IT in agriculture
Also called: ICT for rural development · Topic: Rural Development: Diversification, Allied Sectors and Organic Farming · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Rural Development"
Meaning
IT in agriculture means using information technology to help farmers and rural areas. It can give early warning of food insecurity, meaning a risk that people will not get enough food, so the government can act in time. It also shares information on technology, prices, weather and soil, and it can create rural jobs. There is broad agreement that IT can be critical for sustainable development. However, IT is "by itself, no catalyst of change". It is a tool that releases knowledge already present in society.
Example
ITC e-Choupal (2000) gave farmers price information through village internet kiosks. Kisan Call Centres (2004) and Soil Health Cards (2015) came next. The Digital Agriculture Mission (2024) is building AgriStack, which includes a farmer registry, a crop-sown registry and geo-referenced village maps.