Indian agriculture and information and communications technology (ICT)

Farming is both a way of life and the principal means of livelihood for 65 per cent of India's population of 110 crore. In spite of huge government machinery, Indian farmers still suffer from the absence of right information at the required time. The farmers require timely information on weather conditions, sowing time, availability of inputs including credit, expert advice on maintaining the crop in healthy condition, information on markets and other areas of interest to them and their families. In spite of the best efforts and expenditure, the conventional apparatus has not been able to deliver the goods satisfactorily. Herein lies the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) which can efficiently address the concerns of farmers stationed even at remote locations of the country. Low literacy levels, cost of computers, poor communications infrastructure make it impossible for individual farmers, particularly small farmers, to directly adopt ICT. This calls for institutional efforts to provide ICT-based services to farmers. The present volume contains 11 well-researched papers by scholars in the field which provide deep insights into the various dimensions of the application of ICT in agriculture.