1 e-EXT- ICAR

Transcript

Brief Introduction

Hello Friends. In our previous discussions we talked about e-National Agricultural Market, which is a digital platform for sale as well as purchase of agricultural commodities. The unique feature is farmer can become a trader, and the digital platform provides him an opportunity to maximize his profits. So in this discussion we will be taking up the issue of the e-Extension initiatives taken up by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. As you are already aware, Indian Council of Agricultural Research is a nodal agency for agricultural education, research as well as extension at the national level.

So apart from conducting the research on various agricultural commodities. So it also develops the policy for its marketing as well as its extension related activities. So the journey of extension, as we see from the adoption of traditional methods of extension services. So now we are in the era of informationcommunication technology revolution, wherein largely the ICT mediation is there in delivering extension services and how ICAR making use of these. So let us have a look at them.

Initiatives by ICAR

This is an indicative list of the e-Extension initiatives of Indian Council of Agricultural Research. So we will have a look at them one by one

RKMP

To begin with the Rice Knowledge Management Portal.

Vision: So the vision of this Rice Knowledge Management Portal is to serve the wide range of stakeholders and help in better planning to realize higher productivity and production of rice through improved knowledge and skills with the help of this portal.

• Basically this acts as a comprehensive repository of knowledge regarding the rice cultivation and the management of the rice crop. The extension and the farmer domains on this portal provide production knowhow, the knowledge related to the production, package of practices, frequently asked questions in English as well as in local languages. So this motivates the farmer to be a part of this particular portal.
• It caters to the information needs of exporters and farmers through the trade information system. So it is not only the farmers, even the exporters are the beneficiaries of RKMP
• Then indexing of mandi prices from regulated markets with the help of the data from the Agmarknet helps the farmer to take the appropriate decisions, but the commodity that they are dealing with is only one; that is rice.

Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA)

Then coming to the Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture which is popularly known as CeRA.

• Basically it is a consortium of agricultural libraries under ICAR for National Agricultural Research and Extension System libraries. So, so far there are 152 members under this CeRA.
• Basically it deals with online access of select journals in agriculture and allied sciences to all researchers, teachers and students, policy planners, administrators and extension personnel, who are part of this National Agricultural Research System through IP authentication Means the entire knowledge that is being generated, related to agriculture and allied sciences are brought under one platform and made available to each and every stakeholder of agricultural research, education as well as extension system.

Objectives of CeRA

The Objectives of CeRA include,

• To upscale the existing R&D research and development information resource base of Indian Council of Agricultural Research institutions/State Agricultural Universities, comparable to world’s leading institutions as well as organizations. Because the international agencies are becoming more stronger because of their huge amount of information base. Similar efforts are being made here so that we can compete with them and we can develop ourselves.
• To subscribe online journals/e-resources and create e-access culture among scientists, faculty members, ICAR institutions and the agricultural universities. The students, faculty members as well as the researchers are becoming part of this, so that we can develop the electronic access culture among these people.

KRISHI– Knowledge based Resources Information Systems Hub for Innovations in agriculture

The next effort of ICAR is the Krishi, the full form stands like this (as mentioned above). Basically it is a centralized data repository system of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research consisting of technology, data generation through experiments, surveys, observation studies etc etc, based on the geospatial data, publications, learning resources etc etc are brought under a common platform, so that you can analyze it and come to the logical conclusion.

Objectives

The objectives of this KRISHI include

• To develop knowledge repositories related to proven technologies and publications. There are number of State Agricultural Universities and there are number of ICAR institutions who are coming out with technologies on a regular basis. So all these things are being consolidated on one platform. So that’s what is KRISHI.
• Then to create agricultural geo-portal for strengthening visualization and analysis of this spatial data. So country is very large and diverse in nature. There are a number of cultural aspects as well as the agro-climatic aspects that are involved. Based on that whatever the things that are being developed in different parts of the country are brought under one platform.
• Then to develop agricultural knowledge portal, to provide access and manage this knowledge repositories is another objective.

Mobile Apps

Then coming to the mobile apps. ICAR so far has developed 117 apps on different areas of agriculture and allied sciences. Just to quote here, some of them, that is,

• The Herbal Kisan, which is focusing on the medicinal plants. The detailed information for the farmers, students, drug manufacturer regarding medicinal and aromatic plants and their cultivation techniques are provided through these mobile apps.

Farm Calculator

Then coming to the farm calculator which is one of the important innovation that has been contributed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research that we can say.

• The farm calculator emphasizes on the fertilizer calculator,
• pesticide, fungicide and herbicide calculator
• Then the plant population calculator,
• Seed rate calculator
• And the seed blending calculator

So these are some of the very trivial issues in agricultural operations. So once we have customized mechanism for calculation of the fertilizer, the pesticide requirement, then the plant population, seed rate etc. Farmer can take appropriate decision. He can save huge amount of resources. Maybe it is seed or maybe it is a financial resource. Maybe it is a plant protection chemical which has adverse effects on both human-beings as well as the nature. So all such things can be avoided with the help of using this calculator.

Fertilizer Calculator

So let us look into the fertilizer calculator. So if you enter into the recommended doses of nitrogen, phosphorous as well as potassium, so you will be getting a number of combinations. So if you are having urea as well as SSP, this is the combination that you need to go for. And if there are various other formulations which are mentioned just below this, just you can scroll down and have different combinations, and accordingly you can go for purchase of these inputs and application of these inputs.

Pesticide Calculator

Then coming to the pesticide calculator. So just you enter the active ingredient, that is available in that particular chemical and ultimately it is giving you the result, that the quantity required is 50 ml or 50 gram of chemical for that particular volume of water and the amount that you need to spray there.

Similarly the plant population. The area you need to give there, then the spacing, then it gives the plant population that you are expecting. So these calculators are ready reckoners so that farmers can make the best use of this. And it helps them to take appropriate decision. So that is how the farmer is getting empowered.

Then ICAR Mushroom App, the name itself is self-explanatory, designed for mushroom growers, mushroom entrepreneurs and mushroom researchers as well as the students.

Goal of Application

So the goal is

• To popularize mushroom cultivation and its nutritional as well as medicinal values, so that it can become a very good alternative for nutrient supplement.
• Then to notify the interested mushroom entrepreneurs for mushroom training. So you can get the training calendar also related to mushroom.
• Then to promote crop advisory to mushroom growers. What are the precautions that he has to take and what are the options and opportunities that are available.
• To provide information about newly developed mushroom technologies by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research—Directorate of Mushroom Research.

So these are some of the benefits of making use of this mushroom app.

SMS Broadcast Service by KVK

Then sms based broadcast service by Krishi Vigyan Kendra. As you are already aware, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has a huge network of 700+ krishi vigyan kendras throughout the country, so which are registering the farmers with their mobile numbers and sending

• Weekly alerts on weather, disease forecasts and market information. So this makes and this empowers the farmer, because they are getting the information from the resource centers, the valid centers.
• Then alerts on important trainings and other programs through the farmer’s clubs, and self-help group networks under the Krishi Vigyan Kendra. So it provides various other information in addition to the weather as well as the disease forecast.
• It is an efficient tool to disseminate development to farmers and empower them to face the challenges of upcoming free market.

e-Dalhan Gyan Manch

Then coming to the e-Dalhan gyan manch.

• So which is the product of the Indian Institute of Pulse Research situated in Kanpur. So which is providing all the information about the pulse crops and every related aspect of pulse farming in the entire country. So this is a unified effort of the IIPR, Kanpur. So that they can provide all the information related to the pulse production and pulse marketing.
• The users can register themselves on this portal to get voice based mobile agro advisory services. So this is what is the unique feature of this e-Dalhan gyan manch.

KIRAN – Knowledge Innovation Repository of Agriculture in the North-East

KIRAN is another effort which is focusing on the North-Eastern part of India, which has a huge potential specially in case of horticulture crops and the untapped potential is there, but the government now is focusing on that particular part. So this KIRAN stands for (knowledge innovation repository of agriculture in the north-east). The objective of this KIRAN is,

• To create a knowledge and technology repository for the north-eastern region. So looking into the geographical area of the north-eastern region, which is hilly in nature and their cultural aspects and their religious aspects. There are number of variations from the mainland that we can say. And their needs are totally different from the rest of the country. So that is how there is a need to develop a separate repository for the north-eastern region.
• Then the second objective is to foster the linkage amongst the partners and collaborate with the State as well as the regional organizations. So that their network becomes more stronger, the linkages become more stronger.
• Act as a catalyst to strengthen the existing institutional capacity through convergence and networking.
• Then the next objective is to provide technology and development consultancy along with the details of technology dynamics and kinetics.
• Last objective is to develop programs for sustainable agricultural development in the region and provide support for future strategy formulation in research as well as extension.

With these objectives the KIRAN is moving ahead.

Expert System on Seed Spices

Then coming to the expert system on seed spices. The seed spices have the highest prices in the market and there is huge amount of international demand. So that is why the cultivation of seed spices is going to generate additional income for the farmer.

• So the expert system is providing the complete information about the seed spice production management in the entire country.
• It covers the important spices like the cumin, fenugreek, coriander, fennel, nigella, dill and ajowain.
• It advises on the basis of area, cultural and climatic conditions and other characteristics of the farmer interest, that gives you advice whether you should go for this crop and in what season you should go for this and all this advisories that you will be getting.
• Then it suggests the appropriate cultural practices like field preparation, fertilizer application, schedule of irrigation etc.
• Also this expert system guides on protecting seed crop from the insect, diseases, weeds etc etc.
• It also provides the solutions to the problems faced by the farmers through online queries. You can put your queries. There are experts who are delivering advises to you.

Conclusion

Then to conclude we can say that,

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research is the nodal agency for education, research and extension activities at the national level.
• It is taking up the job of knowledge generation, as well as its institutions are involved in technology dissemination.
• Innovations in methods of technology transfer is a continuous process. And ICAR is taking a lot of interest in this and they are coming out with lot of innovations as far as the technology dissemination are considered. Few of such examples we have already discussed and there are many such experiments that are going on, and many are in the pipeline also.

With this we will be closing this discussion on e- Extension initiatives of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. And in the next interaction, we will be talking about the e-Extension initiatives of State Agricultural Universities.

Thank You.