digitalGREENhttp://www.digitalgreen.org

Technology Revolution?600M 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

2

Agricultural Systems?

Low literacy in local lang

No bank account

Expensive credit

No unique ID

Poor roads

Credit card

Mobile devices and connectivity not enough!

farmer expert

Quantity buyersPoor quality

control

Market

44

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

5

?

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

Agricultural Social Networks

5

>650M Farm-dependent

$100 $150

COCO | Connect Online, Connect Offline

Digital Green System

www.digitalgreen.org/tech

AnalyticsDigital Green System

analytics.digitalgreen.org

Non-Non-Profit Digital GreenDigital Green’s value to farmers is established – viewers contribute Rs. 2-4 per screening.

Could DG also 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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Digital Green 1.0

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

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Digital Green 2.0

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.

Ministry of Rural

Development(Govt of India)

VARRAT

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