The government of India will launch an SMS portal, the Kisaan SMS Portal, for farmers on www.farmer.gov.in tomorrow (July 16, 2013). The portal will allow sending information, advisories and services through SMS to more than 12 crore farmers across the country. The government will group farmers based on their location and their preferred crop/activity. These farmers will receive timely updates in their local language from officers of various departments, experts, and scientists in research institution and in field. To use the service, farmers need to register by calling Kisaan Call Center on the toll free number 1800-180-1551 or through the web portal. Farmers will also be able to opt for SMSes customized to their specific requirements. It's not clear whether the service is free of cost for farmers or it's a subscription based service. The government says that the SMS sent to farmers will include information on crop production & marketing, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, weather conditions, advisories on disease/pest outbreak, advisories on best practices, among others. The Kisaan SMS Portal competes with Behtar Zindagi, a mobile based service launched by Bharti Airtel which leverages interactive voice response (IVR) to communicate information such as weather updates, mandi rates, live stocks, agriculture, fisheries, health, education and finance. IMI Mobile also has a competing voice based rural information service called Cell Shakti. Previously, Tata communications offered its subscribers Nano Ganesh, a product which allows farmers to use mobile phones to remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pumps used for watering crops in remote locations. TCS has also developed MKrishi, a mobile based service delivery platform…
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