traders. The farmers used to get lower price
information rich farmers and information poor farmers and realization for their produce whereas the consumers had to pay
fulfil their needs. The basic needs of farmers are divided into higher price for poor quality products. The Punjab
three hierarchical levels as shown in Figure 2. Agricultural Marketing Board started “farmer’s market” in
1987 by the name “Apni Mandi” with an objective to boost
small farmers around cities and to provide direct access to the
consumers, by eliminating middlemen. Facilities like market
yard, lighting space, water etc. are provided at the farm level.
The benefits of these markets include the availability of fresh
fruits and vegetables and other produce to the consumers at a
reasonable price and encourages the farmers to get a better
share in consumer’s rupee. Apni Mandis are being organized
at about 50 cities and towns of the State including Chandigarh.
4.3Case study of Madhya Pradesh: E-uparjan
The mandis of Madhya Pradesh had poor decision support
Figure 2: Hierarchy of Farmer’s needs systems and made irregular or incorrect forecast of the
produce and expected procurement. Once procurement started,
4. CASE STUDIES mandis were crowded with long queues of farmers who
wanted to sell their produce and this adversely impacted the
Four successful case studies are presented here to illustrate functioning of the procurement centers as these were not
how various stakeholders developed linkage with a view to equipped with facilities to deal with large quantities of
improving access of smallholder producers to existing and procurement. The e-Uparjan initiative uses versatile
emerging growth markets. technological innovations in implementation and shows
considerable impact in streamlining operations for the speedy

Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management

p-ISSN: 2394-0786, e-ISSN: 2394-0794, Volume 5, Issue 3; July-September 2018
Enhancing Efficiency of Agri-input Marketing through ICT Applications 137

and transparent transfer of Minimum Support Price (MSP) knowledge and information much easier for the people. All the
dues into the accounts of farmers directly. This initiative three case studies mentioned in the paper showed the
strengthens procurement operations, develops a near real-time remarkable success of ICT usage in agri-input marketing. The
reporting mechanism and a decision support system for entiremotto of ICT would get defeated if the generation and
enhancing the forecasting, monitoring and tracking transaction of information becomes slow and remains confined
capabilities of the Madhya Pradesh Government. The primary to a few people only. This is more alarming situation in the
objective was to simplify of procedure, bringing transparency Agri-input Marketing segment, which has a vast and
of operations from purchase to payment, weeding out fragmented rural spread. There is, however, hope that through
malpractices and developing a near realtime reporting the network of cable operators who are present in far distant
mechanism for field-level operations such as forecasting, villages, attempts can be made to achieve wider connectivity.
purchase, transportation, storage and payment. The process The dealers and farmers will have to go through a major
diagram is shown in Figure 4. attitudinal shift wherein the computers are not perceived as
something beyond their capability; the dealers and farmers
should be able to befriend the computer environment which
could be achieved by ensuring the presence of the ICT
network and also by educating the prospective users. The
introduction of computer education from the primary level is a
revolutionary step for the next generation. Besides this, the
government and private entrepreneurs have to come together
and join hands for the creating the infrastructure which can
match the aspirations of new generations.
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Figure 4: e-Uparjan-Process
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Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management

p-ISSN: 2394-0786, e-ISSN: 2394-0794, Volume 5, Issue 3; July-September 2018