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Mobile services to boost farm income by Rs 56,000 crore: Vodafone Report

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VoicenData Bureau
New Update
bangladesh

NEW DELHI: Mobile services have the potential to boost the farm gate incomes of seven crore Indian farmers by over Rs 56,000 crore in 2020, a Vodafone report said.

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The Vodafone report, based on research commissioned from Accenture Strategy with support from the Vodafone Foundation, has found that the average farming household lives on less than Rs 250 per day and simple mobile services could enhance earnings of almost two thirds of such farmers by an average of Rs 8,000 per year, creating a positive impact in communities.

The Connected Farming in India report was released by Raghav Chandra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, at a conference organised by Assocham on the potential of mobile to transform agricultural value chains for enabling e-Kranti.

On the occasion, Minister of State for Agriculture, Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya said: “Agriculture is the principal source of livelihood for more than 58% of our population. So for India to prosper, it is vital that the sector prospers and the benefits reach the small and marginal farmers. This government is committed to connecting our farmer brothers on the information highway and bringing to them the advantages of latest technology advances.”

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Vodafone also announced the expansion of its Farmers’ Club initiative in six countries, including ‘KisaanMitr’ in India and its equivalents in other emerging markets –Ghana, Kenya, New Zealand and Tanzania-over the coming year and in Turkey where it has been operational since 2009 and has already benefitted 1.2 million farmers.

The Vodafone Farmers’ Club is a social business model which offers a range of mobile services to help farmers boost productivity. Specific services offered under the Farmers’ Club in each country will vary but will include information services, virtual marketplaces in which farmers can sell their produce and mobile money financial services and products.

Sunil Sood, MD and CEO, Vodafone India, said, “The basis for the next green revolution in India will be a “knowledge revolution”, and technology, particularly mobile, will play a key role in driving it. Today, 46% of people in rural areas have a mobile phone and access to mobile services among those yet unconnected is growing rapidly.”

“This offers a new channel for delivering agricultural services and an opportunity to engage rural communities in new ways. We are committed to leveraging our learning and reach to create and deliver newer business models that will benefit the entire agriculture value chain.”

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