Innovative Farming

ICT in Agriculture

Probably there is no country where agriculture has been commercialized without using modern information and communication technologies (ICT). ICT is the fundamental aspect of development for increasing agricultural production and productivity without degrading natural resources. Lack of timely flow of information has been identified as one of the main factors for low adoption of new technologies by farmers and entrepreneurs in Nepal.

Agricultural scientists of the South Asian countries including Nepal have developed several useful technologies in agriculture but in most of the cases, they are confined within the fences of the research centers. There are limited communication facilities to communicate such research findings to the farmers. But fruits of agricultural research cannot be harvested unless there is an information technology in place to communicate to the scientists, policy makers, and most of all, the farmers. 

Nearly 80 percent Nepali people reside in rural areas whose chief source of livelihood is agriculture. But access to communication networks is much more limited there. Rural areas have scattered settlements, villages and towns, which can be hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest major urban center. 

According to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority MIS May 2012 report, the total voice telephony subscribers including PSTN and mobile are 16,350,946 which give the penetration rate of 61.42 percent. The mobile service alone accounts for 64.63 percent of the total penetration rate. These days we find extensive use of mobile service among commercial farmers and traders for communicating price information.

Internet penetration is estimated to be about 10 percent in Nepal. Information sharing through internet service among scientists and extension workers is only possible in central, regional and district levels.

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Adapted from Republica