TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MASSES

Thomson Reuters Mobile Info Service for Indian Farmers

It has expanded its service for India's agricultural community in the Punjab state. Reuters Market Light, which provides commodity prices, crop and weather data via mobile phone, is adopted by over 3,000 subscribers in Punjab. 

According to Thomson Reuters, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal inaugurated the service that provides information on 17 crops/commodities including varieties in 60 Mandis (local term for agricultural markets) spread across the state of Punjab.  

It has already got 60,000 subscriptions for this service in Maharashtra, another Indian state. 

Now, Thomson Reuters plans to expand to a third Indian state by the end of 2008.  

"RML provides crucial customised agricultural information to help farmers maximise their productivity and increase their returns,” says Amit Mehra, managing director of Reuters Market Light (RML) at Thomson Reuters. 

In Punjab, RML will provide customized and localized information to farmers to help them make informed decisions. The information is sent via text messaging in Punjabi language. The RML service is independent of mobile operators and handsets. RML has signed a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with Punjab Mandi Board for sourcing market data from Mandis across the state.  

The service offers daily weather updates for the next 24 hours and covers: minimum temperature, maximum temperature, probability and precipitation of rainfall and relative humidity. Farmers can plan inter-cultural operations accordingly as the weather forecasts address the production risk.  

Price updates and arrival information of select commodities from the regulated markets in the state. Farmers can subscribe for two commodities and receive market data from three markets of their choice. They can change the markets on demand according to specific needs. This helps farmers decide where and when to sell their produce.  

Presently, RML is covering 17 crops including varieties: cotton, maize, paddy (Basmati and PUSA), wheat, potato, cabbage, pea, cauliflower, green chilli and kinnow. It provides market data on these crops from 60 markets across the state.  

Crop Advisory Tips are sourced from the Indian Council for Agriculture Research and Punjab Agricultural University.  

The service also provides news related to agriculture, state government schemes, price trends and commodity movements.

As mobile subscriptions are increasing in India, many tech players are actively eyeing mass markets. Thinking that farmers’ community holds great potential, recently Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global tech outsourcing organization in India, also introduced a mobile based crop-advisory service, mKrishi. It aims to help rural farmers throughout India have better access to information through a cell phone application.  

Last month (Sept. 2008) The Wall Street Journal, a leading business publication, had selected TCS's mKrishi service as the winner of its 2008 Technology Innovation Award in the wireless technology category.