New Delhi: For long, they have brought good
news about friends and family, but now they will tell farmers
when to sow their crops and what fertilisers to use.
Mobile phones are set to change the way farming is done
in the country. Thanks, to wireless solution provider Handygo
Ltd, farmers across the country can now learn about good farm
practices and share their views with experts on their mobiles.
With more than one in every third Indian a mobile phone
owner, Handygo has tied up with mobile service provider Bharti
Airtel to offer expert advice and information about farming as
a value-added service.
Handygo is also in talks with Tata Teleservices and Idea
Cellular to further increase its reach, Handygo Chief
Executive Officer Praveen Rajpal told.
Farmers will have to call the company's service centre on
a particular number and spare Re 1 a minute to get inputs
about weather, fertiliser, seeds, pesticide and irrigation
through its interactive voice response (IVR) technology.
The company has hired a team of farm sector experts to
the answer the queries. The service will also provide weather
forecast using its tie-up with the Indian Meteorological
Department.
Though information is now being provided through recorded
messages, the company is targeting to make the service
interactive very soon. It is dispersing information in 20
local languages.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 18:51