First, Siddheshwar Nalavade wants to recharge his SIM. Only after he has topped it up for Rs 30 does he sit down to discuss how the card, inserted in the cheap Samsung handset he owns, has changed his life.
Nalavade, 23, dropped out of school after Class X. He has been taking care of his family's land for the last five years. The family owns around 17 acres, but cultivates only a third of the area. It grows turmeric, grape, soybean, wheat and jowar. His father, Rajaram, and uncle, Machindra, work side by side with Siddheshwar.
Earlier, the family was helpless against the vagaries of nature. But in 2009 Nalavade bought an IFFCO (or Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative) Kisan Sanchar SIM card, (or IKSL card) now priced at Rs 12. "We get weather inputs that tell us what fertilsers and pesticides we need to use," says Nalavade. "For instance, last Thursday I got an audio message saying that it could rain in the next three days. It was suggested that we change the fungicide we use for grapes. That was very helpful." He gets such five such messages free of cost every day. If he wants to hear the message more than once, he can listen to the messages more than once at 50 paise per minute and he can even call the helpline if he has any further queries. (
Video: Siddheshwar Nalavade on the benefits of IKSL card)
IKSL was co-founded by fertiliser industry veteran Ranjan Sharma in 2007 and has Bharti Airtel, a stakeholder, as the sole service provider. It has a clientele of 11.5 million farmers.
Reuters Market Light, mKrishi by TCS and Qualcomm's Fisher Friend also offer similar services.
Thanks to IKSL, the yield on the half-acre on which Nalavade cultivates turmeric, rose to 14 quintals in 2010 from 10 quintals in 2009. "I sold them for Rs 9,500 a quintal. IKSL has helped me fulfil a dream I have had for years. I wanted to prepare one more acre for cultivation for my father and uncle. With the money I got from turmeric and grapes, I was able to do so," he says.
The mobile revolution has definitely reached India's hinterland. Even those who never owned a fixed-line telephone are now connected through mobiles. Rural India is estimated to have over 200 million active subscribers, nearly a third of the figure for the entire country, and the number is growing at a steady clip. A farmer can now use his mobile phone at every stage of the agricultural chain - from sourcing inputs to selling his produce.
Sharma, who is now on the board of IKSL though not in an executive role, says there is much more mobile telephony can do for farmers. "With cheaper smart phones and 3G, it can bring them video, instead of audio, messages which reduces the chances of miscommunication," he says.
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