PUBLIC SECTOR

59 august 2010 / www.egovonline.net / egov

AWARDS

1

SMART Krishi

roject Smart Krishi is intended for e-Delivery of G2C services at Panchayat level to the common man through Common Service Center (CSC) established in each Garm Panchayat under NeGP mandate. Th e

project was implemented in Orissa to improve delivery of agriculture related services and information to the farmers. A baseline study was conducted when the project was conceptualised and it was found the farmers are not aware of the importance of soil profi le for pursing diff erent crops. Farmers’ awareness levels on diff erent government scheme, best practices were very poor and negligible. Th ere was no avenue for farmers to know the availability and cost of various agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers which the farmer is indenting to purchase. Very few farmers knew the current market price of agricultural products. Farmers were also unaware of the weather forecasting, and were not able to plan for their activity. During implementation it was viewed that the connectivity in the CSCs situated in remote area were very poor. Keeping in view, the light weight web pages has been designed by using web 2.0 technology so that the application runs with a minimal bandwidth. Once the farmers got the essential agri-cultural services at the GP/CSC level, their satisfactory and acceptance of the system increased tremendously, which created a demand from farmers side.

POUTCOME Substantial

number of soil

samples have

been tested and

reported Farmers get the

soil report within 5

days at their door

step Weather report

and advisory notes

in local language

and in English are

passed on to the

farmers

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYOrissa e-Governance Services

OBJECTIVES Provides facility to farmers at his door step to do the soil testing Develop a knowledge base on the basis of soil profi ling of each and every village for better farming management practices Help the farmers to get the best price for his farming produce

KNOWLEDGE Sharing Centers

n the present era of knowledge revolution there is a need to equip farmers with information on climate scenario and market. Knowledge resource man-agement in rain-fed agriculture area integrates information, communication,

dissemination, utilisation for sustainable development leading to improved agricul-tural productivity. Use of ICT’s as an extension tool in knowledge management of the project exhibited multifaceted dimensions and multifarious roles for technology access. ICT’s component is included in the CRIDA’s NAIP project on sustainable rural livelihoods through enhanced farming systems productivity and effi cient sup-port systems in rainfed areas which is an action research pilot project in selected vil-lage clusters of the 8 backward districts of Andhra Pradesh involving a consortium of institutions from public, private and NGO sectors. I-Kisan, is a partner for ICT’s promotion, designing and establishing necessary infrastructure at cluster level. Real-ising the importance of ICT’s at this juncture, eff orts are made in the project to open the avenues for technology access and utilisation by the rural clientele. Th e project made an attempt in using all these ICT tools for knowledge resources management in agriculture. User-friendly information is made available through touch screen kiosks (TSK). Queries addressal system through interactive voice response system (IVRS), awareness creation of the technologies through display announcement package (DAP), Internet, are the essential services of the KSC.

IOUTCOME KSC s have

succeeded in

delivering the loca-

tion specifi c, need

based advisory and

diagnostic services

to the farmers The project is

providing instant

access to the best

management

practices of the

selected crops

relevant to locality,

daily market

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYCentral Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture

OBJECTIVES Envisages the access to value added information services on latest tools and technologies Facilitates the sharing of data, information and the collective knowledge gleaned from research, experiences and interaction

CITIZENCHOICE

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CITIZENCHOICE

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PUBLIC SECTOR

60 egov / www.egovonline.net / august 2010

AWARDS

1

FARMER-Extension-Agricultural Research Education

he project was started to bridge the gap between technology developed by the scientists and that used by the farmers. Th e existing extension systems is one to one from extension personnel’s to farmers. However,

due to shortage of extension personnel in the state departments of agriculture and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), the agricultural technology developed under National Agricultural Research System (NARS) and State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) is not reaching the farming community. Th erefore there is need to use the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to transfer agricultural technology quickly to the farmers. Th is also facilitates in brining the farmer and scientists along with the subject matter specialists together in sharing the knowledge which was not possible in traditional extension service. Project is innovative in developing Knowledge Model for selected crops (9 crops-Paddy, Pigeonpea, Chickpea, Sugarcane, Wheat, Litchi, Groundnut, Sorghum, vegetable pea) which is fi rst of its kind in the world. It provides semantic/ontological search engine (tagging related) for retrieving agricultural information from the portal. It has developed region specifi c multimedia content (text, images, graphics, audio, video) on crops in bilingual language (Kannada and English).

TOUTCOME 1200 total

fertiliser recom-

mendations were

given using online

fertiliser recom-

mendation systems Region specifi c

bilingual

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYProject Implementation Unit, National Agricultural Innovation Project

OBJECTIVES Provide agricultural information content for incorporation into the knowledge organisation systems Collaborate in developing information structure for semantic / ontological search engines

RURAL Veterinary & Extension Services

nder the project, soft ware applications for commercial dairy farms, dairy cooperatives or private multi-centric milk processing com-panies, bovine frozen semen banks and livestock markets were

developed and validated. Th e soft ware and the service delivery model was validated at 10 village centers (around 5000 animals) with active partnership of Chitale Dairy, at Bhiladi, district Sangli (Maharashtra). Th e RFID- handheld based system was deployed and tested in Th anjavur, Tamil Nadu to implement fraud-free high credibil-ity cattle insurance scheme. At Chitle Dairy, Bhilvadi, RFID enabled data recording system is tied around 10,000 cows and buff aloes. With this system the credibility of the data is high as recording is possible only when the service provider visits the farm and reads the RFID. Th ese ICT are tools simple; the animals are fi rst unique-identifi ed by applying plastic or RFID bilateral ear-tag and details are registered in the server-based ‘Herdman’ soft ware. Th e village herd data is analysed to send daily ‘action’ and ‘alarm’ lists to the (para)-veterinarians and farmers on their cell- phones for undertak-ing management decisions. Th e data sharing is done through SMS / voice phone / or GPRS-based modules. Th e target is scalable system for networking village herd data to create state-level grid. To provide immediate benefi t of data recording the network has been interfaced with web-livestock platform so that the farmers can get higher price for the animals with records.

UOUTCOME The software

available is

comparable to

any international

software but is

very affordable The software

has data analysis

capability hence

the veterinarian

can play with data

and ‘learn’ to fi ne-

tune management,

feeding and breed-

ing strategies

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYBombay Veterinary College

OBJECTIVES Develop software networking applications to collect and manage large volume of records from farms and dairy cooperatives Evolve novel service delivery systems to ensure that the collected data is used to improve health and productivity

JURYAWARD

CITIZENCHOICE

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PUBLIC SECTOR

61 august 2010 / www.egovonline.net / egov

AWARDS

1

JURYAWARD

SOIL Nutrient Management Tool

oil Nutrient Management Tool (SNMT) is a modernised soft ware tool that helps the soil scientists to analyse the soil samples and regenerate the recommendations about the quantity of fertilisers to

be added to grow a particular crop instantly. Th ese recommendations can be used by the farmer to get the better yield with the sensible use of fertilisers. Th e SNMT is built in a unique way. It is not confi ned to generate fertiliser recommendations to the any specifi c crops. Its gives the fl exibility to the soil scientist to analyse the soil sample and get recommendations to cultivate any crop. Normally, soil scientists when have to give a report on the use of fertilisers to grow a particular crop follow a set a proce-dures. In this, the tool recommends amount of fertilisers required to get better yield. Th e recommendations given are with respect to the crop which the farmer wishes to cultivate. As a prerequisite the scientist has to store the details of the crops for which recommendations have to be given. Th is mainly helps agricultural scientists to con-centrate on their actual work rather then generating report of soil condition. It also helps keep a track of soil conditions. Can be easily accessed from any where through Internet and can be read in any local language.

SOUTCOME A unique tool as

scientists will be

able to give recom-

mendations about

use of fertilisers for

any crop Multi-language

support is also a

valued feature

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYBoP Chair Manipal

OBJECTIVES Generating the recommendations for the farmers about the amount of fertiliser to be added to grow the particular crop Storing and organising the details about farmers, and the crops grown and the recommendation given to them Support of multilingual language

mKRISHI

Krishi, an innovative platform developed by TCS is based on sensor and mobile phone technology to off er personalised and integrated services to farmers. It allows farmers to send queries

in their local languages through a mobile phone and provide personalised responses with advice or relevant information in these languages. It also helps literacy chal-lenged farmers by allowing them to use the service by means of voice SMS. TCS’s mKRISHI platform uses multiple technologies and has eff ectively demonstrated probably the fi rst time, the use of soil, crop and weather sensor technology to deliver personalised advice. Th e platform also brings farmer’s stakeholders together, thus enabling integrated services. TCS is partnering with stakeholders such as agri input companies, poultry and dairy companies, agriculture universities, NGOs, rural banks and bringing them together on the mKRISHI platform, enabling farmers to meet his requirements in an integrated fashion. Since the platform is capable of providing loca-tion specifi c and time specifi c information on demand of agri inputs and supply of certain produce,the supply chain in agriculture sector would improve signifi cantly. To develop mKRISHI platform several technologies have been develop and integrated. For those with limited literacy, IVR technology is developed on the handset and also provided voice features in the soft ware to transport voice messages between the farmer and the expert.

MOUTCOME Farmers could

get their queries

answered with the

help of experts

from Agriculture

University mKRISHI

was effective in

disseminating IPM

( Integrated Pest

Management)

technology to

farmers

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYTata Consultancy Services

OBJECTIVES Give personalised advice, anytime anywhere, on a handset of the farmer in local language Bridge a gap between the farmer and the expert and other stakeholders Improve yield, reduce cost, improve effi ciency and get better prices for the crop as a result of personalised advice

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PRIVATE SECTOR

PUBLIC SECTOR

62 egov / www.egovonline.net / august 2010

AWARDS

1

NOVAGOVIYA e-Agriculture Project

avaGoviya” means the new farmer, is a sustainable and modern agriculture knowledge development initiative aimed at developing rural farming com-

munities transforming rural Telecentres to Modern Agriculture Digital Knowledge centers. Th e target groups are Telecentre managers, rural farmers and agriculture micro business entrepreneurs. Th e project covers whole Sri Lanka through 650 Tel-ecentres Island wide. Navagoviya Project is multi stakeholder partnership, initiated by CIC Agri businesses, in 2008 with the partnership assistance of ICTA e-SDI fund-ing. Th e content was created by Professors in University of Peradeniya and Technical implementation was done by e fusion private ltd. Th e project focus was to provide modern knowledge in sustainable agriculture to farmer education at Telecenters. Th e 600 inter connected Nenasala Tele Center Network attracting rural communities is great potential as a Modern Agriculture Knowledge center. Th e content was devel-oped in electronic form and integrated into an e learning system by adding photos, animations, videos by developers and hosted on www.navagoviya.org On completion, Telecentre operators were selected from Telecentres and given a residential training on e-Agriculture by professionals using the content and navagoviya.org portal and seminars for rural farming communities were conducted at Telecentre communities to create awareness on e learning of modern agriculture.

“NOUTCOME Online content

opened e- learning

to rural farmers

helping them to

use Telecentres

to improve their

knowledge in

modern agriculture Improve their

agriculture best

practices that help

sustaining the

environment

IMPLEMENTING AGENCYCIC Agribusinesses, Colombo

OBJECTIVES Create an online digital knowledge base in local languages Re-train farmers on sustainable and modern agriculture helping to improve rural agriculture, farmer’s economy Help sustain impact on environment.

PRIVATE SECTOR

CITIZENCHOICE

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LAST DATE FOR SENDING

ENTRYSEPTEMBER

15, 2010

INNOVATIONS IN USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR GOVERNANCE & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

PROJECT AND PROGRAMMES BY GOVERNMENT & PRIVATE SECTOR

INITIATIVES BY CITIZENS, CITIZEN GROUPS, NGOS & POLITICAL PARTIES

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