Agriculture through SMS

Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan. Half of the population’s direct source of income is agriculture. Agriculture is facing a lot of problems nowadays, which is resulting in increase in poverty ratio every year. We have first investigated the complete lifecycle of farming and have tried to find solutions to the problem faced by the farmer throughout the lifecycle. The communication gap between farmers and agricultural information providers is the actual problem. Taking maximum advantages of technology we therefore need to develop a platform where farmers and agricultural information providers can communicate with much more ease as compared to typical communication methods. The most convenient system can be of proper utilisation of the medium of mobile phone through SMS. The system has the functionality of automated query response feature which is very useful for the farmers. It is so encouraging to know that the Punjab Directorate of Agricultural Information has also launched this programme.
Most of the agriculture based countries especially in South Asia region are promoting and effectively utilising SMS Agriculture Information Services to keep their farmers updated and properly advised. This service is also working effectively in other countries like Kenya, South Africa, Thailand and India.
In order to make the system effective a translation module should also be included, making it easier to translate the common terminologies into local language in day to day farming. It is therefore believed that the success of implementation and management of this system will ultimately bring a viable change not only in farming applications but also it will help in maximising the yields of our crops.