IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), a subsidiary of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), which entered into an agreement with Airtel to provide mobile tele-services to the rural farmers, has distributed SIMs to around 1.5 lakh peasants in Orissa so far.
As per the agreement, IKSL will sell Airtel SIMs under the name Green SIM to the farmers who will receive at least five SMS every day advising them on various agro-related issues.
IKSL aimed to sell 12,000 to 15,000 SIMs of different denominations every month in the state. But it has been able to sell around 10,000 SIMs every month, said a senior officer of the IKSL.
IKSL was launched with an aim to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) to empower farmers in the rural villages and strengthen the cooperative network across the country. It started its business in Orissa from April, 2008
The IFFCO has 72.99 percent stake in the company with Rs 3.65 crore investment. The paid-up share capital of IKLS was Rs 5 crore by the end of March 31, 2008.
The SMS sent to the farmers by the company related to timely advice on different crops, horticulture, aquaculture etc, said the state manager of the IKLS, N. Behura.
“Besides the agro-related messages, we send SMS on different government programmes for the farmers through the mobile telecom service”, he said. The price of recharge vouchers of the Green SIM is same as the vouchers of Airtel. “We are not taking any extra price for the special SMS to the farmers” he said. The IKSL has also made arrangement to answer queries of the farmers through a a toll-free number (534351). Different agriculture experts answer these queries, he said.
