Abstract:
There is no dispute on the fact that the agriculture sector of the country should march forward
abreast of emerging technologies and the global trends. Introducing and promoting products
and services based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a remedy to uplift
the standards and productivity of the agricultural sector. Numbers of attempts have been made
by varying individuals, working groups and organizations by introducing ICT solutions to the
agricultural sector in Sri Lanka. However, due to the lack of communication between
aforementioned parties and the absence of well-defined standards, the occurrence of repetition
of the same project, partially build projects, or abandoned projects is unavoidable. Moreover, the
penetrations of these systems into the 27% of the population engaged in the agricultural sector
appear to be limited mainly due to two factors: 1) In most cases, there is no direct reward to the
user and 2) low degree of trust on the product, the technology, the provider of the product or the
technology, or the mode of conveyance of the product or the technology to the end user. Any
product that does not overcome the above limitations will not penetrate into the target segment
of the community, even with adequate awareness campaigns. Therefore, we find that the
strategies adopted in penetrating these solutions should be selected strategically and
meticulously. Through this write-up, we wish to share our thoughts on the prospects of injecting
ICT solutions into the agriculture of the country.
Selecting the target groups
In most of the discussions regarding the development of the ICT and networking solutions,
farmers are the focal point while the market side lies on the other end. Some solutions such as
advisory services focus on the extension officers. It is our opinion that, before the farmers are
drawn to the ICT solutions, the middle level personnel such as extension officers and the market
middlemen should be drawn in. Main reason is that they possess the technical knowhow to use
the solutions and has the access to the communication media than farmers. Further, they
interact with the farmers than anyone else in the system and, the chances of the solution being
gradually transferred to the farmers over the time are high.
Give-away than receiving at the early stages (focusing on extension level personnel)
At the early stages of the system development, the incentives for using the system should be
focused. The solution should provide certain essential services at hand. For example, applying
leave from duty, the delivery of monthly salary slip, meeting schedules and facilities for excuses
can be given. These services would build a bond between the system and the users and, the
system becomes indispensable component in their day-to-day life. The rest of the features can
then be introduced gradually.
Rewards for using the system (focusing on extension level personnel and other
government officers)
The usage data of the system could be used to assign points for the awards, career progression
and so forth. For instance, the number of advisory/consultation sessions conducted, number of
issues raised in the forums, number of advisory services sought can be taken.
Give a chance to build a name in the sector
It is by nature that people tend to build a name for them among the peers or the society. Provide
a chance in the system to earn reward points that are openly visible to the rest of the users in the
system. The users would definitely turn to the people with higher ratings (E.g. Seller rating
systems in online markets). There could be fake personalities at the beginning and, the users will
decide their fate over the time.
Further studies on the psychological aspects of the local users
Most of the application development environments use the pre-built components in system
development. For example, the icons in interfaces, how the system is launched, color
combinations and so forth. In-detailed studies should be conducted to evaluate the aspirations of
the local users and their cultural and social background.
Kiosks to deliver services
Fool-proof, attractive and user-friendly Kiosks placed in farmer gathering places such as farmer
community meeting places, office of the agricultural extension officers, farmer markets and
hangouts etc., could enable the farmers to explore it as groups rather than individuals. The
programs delivered through the unit could be articulately developed to attract the users to the
unit on regular basis.
Use a reputed channel as the mode of conveying the product
Reputation of any product can be reinforced by selecting a correct reputed marketing channel.
This will allow the product to penetrate rapidly into the target segment with low promotional
cost. In the case of ICT based applications, integration with the telecommunication sector or
reputed farming equipment distributor could open a trusted mode of conveying the product or
the technology.