In March 2008, the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) launched a project to leverage communication technology, in particular mobile telephony, to disseminate expert agricultural knowledge to small-scale farmers in rural India. The newly created business, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), is a joint venture between one of India’s largest retailer of agri-inputs (IFFCO) and Bharti Airtel, India’s largest integrated and first private telecom services provider.

In India, farmers in rural areas have little access to knowledge about farming practices, rural and agricultural services, crop and land management. IFFCO realized that it could build on its extended distribution network to provide access to expert information through mobile telephony services and thus promote access to ICT in rural India. IFFCO works with more than 40,000 cooperatives across the country, distributing fertilizers and other agro-inputs.

IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd (IKSL) manages the distribution of mobile phones, SIM cards, and information services to small farmers. The main innovation is the use of a sim card, called the green card, with a voice message platform to record content and send information to farmers through voicemail. When signing up to the IKSL service, farmers get access to: five daily messages  in their local language with crop and area specific information, a help line and interactive information services, all free of cost. The messages cover information in relation to agricultural market prices and arrivals, availability of fertilizers, electricity timings, early warning systems on disasters, weather forecast, best farming practices, local crops, education and upcoming training opportunities, plant and veterinary disease prevention, financing and insurance services and government schemes. The information is provided by a large network of partners including: IFFCO’s extension workers and agronomists, state and national research institutes, universities, and extension services.

After only one year, the service is already available across India (except for Jammu & Kashmir and North East). It has now over one and half million green card subscribers (adding more than 200,000 subscribers per month) who listen to five million daily messages and ask about  5000 queries a month.

The company has created direct employment for 1200 people at the national level (retailers, marketers, extension workers). An independent report asserted that farmers have been avoiding losses by reacting quickly to weather and disease information, yields have been increased by the adoption of new seed varieties and cultivation practices. Access to knowledge has provided farmers with a sense of empowerment through the improvement of their practices. For example, in Maharashtra, farmers rely on the IFKSL weather information to adjust their irrigation levels. This new service has also proven to be a great business model as a new revenue channel for the cooperatives that retail the handsets cards and airtime. It has also contributed to bring the digital world within reach for farmers and rural people.