digitalGREENhttp://www.digitalgreen.org

Agriculture in India600M agriculture-dependent lives

Majority small landholders (<3 acres)

<$2 a day ($750 a year)

Growing debts ($300 per year per farmer)

Earlier technology intervention…– Green revolution had mixed results

• Increased yields, but…• Led to rising input costs, declining soil

fertility• Due to excessive use of

fertilizers/pesticides

Indiscriminate use of technology partially responsible for current agrarian crisis

A farmer from Yellachavadi village,outside of Bangalore

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Agricultural Systems?

Low literacy in local lang

No bank account

Expensive credit

No unique ID

Poor roads

Credit card

Computing device and connectivity not enough!

farmer expert

Quantity buyersPoor quality

control

Market

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Agriculture Extension

Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers

“Training & Visit” extension popularized by the World Bank in 1970s

– Face-to-face interactions of extension officers and farmers

100,000 extension officers in India– Extension agent-to-farmer ratio is

1: 2,000– 610,000 villages in India with

average 1,000-person population

Typical extension officer salary isRs. 4,000 per monthExtension officer “commuting” between farms

IT & Indian Agriculture

• Kiosks with Internet access

for farmers

• aAqua– Pull-based Question and Answer Krithi Ramamritham, IIT Mumbai

• eSagu – Push-based Expert Review of Digital Photos Krishna Reddy, IIIT Hyderabad

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Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005)

Agricultural Social Networks

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How can the speed and effectiveness of agriculture extension be improved at a reasonable cost?

The Problem

Extension officer on-field demonstration

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Video provides…– Resource-savings: human, cost, time– Accessibility for non-literate farmers

Digital Video for Extension

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Six months in field trying various combinationsOver 200 days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative design

Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination,

Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc.

Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination,

Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc. 9

Early ExperimentationParameters VariedEarly Experimentation

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Participatory Content Production

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Digital Green System

Introduction to innovations– Standard extension

procedure

Rough “storyboarding”– Repetitive pattern; easy to

learn– Minimize post-production

Local farmers on their own fields– Reduce perception of

“teachers”– Promote “local stars”

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Digital Green System

Video Database

Online video database (http://www.digitalgreen.org)

>500 videos of 8-10 minutes each

Quality-control, minor video editing, and metadata tagging

Indexed by type, topic, locale, season, crop, etc.

Distributed via DVD

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Digital Green System

Mediated Instruction

Local mediator– Performance-based honorarium

Human engagement– Field questions, capture feedback,

encourage participation– Balance genders

On-demand screenings – Choice time and place– Not “stand-alone” kiosk

Support and monitoring – Daily metrics and feedback– Official extension staff

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Digital Green System

Structured Sequencing

Group Participation

Practices with longer-term

visible rewards

Practices with short-term

visible rewards

Community Assessment

Audience

Awareness

Season

Location

Time

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Digital Green System

1. Participatory content production

2. Video database

3. Mediated instruction

4. Structured sequencing

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21 villages in Karnataka:– Language: Kannada– Crops: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut– Population: 50-80 households– Irrigation: 10-20 households with access– Television: 15-20 households

Metrics:– Knowledge: Before-and-after– Attendance: Farmers at each screening– Interest: Intent to take-up a practice– Adoption: Number of households taking up

each new farming practice or technology

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Experimental Set-UpPreliminary Evaluation

ExpertExpert

Extension Officer

Extension Officer

Farming Community

Farming Community

Farming Community

Research Assistant

Local Mediator Local Mediator Local Mediator

Poster Green(3)Same as Digital Green with local mediator, but no TV/DVDMediator makes posters and holds regular group sessions

Classical GREEN (8)Same as usual

Digital Green (9)3 sessions per weekCost:

Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD per villagePC / camera costs sharedExtension officer sharedMediator salary

Accountability:Daily metrics and feedbackOfficial extension staff

15-month study

Audio Green (1)Same as Poster Green withMP3 audio tracks from videos

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7 times more adoptions over classical extension

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15 months: 13 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars

Sustained local presence

Mediation

Repetition (and novelty)

Integration into existing extension operations

Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer

Desire to be “on TV”

Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos

Digital Green: Early Results

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Oct

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Classic GREENDigital GreenPoster GreenAudio Green

Adop

tion

Rate

(%)

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System Cost (USD)/Village/Year

Adoption (%) /Village/Year

Cost/Adoption (USD)

Classical GREEN $840 11% $38.18

Digital Green $630 85% $3.70

Poster Green $490 59% $4.15

Cost-Benefit

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Note: Decreasing amortized cost of hardware with time and scale

Digital Green is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than classical extension!

$200 $100

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Network Effect

Viral Web 2.0 in the Web-less world - Content ecosystem: education, entrepreneurship, entertainment - Cost-realistic access: pico projectors, TVs, DVD players, and camcorders

Reinforce existing social networks to diffuse innovations through communities

Local “idol” competitions to be a better farmer

Digital Green System

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>650M Farm-dependent

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PlatformDigital Green System

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Cloud-based central databaseSynchronized with local databases

Online Offline (no/low connectivity)

Browser-based inputData stored in local database

Synchronized when connectivity available

COCODigital Green System

www.digitalgreen.org/tech

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Platform

Robust system to share, track, and analyse data to manage operations and target interventions over time

Analytics dashboard built on top of a simple yet robust dataentry system that can toggle between online and offline connectivity modes

Digital Green System

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http://www.digitalgreen.org/

Offline mode 10x faster than online

100,000 simultaneous offline users

AnalyticsDigital Green System

analytics.digitalgreen.org

Non-Non-Profit Digital Green

Digital Green’s value to farmers is established.

Could DG be supported by ads?

Advertisers get access to a distributed, captive audience with demonstrated interest in better agriculture.

Ads follow Digital Green’s distribution channels.

To do: – Scale Digital Green– Devise mechanism for ensuring

appropriate ads– Quantify ad effectiveness– Quantify ad value to advertisers

Digital Green DVD title screen

Subsidize agriculture extension with ads?

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VARRAT

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Over three years, improve the cost-effectiveness of the existing people-based extension systems of our partners by a factor of 3-times, per dollar spent, to improve the livelihoods of 60,000 smallholder farmers in 1,200 villages in India.

Digital Green 2.0

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Thanks!http://www.digitalgreen.orgteam@digitalgreen.org