Icts For Agricultural Extension

This book is an attempt to document the National Policy on ICTs in agricultural extension, ICT infrastructure scenario and related issues, case studies on innovative ICTs for agricultural extension initiatives (Village knowledge centres, information kiosks, mobile ICT units, web portals, digital data base and networks, rural tele centres, farmer call centres, mobile telephony, video conference, offline multimedia CDs, decision support systems, expert systems, innovative community radio and television programmes, open distance learning etc. The agricultural extension students, academicians, scientists, practitioners, administrators and policy makers will find this compilation of the "ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences" from twenty eight countries relevant to providing a framework for the design and implementation of sustainable ICT-enabled extension services for the agricultural development.

This book is an attempt to document the National Policy on ICTs in agricultural extension, ICT infrastructure scenario and related issues, case studies on innovative ICTs for agricultural extension initiatives (Village knowledge centres, information kiosks, mobile ICT units, web portals, digital data base and networks, rural tele centres, farmer call centres, mobile telephony, video conference, offline multimedia CDs, decision support systems, expert systems, innovative community radio and television programmes, open distance learning etc. The agricultural extension students, academicians, scientists, practitioners, administrators and policy makers will find this compilation of the "ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences" from twenty eight countries relevant to providing a framework for the design and implementation of sustainable ICT-enabled extension services for the agricultural development.

Our study focuses on a narrow class of ICT products and services: technologies related to mobile phones, services, and networks; portable devices; web-based portals, tools, and applications; and the data and information shared through these products and services via technologies as varied as interactive voice response (IVR) systems and satellite imagery. We do not consider more traditional ICTs such as radio and television programming. In addition, we focus on a core function of extension services—the promotion of productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies and practices—from which we examine the impacts of ICT-enabled extension on equity outcomes, such as changes in women’s empowerment and decision-making within households; on behavioral outcomes, such as aspiration, risk, and ambiguity preferences; and on learning outcomes, such as awareness, knowledge, and learning externalities.

""ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences"" from twenty eight countries relevant to providing a framework for the design and implementation of sustainable ICT-enabled extension services for the agricultural development

Information and communication technology (ICT) has always mattered in agriculture. Ever since people have grown crops, raised livestock, and caught fish, they have sought information from one another. Today, ICT represents a tremendous opportunity for rural populations to improve productivity, to enhance food and nutrition security, to access markets, and to find employment opportunities in a revitalized sector. ICT has unleashed incredible potential to improve agriculture, and it has found a foothold even in poor smallholder farms. ICT in Agriculture, Updated Edition is the revised version of the popular ICT in Agriculture e-Sourcebook, first launched in 2011 and designed to support practitioners, decision makers, and development partners who work at the intersection of ICT and agriculture. Our hope is that this updated Sourcebook will be a practical guide to understanding current trends, implementing appropriate interventions, and evaluating the impact of ICT interventions in agricultural programs.

Information and communications technology (ICT) in low- and middle-income countries has changed significantly over the past seven decades, starting with radio and newspapers and transforming almost daily with the rise of smartphones and mobile Internet. While ICT is an integral part of agricultural extension, little is known about how extension has been influenced by these changes in ICT. A systematic review of 133 papers focused on countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa found that changes in ICT have enabled a shift from linear dis semination and “one-way communication” to co-innovation and farmer-to-farmer learning, with the potential for increased democratization of agricultural extension. This note summarizes these findings.

The huge potential of ICT for agriculture (ICT4Ag), from increasing agricultural yields to helping farmers get a fairer price for their produce, is well documented. Technologies such as SMS applications, mobile banking and satellite data have been used successfully to give agricultural stakeholders access to farm mapping, weather data, marketing tools, financial credit, advice from extension workers, and social networks, among other things. These technological applications are capable of reaching hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers and stakeholders in rural areas, acting as a catalyst for positive change and in achieving the SDGs. However, limits on their reach include poor internet connectivity in the rural areas of developing nations, high illiteracy rates among smallholder farmers and fishers, and the inability of pilot projects to go to scale due to lack of long-term funding or not having measures for their sustainability built into the programme design. This booklet will inspire agricultural stakeholders around the world – from the smallholder farmer to governments and their international trading partners – to further realise the remarkable change that ICTs can effect in the lives of rural and farming communities.

In the entire book efforts has been made to explain the practical application of modern ICTs for transfer of agriculture technologies. I have focused on systematic presentation of various ICT tools with their applications by different organizations. Deep understanding of modern ICT tools and techniques would enable extension workers, scientists, teachers, students and researchers to work efficiently for wellbeing of the farming community. The book will prove useful and informative for officials of government and non-government organizations working for transfer of agriculture technology; teachers and students of agriculture and allied sectors; Officials of Krishi Vigyan Kendras and agriculture universities; Scientist and researchers of agriculture extension and rural development. Overall the book is constructive for Teaching, Research and Extension in the agriculture and allied fields.