Information Technology (IT) has long been viewed as having great potential for improving decision making in agriculture. IT has connected the world globally and is now changing our life style and social consciousness dynamically. In all phases of the agricultural industry, information technologies are vital to the management and success of a business. Agriculture has also been greatly influenced by IT.

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Role of IT in Agriculture:

In the context of agriculture, the potential of information technology (IT) can be assessed broadly under two heads:

• as a tool for direct contribution to agricultural productivity
• As an indirect tool for empowering farmers to take informed and quality decisions which will have positive impact on the way agriculture and allied activities are conducted.

Precision farming, popular in developed countries, extensively uses IT to make direct contribution to agricultural productivity. The techniques of remote sensing using satellite technologies, geographical information systems, agronomy and soil sciences are used to increase the agricultural output. This approach is capital intensive and useful where large tracts of land are involved. Consequently it is more suitable for farming taken up on corporate lines.

The indirect benefits of IT in empowering Indian farmer are significant and remains to be exploited. The Indian farmer urgently requires timely and reliable sources of information inputs for taking decisions.

Access to technology is one of the most important enablers for smallholders to improve productivity sustainably. Innovative mechanisms for technology transfer are required to bring relevant tools, knowledge and knowhow to farmers.

Market linkages are common weak points between the smallholders and formal supply chains. Intermediaries are required not only to aggregate production from small-scale growers, but also to provide support and services to ensure the quality and consistency of production.

ICT applications can foster dissemination of information on technology, market demand and price information; weather, pest, and risk-management information, best practices to meet quality and certification standards.

To bridge the information gap between the farmers and to build productive and competitive market, different ICT interventions support rural and under-developed markets to become efficient and productive.

The rapid changes in the field of information technology make it possible to develop and disseminate required electronic services to rural India. The existing bottlenecks in undertaking the tasks need to be addressed immediately.

Challenges in spread of e-technology to farmers:

Mobile Connectivity:

• Even the masses have access to mobile connectivity, but the potential of the handsets are not yet tapped. This is largely because of the content delivered is often not directly related to their livelihood and environment. Since they need localised news and information directly delivered in their language to meet their daily needs.
• Affordability is a key issue for many potential users. Not everyone can afford handsets; innovative business models adopted by the firms and handsets at low price tag which work for voice and sms based services.
• Other challenge in disseminating agriculture related information is dynamic nature of information. Farming is not so linear but requires constant inputs at every stage where new technological inputs provide better crop outputs.

Internet Connectivity:

• Haphazard development:
  • It is observed that some initiatives have already been made to provide IT based services to farmers. However, duplication of efforts are witnessed as most of the services revolve around limited subjects.
  • Keeping in view the giant task involved, it is necessary to form a coordination mechanism to strive for a concerted effort to support farming community in the country. Such a coordination agency may only have advisory powers.
• User friendliness:
  • The success of the strategy depends on the ease with which rural population can use the content.
  • This will require easy language, training to farmers and intuitive graphics based presentation.
• Local languages:
  • Regional language fonts and mechanisms for synchronisation of the content provides a challenge that needs to be met with careful planning
• Restrictions:
  • Information content based on remote sensing and geographical information systems can provide timely alerts to the farmers and also improve the efficiency of administration.
• Power Supply:
  • In most of the rural India, power supply is not available for long hours. This will reduce the usefulness of the intended services.
  • Since almost entire country receives sunshine for most part of the year, it is useful to explore solar power packs for UPS as well as for supply of power.
• Connectivity:
  • Despite the phenomenal progress made in the recent years, the connectivity to rural areas still requires to be improved.
  • Reliable connectivity is a prerequisite for a successful penetration of IT into rural areas.

Conclusion:

The use of IT in agriculture has grown rapidly in the past few years. It is increasingly being used to help managers make better decisions. However, IT and the problem facing decision makers are constantly changing. Thus, future information systems for research purposes will be significantly different than current systems because of these changes. IT has been one of the most aspired fields in today’s world. Integrating IT with agriculture will help any country to regulate its overall economy and trade.