Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Development

B.N.Chattopadhyay and P.Das

Asia’s farmers are facing a dilemma. On the one hand they are trying to respond to an increasing demand for food and fibre. This demand is being driven by the region’s fast growing population which is expected to grow by 160% over the next 25 years. Food production will need to grow by 50-75% over this period just to keep pace. On the other hand, this increased production will depend on an already overextended natural recourse base. Vast areas of fertile land are being converted to non-agricultural uses and what remains is threatened by degradation from erosion, nutrient mining, waterlogging and salinization. Water availability per capita in the region has reduced by 50% from 1950 to 1980 and the rate is now increasing. Given this situation, “increases in yields will be difficult to accomplish. The challenge of increasing agricultural production is even more difficult in Asia where cropping intensities are already highest in the developing world. The potential for yield increases is further limited by poor agricultural resource management practices that result in unsustainable farming systems” (Nath, 1999). As if these challenges weren’t enough, the pressures of globalization mean that Asian farmers must compete with farmers the world over for a share of the market and to stay in business.

Are there any solutions to these problems? Many argue that widespread adoption of modern technological farming options offers the best way forward. FAO notes that “Millions of poor rural people desperately need access to updated technologies, including machines, improved plant varieties and animal breeds, better crop and post-harvest techniques, and higher investment. Seeing subsistence farming as a "traditional way of life" is part of a "rural nostalgic atavism that is out of step with reality (FAO, 2000).

Technological solutions, however, must contribute to and be compatible with the emerging principles of sustainable agriculture. A great deal of the focus of current agricultural research reflects this urgent priority. Unfortunately, farmers around the world have been slow to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. As Pretty (1995) states, "although there exists successful applications of sustainable agriculture throughout the world, very few farmers have adopted both the technologies or the practices".

* Sr. Scientist and Coordinator, Media and Information Cell, ICAR, New Delhi ** Dr. P.Das, DDG ( AE ), ICAR, New Delhi Part of this Discussion Paper is based on Country Paper presented by Dr. P.Das in the Workshop on “Attempts and success of ICT Roadmap to villages in the SAARC countries” at SAARC Agricultural Information Centre, Dhaka. 6-8th October, 2004. The guidance of Dr.Das is highly acknowledged in preparation of this paper.

Numerous reasons have been postulated to explain this situation. One is that poor small farmers are, by necessity, risk averse. As Reeves (2000) notes, “The concept of sustainable agriculture is difficult to deal with in most countries, particularly in many developing countries, where farmers have few resources and little flexibility to change their practices, and where the risks of failure often have tragic consequences.” Additionally, sustainability in agriculture is a complex "moving target. "Agriculture is based on dynamic biological, physical, and chemical systems, and farmers live in a constantly changing economic, social, and political environment. Given this scenario it is illogical to believe that there is a "magic bullet" to deliver sustainable agriculture to all farming locations (Reeves, 2000).

A recent UNESCO sponsored World Conference on Higher Education put forward a potential solution. “Sustainable development, including the preservation of the environment and the conservation of natural resources, is, without exception, a concern of every nation in the world. These challenges will require:

• a broad-based approach to “agricultural education”, • innovative leadership including a greater involvement of the private sector and

institutional partnerships, and • new educational strategies such as a greater application of distance learning and

community development initiatives. (Lindley, 1998)

Below we will discuss in more detail the learning needs of today’s agricultural professionals, changes these needs imply in the traditional educational approach, the importance of lifelong learning for agricultural professionals, the potential of new e-learning tools in this effort and the kinds of strategic multisectoral alliances that must be formed to respond to these changes. It concludes with a description of a recently established organization – the Asia Pacific Regional Technology Centre – which is committed to a vision of facilitating 2-way knowledge flows using modern communication and educational technologies and partnerships.

For reference on sustainability see the following:

FAO (2001) Renewing SARD: Further progress toward sustainable agriculture and rural development requires a radical shift in priorities towards alleviating poverty and social exclusion. In Agriculture 21, March. [Online] Available: http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0103sp3.htm

Lindley, W. I. (1998) The Relevance of Higher Education in Agriculture and Rural Development. Speech delivered at World Conference on Higher Education; Higher Education

in the Twenty-first Century; Vision and Action. UNESCO, Paris, 5 – 9 October. [Online] Available: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001170/117075e.pdf

Nath, P. (1999) Economic Parameters for Small Holders. In: Proceeding of Food for the Billions: Sustainable Agriculture the Global Issue, Asia Pacific Crop Protection Association, Bangkok, Thailand.

Pretty, J.N. (1995). Regenerating Agriculture: Policies and Practice for Sustainability and Self-Reliance, London, England: Earthscan Publications, 320.

Reeves, T. (1998) Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture. CIMMYT. Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico, D.F., Mexico. [Online] Available: http://www.cimmyt.cgiar.org/whatiscimmyt/SustInt.htm

The World Bank (1999) World Development Report 1998/99: Knowledge for Development –Summary. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433. U.S.A.

The greatest challenge of today is the improvement in the quality of human life particularly of the rural people through eradication of poverty and hunger and overall achieving rural - urban balance. Agriculture being the pivotal sector of rural economy in India, the empowerment of the farmers in taking initiatives and decisions will help in shaping the future of the farmers’ economy. The challenge of eradicating poverty and hunger is essentially a problem of low income rather than a problem of low production and productivity only. The majority of world’s 1 billion poor live in the rural areas of the developing countries, who are mostly small-scale farmers. At present, there are 2.4 billion people working in agriculture representing 45% of the world population. Farmers as producers of food must have an enabling environment for access to know-how and do-how for realizing the full potential of modern agricultural technology.

Knowledge drives development:

‘We used to think of capital as the scarce factor in production and of the transfer of capital as the key instrument of growth. Knowledge is now as, if not more, important a factor in development, and this trend is set to intensify. In the next century, knowledge accumulation and application will drive development processes and will create unprecedented opportunities for growth and poverty reduction. But there are significant risks of increasing

inequality between and within nations’ ( J.Wolfensohn, President, World Bank,1997) 1. Shrimad Bhagwad Gita ( 4.38) indicates ‘ Nothing is so pious like Knowledge’

India has a population 1.037 billion and 142.60 ha of net area shown and 192.62 ha of gross cropped area (1998-99). About 103 million farm families cultivate 165 million holdings, spread over in more than 600,000 villages in 578 rural districts of the county. Today farmers need varieties of information other than technology alone from the research, public and private institutions. They need information about agriculture as a business, about the systems and sub-systems including administration, initiatives of other farmers, market information and other unlimited partners known and unknown affecting the agricultural production systems they practice. This has called for large volume of information needed by the farmers. While the existing extension systems is unable to provide adequate information effectively and extensively to the farmers, the ICT provides the flexibility in providing information on various mode of farming practices including the crops, commodities and enterprises; accessibility to the information without disrupting the routine engagement in their farm activities, and all other information related to technology advances and global competitiveness. Information communication technology has been proved to be an effective alternative and comfortable in providing needed information of varying nature appropriate to the different farming environment systems/situations.

Farmers and those who serve them must balance three formidable objectives of productivity, profitability, and sustainability. There is a need to increase productivity to meet the growing demand of food for their own household; responding to the demand of fast changing market opportunities for quality and value added products for increasing profits; and managing natural resources including water, soils, and organic by-products in a more sustainable manner.

In the present scenario of Indian agriculture, the public extension possibly cannot provide additional qualified manpower to adequately address the complex demand of the farmers by reaching the millions of farmers. The growth and spread of new information and communication technology in rural India in recent years provide a viable alternative to overcome the physical barriers of face-to-face inter-personal communication. With economic liberalization and unprecedented development of new information and communication technology and educational infrastructure to create large pool of technical manpower in ICT, wide range of information and communication technology options are becoming available even to remote and difficult areas. Appropriate choice and adaptation of new ICTs in different rural areas to communicate and educate millions of farm families will make all the difference in addressing challenges of agriculture in this millennium.

The web is the largest and richest Agricultural Information system in the World. Its massive holdings, covering all aspects of world agricultural, natural resources, and food systems, enable farmers to locate needed information to improve yields, plan for weather contingencies, access research, calculate treatments and runoff, simulate the growing season, visualize precision data, manage finances, buy inputs and sell outputs, and monitor prices in local as well as world markets. The Web is surely the most promising way of Extension services to reach more farmers with better services (Schmitz, 2001)3. The Distance

Education for agricultural and rural development has been described as ‘The Third Wave’ by Cook (1998)4. For the first time it is possible for many to communicate with many as easily as one person can address one other or a group (Rowntree, 1995)5.

The creation of internet protocol called Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) by Tim Berners-Lee of CERN in Switzerland, allowing a user to go from any point in a text to any other point, and use of Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) made World-Wide Web explosion. The early initiatives in agricultural extension include building digital agricultural network called Ccnet (Champaign Country Network) started with agricultural Web sites such as Illini FS and Frito-Lay for the illinois farmers. This was followed by Stratsoy, the major commodity portal; Companion Web site of Illinois Agronomy Handbook; IPM Online, a sister project to the Agronomy Handbook; Map Illinois for Watersheds; and FARM.DOC.

The Internet is now finding its way into the lives of people living in rural India. It

does seem that the vast ‘digital divide’ that had existed between rural and urban India might be in its way to being bridged. The Internet has finally arrived in rural India in a small but significant way. The penetration of internet devices in India has been given in Table 1 (Jange and Sherikar, 2004)5 .

Table 1: Penetration of Internet Devices in India

Information and Technology Devices

March, 2000 (million)

March, 2008 (million)

Installed base of PCs 4.3 30 No. of Internet Subscribers 1.0 35 No. of Internet Users 3.7 100 Fixed Phones 26.0 125 TV Sets 75.0 225 Cable TV 37.0 70

The emerging shift in government strategy, toward knowledge – intensive services, has created a climate more conducive to addressing enterprises, domestic infrastructure, education and the use of ICT to meet developmental needs. The government has exempted the ICT industry from corporate income tax for five years. Such reforms have helped India to become increasingly integrated into the global economy through growth in the export of software and skill-intensive software services, such as call-centers. The establishment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), opening of mobile phone market to private operators in 1992, and finally opening of national long distance operations to private competition in 1994 are some of the strategic reforms. With tele-density 3.5 percent of the population in India, 3 million mobile users growing at 100 percent per annum, 1.5 million internet accounts growing at 50 percent per annum, increased access to telephones in Indian villages through the introduction of Public Call Office (PCO) run by local shopkeepers with 60 percent of the villages having at least one phone, a large English-speaking population and inexpensive ICT labor are important favorable factors. Public-private partnerships catalyzed by the IT Ministry, and IT Act of 2000 aiming to set the overall strategy for the IT sector have further created an enabling environment for IT growth in India.

With 20,000 websites in Indian languages, 130,000 websites in English and 1670.3 megabytes per second International bandwidth (Manzar, 2004)6, India provides an excellent opportunity for use of ICT for agricultural development for its 72% rural population of 1.037 billion.

India is passing through a tremendous challenging time as far as ICT is concern. It is positioned in a typical situation, such as: one of the highest populations, more than 18 languages and scores of dialects, second biggest software exporter globally, highest number of ICT projects implementation across the country, highest number of Diaspora in the Silicon Valley, destination of one of the highest number of social entrepreneurs, a country is full of natural resources, knowledge and wisdom, one of the largest pools of skilled and educated work force, the highest English speaking population in Asia, the highest number of Information Kiosks implemented across rural sectors, 45% of the world ICT projects implemented in India, some of the biggest e-government implementations including “digital voting system”, and proposal for Rural Info Kiosk – one for each of the 600,000 villages – Courtesy government ( Manzar, 2004)6.

There are umpteen ways in which ICTs can be useful to small and marginal farmers in India. In order to extend the benefits of ICTs to the disorganized and disadvantaged farming sector, all out efforts are needed by setting priorities within a very well defined time frame. The most important and crucial priorities are:

• Commodity/product based market intelligence, • Integrated watershed management, • Delineation of efficient cropping zones to sustain production, • Development of decision support systems for management of biotic and abiotic

stresses, • Developing comprehensive portals for high value crops and • Precision farming techniques for commercial and high value crops.

The road maps to achieve the intended benefits are: 1. Access of ICTs to villagers through Information Kiosks. 2. Human resource development –

a) Research and Development (Imparting ITC skills in Agricultural scientists). b) Transfer of Technology (ICT skills in extension personnel)

3. Strengthening capacities of ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) in the use of ICT in agriculture and allied enterprises.

4. Investments in ICT software development activities. 5. ICT packages in vernacular languages. 6. Promoting and strengthening of tripartite linkages among private and public sector and

farmers/farmers’ organizations. Success stories of ICT use in rural India

The widespread availability and convergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) - computers, digital networks, telecommunication, television etc in India

in recent years have led to unprecedented capacity for dissemination of knowledge and information to the rural population.

A large number of initiatives taken up by various stake holders in dissemination of technology, compiled by Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, (APDIP, 2004)7 and updated further are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 : Initiatives In Dissemination of Technology in Agriculture and Allied

Enterprises

Sl.No

Projects Location Content Benefit

1. Milk Collection Centres, Gujarat

More than 5000 milk collections Centres/kiosks in Anand district of Gujarat

Women take the milk to a weighbridge

Fat quantity assessed and the payment immediately calculated

Middlemen have been effectively sidelined

Social and economic impact on women population socially and economically

2. Gyandoot,

Madhya Pradesh

• Truly offer e-governance services. Community network in tribal dominated Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh with rural cyber cafes called Soochanalayas, all Kiosks are community financed or privately owned. The entire network of 31 kiosks covers 311 Panchayats (village committees), over 600 villages and a population of around half a million (nearly 50% of the entire district).

• More than 24 public services, provided on user charge basis

Use of dial-up connectivity through local exchanges on optical fibre or UHF links and Wireless in Local Loop technology

Planned to be replicated in more than 30 districts in India.

The path-breaking project, universally recognized as community based initiative with unique Public-Private partnership

Govt. of M.P. planned to extend the project in three more districts in near future

3. Bhoomi Project, Karnataka

• Government of Karnataka computerized 20

• Each record is available online from 177 taluk

• An economically sustainable project and the most successful ICT project based on land Records

million records of land ownership of 6.7 million farmers of the state

kiosks at a cost of Rs. 15 per record. Estimated to collect between Rs. 90 to Rs. 100 million each year from user fee.

in the country.

4. Warna Wired Village Project, Maharashtra

• Covering 70 villages in Kolhapur and Sangli districts of Maharashtra through 72 village information kiosks

• More than 12 public services have been inducted including facilitating sugarcane production process.

• Providing benefit to members of sugar cooperative and other villages

• Started with Government of India (GOI), Government of Maharashtrra (GOM) and sugar cooperative sharing cost of the project in a proportion 50:45:5. The project happens to be the pioneer wired and wireless village project in India

5. Info village, Pondicherry

• MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Pondicherry, with the support of IDRC Canada, in the year 1998, connected 10 villages ( village knowledge Centre) near Pondicherry by a hybrid wire and wireless network

The network provides public services in local language in a multimedia fashion. It also provides relevant information regarding fish density in ocean to fishermen community

• The tele-centers function more like public libraries and information centers

• It also provides relevant

information regarding fish density in ocean to fishermen community.

• Empowerment of the community

6. Community Information Centres

• All 487 blocks in 79 districts of (Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya and Sikkim

• Started by Department of Information Technology (DOIT) with technical support of National Informatics Centre

• e-governance, e-health, e-education and e-business opportunities

• Providing ICT infrastructure at block level in remote area of the country

(NIC).

7. Tarahhat.com

• Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh),

• Started by Development Alternative with the help of a dozen project partners in four districts

• The user-friendly software provides services like Tarabazaar, Taravan, Taraguru, Taradhaba, Tarareporter, Taradak, Taravendor and Taracard

• First Private Sector initiative in India based on Business Model Approach

• Essentially to cater to the un-served rural markets.

8. e-Choupal • It is a unique web-based imitative of Indian Tobacco Company (ITC)’s International Business Division( large agricultural processing company) in Central India

• The project has started 23 tele-centers in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh and till now set up 4,100 kiosks serving 21,000 villages and 2.1 millions farmers in 6 states of India with over Rs. 7.5 billion ( US $ 162) annual turnover

• Procuring Soya, coffee, and prawns at the doorsteps of the villagers and provides all real time data on crop prices, products and services required

• The kiosks facilitate supply of high quality farm inputs

• Huge private sector investment • Revolutionized Agricultural

Commodity Marketing in India • Adding 7 e-chaupals a day and

plans to scale up 20,000 eChaupals by 2010 covering 100,000 villages in 15 staes, servicing 25 million farmers. Transactions through thses eChaupals may rise to about US $ 2.5 billion by 2010.

9. Tamil Nilam Touch

• An important e-governance initiative of Govt.

• Provide dozen public services

• e-governance and empowerment

Screen Project

of Tamil Nadu in all 206 taluks. Tele centers have touch screen kiosks with laser printers

10.

Samaikya Agritech Pvt. Ltd

• 18 tele-centres in five districts of Andhra Pradesh

• Farmers register to the centre at the cost of Rs. 150 per cropping season. The farmers in return get technical inputs and know-how for the crop

• Private sector initiative using cooperative structure with financial viability

11.

FRIENDS (Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient, Network and Disbursement of Services)

• Available in 15 districts headquarters of Kerala

• Public services including online payments of numerous government dues services are available

• One-stop service centers having twenty high-speed computers

12.

Mahiti Shakti

• About 80 telecentres have been set up in Panchamahal districts, Gujarat

• All the information needs of villagers

• The network provides more than 200 online forms of different government schemes.

• It provides updated status of sanctions from District Rural Development Agency and District Planning Board.

• The Information is available in local language (Gujarati). It has tried to convert existing STD booths into tele-centres

13.

Computer –aided Administration of Registration Department (CARD)

• Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)

• 214 registration offices completely computerized since 1998

• Provide encumbrance certificates and valuation certificates. Time taken for the services is less than 15 minutes

• More than one

• Considered to be one of the most successful use of ICT in governance in India

million documents have been registered

14.

Janmitra • Jhalawar (Rajasthan).

• The project has been sanctioned by UNDP, along with four other districts and has been implemented with the help of district administration Jhalawar, department of IT and RAJCOMP

• The rural internet provides e-governance, e-education, e-health and e-commerce services

• Services are provided to the people through Community Information centers

15.

Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)

• Ahmedabad (Gujarat)

• Women’s empowerment using satellite communication for training and credit mobilization

• Development and strengthening of Women Self-Help Group (SHG)

• Empowerment of women

16.

N-Logue Tele-centers Project

• Madurai, Tamil Nadu

• Commercial offshoot of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

• N-Logue, has pioneered Wireless in Local Loop Technology

• 30 tele-centres have been created

• Provide villagers numerous web based links including agriculture

• Information/Service access to villagers

17.

Drishtee Tele-centers

• Jaipur. Rajasthan • A unique socio-

technological effort towards creating an information backbone in rural India

• Established more

than 200 tele-centers in seven Indian States

• The organization

• The services include information related to land records, Virtual Bidding Market Place, Market Information System

• A local villager becomes a kiosk owner as a self-employment opportunity, mostly financed by some of the government-sponsored scheme, leading to a new IT-literate generation in the countryside, with about 45,000 kiosks owners by 2003

With their earning and knowledge the kiosk owners become role models for the younger generation

18.

eShringhla Information Kiosk Scheme, kerala

• all over the state of Kerala.

• Government owned at an estimated cost of Rs. US$ 100,00

• Undertaken by Keltron, a public sector hardware manufacturer and provider of e-governance and other ICT solutions

• Collecting information from various government departments regarding schemes and programmes and hosting on the web portal and information kiosks to access the information and services thus creating a electronic chain of information and e-

• Dispensation of government services to citizens cutting across caste and class

• All the public oriented departments are involved in hosting of Web portal

19 ActionAid-Bolangir, Oriisa

• Addressing poverty by strengthening the capacity of poor farmers of Bolangir to communicate.

• 8 kiosks installed, run by NGOs and overall management is carried out by Panchayet in each village.

• ICT component of the project is funded by UNDP

• Providing computer enabled services to villagers

• Teaching computer classes at Rs.50 a month

• Customized “Block Management information system” software has been installed at Block office. PC at block office contains the administration’s

• Comprehensive e-governance services to poor farmers on all levels

• Capacity building to use and manage ICTs by the villagers

20 Gyan Ganga project, Gujarat

• Launched in 2003 by department of Science & Technology, govt. of Gujarat, and M/s. n—Logue Communications Pvt. Ltd. In 8

• computer education, photography, email, video mail and video-conference services started

• e-governance, health, agriculture,

• capacity building of villagers in ICT use

• all comprehensive education, support and services are in the process of offering in the current year

21 Akshaya, Malappuram, Kerala

• 620 ICT centres so far; 1 centre for every/1000 families

• Universal household literacy, 600,000 people trained so far

• Community emerges a major

f ICT

• Build an Information Highway

• Create a user community addressing the issues of access, skill and content

• Offer IT based i

• New economic/social networks for E-governance, Ecommerce, Education and Empowerment.

Planned to • Covers 33 million population in

Kerala • 6.5 million e-literates by 2005 • 7500 ICT centers across the State

22 SATCOM, M.P.

• 350 blocks under telecasting coverage

• Agricultural programmes every Monday ( 3-5 P.M.)

• System works on a one-way video-two way audio mode

• Farmer’s queries are addressed by the experts during the programme

23 Teja TV • Andhra Pradesh • Teja TV and state

department of Agriculture and State Agricultural University collaborate

• Telecasting of Agricultural programmes

• On-line ( live) phone connectivity in programme

• Specialists from State govt. and agricultural university answer

• Active participation of farmer viewers

• High percentage of viewers of the live programme

24 E-TV • Telecasted in Telugu, Kannada and Marathi languages to viewers of Andhra P d h K t k

• Agricultural programmes including market information and input prices and th i ilibilt

• Toll free farmer call centres established by Dept. of Agriculture, GOI, Govt. of Karnataka and E-TV network.

25 KVK, ICAR • Located at Baramati, Ahmednagar and

• ICAR is establishing a massive e-linkage project connecting 200 KVKs all over

• Providing both static contents on packages of practices and also online consultancy to farmers by answering emails, voicemail and

• Direct scientist to farmers contact • Information required by the

farmers is available on websites on regular basis.

• provides rainfall predictions and current rainfall and temperature status on web sites

• Each KVK trains farmers, farm

26 EDUSAT • India’s Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) successfully placed EDUSAT, India’s first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services. Launched on September 20, 2004 , initially will provide one satellite link per beam, with each link catering for up to 200 classrooms covering the states of Karnataka in the South, Maharastra in the West and the

• Imparting quality education through the large number of rural institutions that lacked necessary infrastructure

• Dissemination of knowledge to the rural and remote population about important aspects like health, hygiene and allow professionals to update their knowledge bas as well.

• Educational programmes can be viewed on any television set through a simple low-cost receiver costing about $65.

• Provide a fillip to distance education in the entire country

Enablers/Critical Success Factors of ICT Projects BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE

The three basic infrastructures which are prerequisite to success of all ICT projects are: a) Electricity, b) Telephony (or its equivalent), and Network Connectivity both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Priority settings in planning for rural development in tackling the problems associated with these inputs should form the basis for implementation of all ICT projects. Electricity:

There is need for increased duration of the availability of electricity. Villages at many places get electric power supply with voltage and frequency that often go down below the acceptable level of most of the ICT hardware. Provision of proper earthing facilities at all Kiosk centre in the villages and constant maintenance of the privately constructed earthing pits is necessary to protect the computers and other peripherals from damage.

It is encouraging to see number of projects namely Gyandoot, eChaupals, n-logue and Akshaya used good battery back-ups and Universal Power Supply( UPS ) connecting to multiple tractor batteries in parallel to assure power supply to Kiosks in the event of day-long power cuts. Telephony :

In any particular rural application the choice of technology depends on the local conditions, subscriber density, clustering possibilities, distances to the nearest National network connection points and terrain characteristics, in addition to local technical expertise and adoption capacity.

Landline telephones form the backbone for data transfer to most of the Kiosks of ICT projects that were initiated in late nineties in India. However, Info village project of Pondicherry implemented a wireless system as early as in 1998 for relatively slow data transfer using fax protocols. Short bursts of these wireless transmissions update the off-line content available at the village centre.

Radio systems have the advantages of scalability and easy deployment in serving distant rural areas, particularly sparsely populated ones. While radio systems solve the problems of poles and copper wire, they require an external source of power, which is not an issue for fixed lines. Solar power may be a solution, although it is not deployable in all locations. Radio systems have evolved from analogue to digital technology. So-called point-to-multipoint systems are widely deployed in rural areas. The standardization of these systems has been limited and many manufacturers have ceased production.

Various telecasting organizations like Zee TV, and also Self-Employed Women’s Association. SEWA rely on Very Small aperture terminals (V-SATs), which are connected to their own communication satellites. These systems are a good solution for isolated areas, particularly where terrestrial connections would be costly. The choice of Optcal-Fibre Cable routes were not used by most of the projects though projects like Gyandoot and Akshaya planed to use this expensive technology in some selected pockets to facilitate high volume data/voice communication. Reliance, India has planned to lay 25,000 km of fiber optic cable and also develop more than 1.5 millions IT kiosks in rural areas along the way.

Designing of ICT projects got a big push in recent years with the development of Wireless-in-Local-Loop (WLL or WiLL) technologies in India, which offer cheaper, lighter, and more intelligent type of network. CorDect technology developed by TeNet Group at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Chennai has been used by a large number of ICT projects which were launched in the last two years including N-Logue Tele-centers Project; Akshaya, Malappuram, Kerala; eShringhla Information Kiosk Scheme, Kerala; and Gyan Ganga project, Gujarat. The ICT projects, which were dependent on telephony network like Drishtee Tele-centers, eChoupal, Warna Wired Village Project (Maharashtra), and Gyandoot (Madhya Pradesh) have been opting for CorDect technology for all immediate and future expansion in the new areas. The CorDect technology allows the end users to use simultaneously both data communication and voice telephony at a data throughput at 70 Mbps facilitating ICT projects to use online and real-time video and audio conferencing in the villages.

Fixed Access Cellular Networks: With the arrival of cellular mobile telephone systems new options for rural areas have emerged. It became clear that investments made in mobile networks to serve urban users could also benefit rural subscribers. These systems were deployed initially using a variety of analogue standards; digital systems are now in use in India. Apart from telephone booths with one line, large metal shipping containers are

connected to the mobile network through multiple lines to provide local access through a managed telephone service (a phone shop) are also in use, which has proved to be a good solution in areas with cellular coverage. Connectivity:

Most of the ICT projects started with Internet connectivity though the leading Internet Service providers (ISP). Though long distance calls to nearby towns are not always available to all remote areas and poor telephony often restricts the modem speeds to 28.8 kbps or slower; projects in Pondicherry and Warana allow users to access offline content, which is updated several times a day in brief bursts of data. In this way, ranges of services are continuously provided, notwithstanding narrow bandwidth and intermittent connectivity. Maintenance in a Rural Context

Providing a technological solution to the rural telecom problem is one thing; providing a working and sustainable solution is another. The rural environment puts a lot of stress on equipment. Beyond climatic conditions, there are failures of power systems and problems created by unforeseen human interventions. The level of reliability of rural systems has to be higher than normal, because the higher costs of reliability can be recovered through lower maintenance costs and higher revenues. An effective maintenance strategy must be adopted from the beginning of the design of a rural network. This includes use of remote monitoring and maintenance centres, the reservation of sufficient funds for spare parts, and the logistics for getting these parts at the right time to the technician who needs them. SCOPE AND TYPES OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY ICT PROJECTS The successes of the projects vary significantly depending upon the terms of specific services provided to the end users.

The first category of ICT projects (mostly Govt. controlled or sponsored) provided the rural people with all information and services concerning Government programmes and schemes including land records, health services and public utility services. The “Bhoomi” project in Karnataka today serves as an excellent example of governance in its ideal form, transparent and accountable. Today, 6.7 million farmers of this southern state in India have access to 20 million land ownership records available with the government at the click of a button.

eShringhla has set up a one-stop, Web-enabled portal for information and services relating to the government-citizen interface. The application involved hosting the portal on a Web server with good connectivity and providing a set of information kiosks to access this information and services all over the state of Kerala in South India, thus creating an "e-shringhla" ("electronic chain") of information and e-governance.

Drishtee besides providing technical expertise and management consultancy to build the IT infrastructure and the human capacity to link service providers (government departments and private firms) with the rural citizens, also facilitate other services like rural employment, e-health, etc. For a meager fee, the villagers can apply for various services such

as a caste certificate, copy of land title, electronically through the Drishtee kiosks. Any citizen can send a complaint to the government by e-mail regarding their pensions, health services, water facilities etc.

Info-village of Pondicherry developed community ownership and collective action with a “Pro-poor”, “pro-nature” and “Pro-women” approach to development. The network provides public services in local language in a multimedia fashion. It also provides relevant information regarding fish density in ocean to fishermen community.

In Gyan Ganga project, Gujarat all comprehensive education, support and services including agriculture and veterinary are provided.

The Ministry of Information Technology has prepared a plan to convert over 600,000 public call offices (PCOs) into public ‘tele – info – centres’ (PTICs) offering services like internet browsing, fax, e-mail and DTP. The Karnataka Telecom Circle is seeking franchisees for Internet Dhabas while the Maharashtra state government has plan to link 40,000 villages with Agronet, a specially developed software package for the farmers, aiming to provide latest information on agriculture, besides the basic information about land records, market information and other related services ( Jange, Sherikar and Angadi, 2003)8.

The second category of ICT projects largely addresses to trading and e-commerce. eChaupal project started in 2000 with 23 tele-centers in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh and till now set up 4,100 kiosks ( eChaupals) serving 21,000 villages and 2.4 millions farmers in 6 states of India with more than Rs. 7.5 billion ( US$ 162) annual turnover. Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) Limited, India, has established this India’s largest Internet-based initiative and revolutionized Agricultural Commodity Marketing in India by adding 7 eChaupals a day and plans to scale up 20,000 eChaupals ( kiosks) by 2010 covering 100,000 villages in 15 states, servicing 10 million farmers( ITC, 2004)9. Transactions through these eChaupals may rise to about US $ 2.5 billion by 2010. Web-enabled, real-time data on crop prices gives farmers an accurate picture of the prices they expect from ITC and from different mandis. Agricultural Market Committees in various states are computerized and networked at present to provide up to date and reliable market information to farmers. Farm produce like Soya, coffee, and prawns are procured by ITC from at the doorsteps of the villagers. ITC has plans to diversify into other products such as horticulture, rice, and cotton. Village Internet kiosks also enable farmers to access to information on weather, scientific farm practices and finally, farmers can now order quality inputs like fertilizers and seeds on eChaupal Website. ITC has also collaborated with an insurance company to provide insurance services specially designed for the landless, marginal farmers in more than 100 villages in the State of Madhya Pradesh. A plan to market and distribute other services like micro credit, health, and education through the same eChaupal “channel” infrastructure is also underway. Such scale-up would require very large investment in the order of US$ 200 million (Deveshwar, 2002)10. The eChaupal model is quite different from the other models, as the farmers do not pay for the information and knowledge they get from eChaupals. The eChaupal model runs without any subsidy. There is no government involvement in this project. The introduction of ICT devices into the management of operations of the National dairy development Board and their milk collection centres in Gujarat and the Swayam Krishi Sangram

( SKS) smart cards project use of ICT to reduce transaction costs and reduce the cost of credit are other two successful example of commercial ventures of ICT in India.

The third category of ICT projects provide number of offline, Static Content including packages of practices, recommendations, locally relevant technologies, government Schemes etc. in local language. Besides, experiences of successful ICT applications in agriculture in rural India and provision of numerous web-based links to these sites will be available to farmers through these projects. These projects have strong inter-institutional linkages to develop content and providing online and offline services. Info Knowledge Village at Pondicherry, Warna Wired Village Project in Maharashtra, Krishi Vigyan Kendras of ICAR at Ahmednagar and Baramati, n-logue telecentre projects fall in this category. In these projects normally the farmers have to be a member of the Information Kiosk in order to access and get the desired information. For certain online facilities a small amount is charged by the Kiosk organizers to meet the recurring costs. The Department of Agriculture in Madhya Pradesh is currently utilising the SATCOM centres in 350 blocks to telecast live agricultural programmes every Monday (3-5 PM). The system works on a one-way video-two way audio mode and farmers’ queries are addressed by the experts during the programme. Teja TV in Andhra Pradesh telecasts an on-line (live) phone in programme in collaboration with State Department of Agriculture and Agricultural University to answer farmers’ questions everyday. E-TV also telecasts agricultural programmes in Telegu, Kannada and Marathi languages every day. Toll free farmers call centres have been established by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka and E.TV network.

The fourth category of ICT projects primarily address to issue of capacity building and empowerment of farmers, farm women, rural artisans and also large number of extension personnel and use of ICT for education and alleviation of poverty from rural sector. Women empowerment through SEWA in Gujarat through open distance learning programme, mobile classrooms through IT buses in rural Pune, Project Shiksha – computer literacy aiming to accelerate literacy level of villagers by providing instruction in software solutions, the charity Action Aid at Bolangir, Orissa addressing poverty by strengthening the capacity of poor people to communicate and Akshaya, Malappuram, Kerala, and EDUSAT project launched recently nation-wide are some of the ICT projects in this category. BENEFICIARIES:

In most of the projects the primary beneficiaries are the individual farmers, which include small and marginal farmers and farm women besides the progressive farmers,. In many cases, they have been mobilized in the form of group around each Information Kiosk or Information technology centre where farmer has to be the member of the group with a nominal fee. Thus, networks of human-mediated computer kiosk, shared among multiple users of a rural community, could in fact prove to be the most inexpensive and inclusive form of rural infrastructure possible today. Some of the Govt. sponsored projects like Akshaya, Kerala, Action Aid of Bolangir and Drishtee information Telecentres etc. are some of the ICT projects in this category, which put special emphasis on capacity building to create a empowered user community addressing the issues of access, skill and content. ICT projects around empowerment of rural women in SEWA, Info-village of Pondicherry, Akshaya,

Malappuram, Kerala project showed that even the poor, neo-literate rural women can take full advantages of ICTs in changing their lives. Projects like Warna of Maharastra motivated sugarcane farmers to overcome the hurdles of cultivation and marketing where as eChaupal project of ICT established an excellent marketing network to avoid the pressure of middlemen on farmers and attain higher return to sale of produce. SCALABILITY OF ICT PROJECTS

Projects like eChaupal, Akshaya, bhoomi, Drishtree, n-logoue and KVKs of ICAR have shown some promise towards scaling up. Without a financial support of the Government, the e-Chaupals has increased to 3500 within two years of Implementation. All these projects clearly demonstrate that irrespective of the type of Information kiosk, the value addition in the services for rural consumers is the key to the success in scaling up the project. It has been also shown that an appropriate management model in the line of e-chaupal, milk collection centres of Gujarat, defining government role in supportive policy environment, institutionalizing the public-private-community partnership model at the grass root level, appropriate and affordable technologies that can be adopted by the end users, and increase in functional literacy level of farmers and farm women; can give lead to significant economic activity on a large scale. MANAGING INFORMATION KIOSKS

Around 200 ICT enabled development interventions in various stages of implementation are in existentence across the country, however the telecenter model or community centered information kiosk, over the past few years, has been found to be one of the more effective means to deliver services using ICT. There are broadly four types of telecenters/kiosks. The first type of telecenters is set up by an individual, could be an entrepreneur or a government official, and is usually confined to one or two locations. The success of such telecenters depends on the individual. The second type includes the telecenters set up by governments for improved service delivery. Such telecenters can be further classified into two categories: One provides a single service, e.g. Issuance of Computerized Land Records by Bhoomi in Karnataka, and the other delivers a number of services e.g. Akshaya telecenters in Kerala.

The third type of telecenters includes the those set up by the private sector companies, e.g. e-Choupal telecenters set up by the ITC group. These telecenters are capable of creating a win-win situation for the service provider as well as the beneficiaries, however, the scalability and viability of such telecenters is limited to areas having significant economic activity. The fourth type of telecenters are set up by entrepreneurs on a large scale to deliver a number of services, including institutional help to deliver government services, e.g. Drishtee telecenters.

Merging of two models can also be made, for instance, a Bhoomi kiosk remains idle most of the time and an eChoupal computer can also deliver services like Bhoomi, besides others. Such a combination could also ensure sustainability of the telecenter in regions with low economic activity.

EFFORTS FOR ACCESSIBILITY OF E-INFORMATION IN INDIAN LANGUAGES:

Language Technology Development in India

India with a population of about 1 billion has 18 constitutionally approved languages with their origin to Sanaskrit and 1650 dialects spoken by different communities. Linguistic-based division into states ensures use of the official language of that state in governance and education. There are 10 Indic scripts in vogue originated from Brahmi Script, with similar Script, script grammars, and alphabetic order. Some languages use common script, especially Devanagari, Hindi written in Devanagri script is the official language of the union Government. English is also used for government notifications and communications. The eighteen constitutional Indian Languages with their scripts in parentheses are : Hindi (Devanagari), Konkani (Devanagari), Marathi (Devanagari), Nepali (Devanagari), Sanskrit (Devanagari), Sindhi (Devanagari/Urdu), Kashmiri (Devanagari/Urdu); Assamese (Assamese), Manipuri (Manipuri), Bangla (Bangali), Oriya (Oriya), Gujarati (Gujarati), Punjabi (Gurumukhi), Telugu (Telugu), Kannada (Kannada), Tamil (Tamil), Malayalam (Malayalam) and Urdu (Urdu). India’s average literacy level is about 52 percent. Over 95 percent population is normally deprived of the benefits of English-based Information Technology. There are typically 19 prominent dialects/variations of Hindi language being used in different regions, e.g., Marwari, Jaipuri, Brijabhasa, Khari Boli, Avadhi, Chhatisgarhi, Bihari, Maithli, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Garhavali, Kumaunni indicating ‘One-ness in Diversity’. The distribution of language based on population in India is indicated in Table 3, and the language-wise world population in Table 4( Om Vikas, 2001)11.

Table 3. Distribution of Language-Based Population in India

Language

Script Percent

Hindi Devanagari 41.6 Bangla Bengali 8.6 Telugu Telugu 8.1 Marathi Devanagari 7.7 Tamil Tamil 6.5 Urdu Urudu 5.4 Gujarati Gujarati 5.1 Kannada Kannada 4.0 Malayalam Malayalam 3.7 Oriya Oriya 3.5 Punjabi Gurumukhi 2.9 Assamese Assamese 1.6 Kashmiri Urdu/Devanagari 0.4 Sindhi Urdu/Devanagari 0.3 Nepali Devanagari 0.25 Konkani Devanagari 0.20 Manipuri Manipuri 0.15 Sanskrit Devanagari 0.0006

Table 4. Language-Wise World Population

Language 2050 Population in Billion

1996 Population in Billion

Chinese 1.384 1.113 Hindi/Urdu 0.556 0.316 English 0.508 0.372 Spanish 0.486 0.304 Arabic 0.482 0.201 Portuguese 0.248 0.165 Bengali 0.229 0.125 Russian 0.132 0.155 Japanese 0.108 0.123 German 0.091 0.102 Malay 0.080 0.047 French 0.076 0.070

There are less than 5 percent people who can work in English. In spite of the plurality of languages and scripts, their script and language grammars are quite similar and they have 40 to 80 percent vocabularies in common with the need for use of Information Technology as early in 1970s, the efforts were made for working out solutions towards adaptation of rapidly growing Information Technology for Indian languages. Input-output problems and coding schemes were analyzed. In 1990-91, Government of India launched the program on TDIL (Technology Development of Indian Languages) under which the projects were supported for development of corpora (In linguistics and lexicography, a body of texts, utterances, or other specimens considered more or less representative of a language, and usually stored as an electronic database), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Text-to-Speech, machine translation and generic software for Information processing. Standards for keyboard layout and internal Code for Information Interchange were also evolved. This resulted into confidence in having solutions for Information processing in Indian languages.

In 200-2001, the Government of India launched mission-oriented program for Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) with focus on seven major initiatives: Knowledge Resources, Knowledge Tools, Translation Support Systems, Human Machine Interface Systems, Localisation, Standardisation and Language Technology Human Resource Development. Thirteen Resource centres for Indian Language Technology Solutions (RC-ILTS) were supported covering all 18 Indian languages. Development of Indian language interface technology is also being promoted. Indian Language Technology Vision 2010 has been prepared with the Vision statement “Digital Unite and Knowledge for All”. India has become voting member of UNICODE Consortium. Industry consortium for Indian language technology has also been formed. In the wake of growing popularity of Internet, activities concerning e-Content creation, IT localisation, on-line listing and summarization, e-learning, Cross-Lingual Information Retrieval are being promoted to ensure information access in cyberspace in Indian languages( Om Vikas, 2001)11.

Since September 1999 Portal and Internet portal in Hindi are in use instead of English.

The information superhighway has been opened for the million of people who use only Hindi. Chennai-based Lastech Systems private Ltd has launched its e-mail Software called IndoMail, which facilitates e-mail in 12 Indian languages. The range of products of the company includes Indoword, Indobase, Indovision, Indoweb , and Exact. These products are available in 10 Indian languages. Indian OS (Operating System) called Bharatbhasa is an initiative for promoting the use of computer in Indian and South Asian languages. It gives away freeware fonts in Bangla, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Gurmukhi. There is boom in multi-lingual computing in India. Some firms offering Indian-Language software products include Lingua Indica and SRD Akruti of Bangalore, Cirrus Software C-DAC, Modular Systems and Seacom of Pune, Natural Softwares of Jaipur, Summit IT and Softec of Delhi, and Lastech of Chennai, among others India has been doing work on Sanaskrit processing tools, computer courseware in Hindi, Devnagari script optical character recognition, and speech synthesis in Hindi machine translation systems (Tripathi, 2002) 12. The development of Language Technology in India may be categorized in three phases: • 1976-1990 : A-Technology Phase Focus was on Adaptation Technologies; abstraction of requisite technological designs and competence building in R&D institutions. • 1991-2000 : B-Technology Phase Focus was on developing Basic Technologies- generic information processing tools, interface technologies and cross-compatibility conversion utilities. TDIL(Technology Development for Indian Languages) programme was initiated. • 2001-2010 : C-Technology Phase Focus is on developing Creative Technologies in the context of convergence of computing, communication and content technologies. Collaborative technology development is being encouraged to realize ( Ibid, 2001)13.

The Ministry of Information Technology has established 13 Resources Centres for Indian language Technology Solutions covering all the eighteen constitutionally approved official languages. The Organizations and associated Languages are given in Table 5 (Ibid, 2001)13.

Table 5. Resource Centres and Language Technology Solution

Language Organization

• Hindi and Nepali Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

• Marathi and Konkani Indian institute of Technology, Mumbai

• Assamese and Manipuri Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

• Kannada and Sanskrit Cognitive Models) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

• Bengali Indian Statistical institute, Kolkata

• Foreign Languages: Japanese, Chinese and Sanskrit Language Learning Systems

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

• Telugu University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad

• Tamil Anna University, Chennai

• Gujarati MS University, Baroda

• Oriya Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar; and Orissa Computer Application Centre, Bhubaneshwar

• Punjabi Thapar Institute of Engg. & Tech. Patiala

• Malayalam Electronic Research and Development Centre , Trivandrum

• Urdu, Sindhi and Kashmiri Centre for Development of advanced Computing (C-

DAC), Pune

Agro Explorer: a Meaning Based Multilingual Search Engine

Most of the advanced information for the agricultural domain should be in local languages. This should be available on the web for the farmers to read, assimilate and use. There is also the need for cross-language information transfer where climatic and agricultural conditions are similar (like Bengal, Bihar, Assam, and Orissa), thereby avoiding duplication of research and information hunting effort. The need for multilingual information processing is enormous for a country like India.

Agro Explorer is a language independent search engine with multilingual information access facility. Instead of searching on plain text it does the search on the meaning representation; an Interlingua form called Universal Networking Language (UNL) expressions. Most of the current search engines (e.g. Google, Altavista,Yahoo) are pattern based. They do not consider the meaning of the query posed to them. The search is purely based on the keywords of the query. In contrast to this, this system first extracts the meaning of the query and then performs the search based on this extracted meaning. The system also employs Interlingua based machine translation technology to present information in the language of choice of the user ( Media Lab Asia & IIT, Bombay, 2004)14. STATEGIC FACTORS BEHIND SUCCESS OF ICT INITIATIVES

The reasons behind the success of the projects presented vary significantly. In case of Akshaya, affective awareness campaign supported by pre-existing high literacy levels and the involvement of local self-governments were driving factors, whereas in case of Bhoomi it was the ‘killer application’ that worked and farmers are willing to pay Rs. 25 (approx 60 cents), which is higher than the earlier fee of Rs. 2 (approx 5 cents), but is much lesser when compared to the bribes, ranging from Rs. 100 to 2000 (approx $ 2.3 to 45), and delay in the earlier system. N-Logue’s strength has been its technology that enables it to enter the remote areas. Technology, however, has remained an issue of concern even for a highly successful project like eChoupal. Yet eChoupal has been able to find value propositions, which create a

win-win situation for the beneficiaries as well as the stakeholders. The availability of managerial competency and learning from the project has contributed to the scaling up of eChaupal.

The eChoupal model has demonstrated its superiority in scaling up over the other models. It can be used also by Cooperatives/private companies in milk, handicraft, leather, handloom etc. Pilot projects by NGOs, individual entrepreneurs have not scaled up. However, certain issues that eChoupal is facing, like lack of power and infrastructure can be addressed through innovative technological solutions as shown by n-Logue. Another aspect is the presence / absence of supportive policy environment. In case of eChoupal, the slow pace of modification of Agriculture Marketing Act poses a challenge in scaling up. The success of eChoupals in economically active areas also points at the risk that is involved in venturing in economically less active areas. In such areas, a killer application like Bhoomi can optimize economic sustainability of the telecenters. The Bhoomi project also faces a big challenge in scaling up, as the present number of telecenters (based at local administrative offices) or access points seems insufficient. Thus, combining the eChoupal and Bhoomi models seems a good option. The combination of services offered by Drishtee has been its major strength and other projects can take learning from this, however Drishtee faces a big challenge in scaling up due to the lack of venture capital. Various issues like slow policy reform, high cost of implementation for governments / private sector, etc can be dealt with by building effective partnerships across governments, private sector and the community, as demonstrated by Akshaya. Some other important issues like need for research, training, and development of relevant content also need to address adequately. SUGGESTED MODEL OF OPEN DISTANCE TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION EDUCATION (ODAEE) BY THE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

Open distance Technology-mediated Agricultural Extension Education (ODAEE) is defined as the use of networked computers for providing information and services related to agricultural technologies as well as the resources needed for enhancing agricultural production and productivity. The ICT based ODAEE is a powerful process for developing understanding on various technologies and related information by engaging the farmers and other end users through multiple forms of representations on interconnection mode for working out solutions to a number of real life problem situations. It can be used as complementary to insufficient extension staff and transport facilities, language barrier, reduced resources for public extension services, in geographical terrain that is difficult to reach physically, and in areas where cultural taboos and religious factors do not encourage field visits by male extension workers to female farmers, and vice versa.

While distance education has great potential, it should not be considered as a substitute for conventional extension systems. Instead, it should be used as a supplementary

tool, maintaining the focus on the human factor rather than aiming for total dependence on modern ICT. Establishment of Open distance Technology-mediated Extension Education Centers

There are at present 40 Universities in Agriculture, Animal Sciences, Fisheries, and Horticulture and Forestry in India including 34 State Agricultural Universities, including 4 Universities for Animal Sciences at Calcutta, Chennai, Nagpur and Mathura ( U.P.) and one for horticulture & Forestry at Solan,.5 deemed Universities ( Indian Agricultural research institute, New Delhi; Indian Veterinary research institute, Izatnagar; National Dairy research institute, Karnal; Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai and Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Allahabad. Besides, there is one Central Agricultural University at Manipur for North-Eastern Hill Region of the country. These universities are located across the country in all the 29 states. There are 15 Agro-climatic Regions identified by the Planning Commission in the country. Establishment of Open Distance Technology – Mediated Agricultural Extension Education Centers in these regions will go a long way in providing an innovative model to inform and educate the farmers using Agricultural Universities as the knowledge generating, knowledge management and Knowledge disseminating Unit.

These Universities should prepare the programme on location-specific basis covering about 20-25 villages for availability of technology information and education to the farmers at village level and to provide necessary human resource for running Open Distance and Technology Mediated Extension Education centers in agriculture.

The project is proposed to aim at providing information to facilitate education of the farmers, farm women, rural youths through a technology-mediated distance learning mode about different need- based farm practices and enterprises including animal husbandry, fisheries and value added products through a participatory approach with the following objectives:

• To establish a strong e-linkage between agricultural university and the farmers and facilitate availability of need-based farm practices and enterprises including animal husbandry, fisheries and value added products.

• To facilitate University to develop capacity-building in educating farmers through an open distance technology-mediated learning mode using new information and communication technologies in rural India.

• To encourage farmers to learn and acquire knowledge on agriculture and allied areas through an open distance technology-mediated learning mode.

• To enable the farmers to access global information at the local level and use them in solving farming problems.

• To develop capacity building of farmers in using new information and communication technologies at the village level on a participatory mode.

• To empower the farmers, farm women, and rural youth to take control on their own decisions concerning farm activities, productivity, profitability and sustainability issues.

The Village-level Agri-Study Centers need to be organized and run by the member

farmers/member farmwomen with active facilitation and assistance of ODAEE centers and the University staff. There will be 20-25 Agri-Study Centres under each ODAEE centre of the University. Each Agri-study centre will have Kiosks facility with all hardware including computer, web camera, peripherals, connectivity, power supply and also required software to run applications as standalone units as well as terminal to server located at university level. Each computer will have dual head video display to display on large monitor/TV besides computer monitor. Such arrangement will facilitate operator to show on-line study materials to larger audience. Wireless in loop technology (corDect) at the Village-level Agri-Study Centre will provide simultaneous telephone and Internet facility. Computer will be operated in each Agri-study centre by an operator (chief volunteer) who would be chosen by the members within the village. Three to four volunteers from the members, who are highly motivated and having aptitude in ICT applications will be also trained in the handling of computer, surfing, e-mail and audio and video conferencing. Such mechanism will enable Agri-Study Centres to provide services to members in accessing information and getting study materials on-line.

Specialists from different disciplines of the University will be available to the farmer members on-line and in real time mode on pre-determined day and hours through teleconferencing and video conferencing. Suitable video conferencing software on networking mode has to be loaded at the ODAEE centre for the purpose. Training and Capacity Building

In order to effectively launch the proposed ODAEE project on sound footing, it is necessary to train University staff to be engaged in the Project particularly in the areas of Instruction curriculum development, designing Instruction plan and lesson plans, development of web- base modular self-instructional modules, creation of databases, conversion of all relevant printed materials in digital form and development of learning materials - textual, graphics, animation, digital audio and video, and multimedia using different appropriate software and hardware. Besides, training in the use of real time audio and video conferencing systems of the University staff would be required.

Similarly, training programmes need to be organized for the operator/Volunteers of each

Agri-Study Centre in handling of computers, accessing databases, web – enabled pages, e-mailing/voice mail at the village level in the initial phase of the Pilot project. Content Development

• Static Content: Packages of practices, recommendations, locally relevant technologies, government Schemes etc. In local / vernacular language. Besides, experiences of successful ICT applications in agriculture in rural India and provision of numerous web-based links to these sites will be available to farmers.

• Dynamic content: online services on localized weather forecasting, market information, latest recommendations on crop, animal, poultry, fishery etc. in local/vernacular languages keeping in view needs and suitability of the practices in areas around each of the Agri-study centers.

• Interactive Voice Response System on local weather forecast and market information. • Data base on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) by the farmers. • Sources of availability of inputs such as seed, seedlings, grafts, bio-fertilizers, bio-

pesticides and agri-implements with prices and user instructions. • Soil and water testing facilities and online reporting. • On-line announcements of different Govt. schemes and hyper-link to concerned web sites • Online consultancy to farmers through e-mail, voicemail and video mail. • Event calendar of agricultural important events in the region, training programmes, study

tours, exhibitions and other activities. • Publication of newsletters and bulletins on ODAEE website. • Other services related to WTO:

• Product Information Guide for different cereals, pulses, oilseeds, horticultural crops, animal, and fishery products.

• Fundamentals and vocabulary • Quality management requirement • Quality reporting procedures • Certification procedures

In designing effective distance instruction the goals, needs, and characteristics of Course instructors and farmers/farm women, content requirements and technical limitations have to be considered. Revision based on feedback from instructors, content specialists, and learners should be an ongoing process so that courses could be updated and meaningful to target groups of learners. Modular approach to Course content development should be adopted keeping in view the following characteristics of the content:

• On-line course content should ensure adequate real–time interactivity between the instructor and the learners in terms of interface in the course content, learning environment, among the learners themselves, and active learning at the Agri-study centers. For this purpose, adequate planning should be done at the University level as to how interactive information and communication technologies should be used for each course and target group.

• For Active learning, mental effort, which a learner will invest in a learning task, will depend on his or her perceptions of the relevance of both the medium and the message, which it contains, and also his or her ability to get meaningful out of the material presented.

• For Visual imagery, selecting meaningful visuals and breaking the complex course contents into smaller units in systematic order will ensure to provide quality information. Developing appropriate methods of feedback and reinforcement, optimizing content and pace, adapting to different learning styles, using case studies and examples relevant to the target audience, supplementing courseware with print information and personalized instruction are some of the strategies in ODAEE implementation required in this Pilot project.

The overall impact of such use of such ICTs on people’s empowerment needs to be

improved. The lessons learnt from the pilot projects have to be scaled up with the focus on improvement of its economic viability. Four key elements need to be emphasized to make a

pilot project successful. Telecenters need to have accountability so that the rural population would be willing to pay a fee for use. Villagers are not enamored of electronic delivery; the uptake will depend on whether significant value is being delivered in comparison to the existing mode of availability of information and services. Intermediaries are often needed to respond to the specific information needs of rural citizens and to interpret and disseminate the knowledge from public documents. Telecom and power infrastructure in rural areas needs to be improved; otherwise rural kiosks become economically non-viable. For building a true-networked society, enabling policies need to be put in place so that all the four conditions are fulfilled. The broad strategies we need to work out are as follows: a) to connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points; b) to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICTs; c) to connect scientific and research centres with ICTs; d) to connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and email

addresses; e) to ensure that all the country’s population have access to television and radio services; f) to encourage the development of content and to put in place technical conditions in order

to facilitate the presence and use of all local languages on the Internet; g) Arrangement for suitable Govt-Private-Corporate-People partnerships in all ICT efforts

especially at the grass root level. h) Overall capacity building and creating an enabling environment for use of ICT among

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13. Ibid, 2001.

14. Media Lab Asia, & IIT Bombay, Agro Explorer: a Meaning Based Multilingual Search Engine, URL www.mlasia.iitb.ac.in/docs/search-env-dyd02.pdf

15. Gaikwad, Bhaskar (2002). New initiatives in information technology by KVK Babhaleshwar. Personal communication. Ahmedhnagar, Maharastra.

Citation: Communication Support for Sustainable Development. Eds. Dipak De and Basavaprabhu Jirli, GangaKaveri Publishing House, Jangamawadi Math, Varanasi - 221001