Farmers could benefit from IT, say experts

HYDERABAD: Indian farmers could benefit from information and communication technology in a big way if they get organised and become literate in computers, experts said today.

Speaking at a round-table conference on development of information technology for agriculture at the World Agricultural Forum Congress 2013 here, FICCI Co-Chair J A Chowdary said that application of communication technology already benefits farmers in the form of mobile phones.

He cited examples of a farmer from the backward Anantapur district who took pictures of his crop and used it to consult experts, as well of another farmer in Hyderabad who used web-based technology.

Farmers also received various other information on their mobile phones, he said, adding that there are software companies in Hyderabad which offer information like prevailing market price of their their produce, he said.

Tech Mahindra's Senior Vice-President V Srinivas Rao said farmers could benefit further if they are organised into groups and computer literacy is spread among them so that they may access the Internet.

Providing information in local languages would be useful, he said, stressing that affordability of applications is important.