Analysis of Kisan Mobile Advisory Service in South Western Punjab

Kisan mobile advisory service (KMAS) was launched for sending agricultural information through Short Message Service (SMS). The content of message was typed in Punjabi language by using English language alphabets and information related to agronomy of crops, insect pest control, horticulture, dairy farming and weather forecasting etc was sent to the end users. 150 farmers were randomly surveyed to know their reaction about the KMAS. Results of the survey showed that majority of the farmers found agricultural information in the form of SMS through mobile phone as useful (69.3%), comprehensible (74.7%) and timely (64.7%). About 15 per cent farmers who registered for KMAS did not utilize the availed service. About nine per cent of the users could not decode SMS due to language barrier. Lack of the interest of the beneficiary due to excessive length of the content was reported by 12.7 percent of the farmers.