Socio-economic impact of increased internet penetration on various stakeholders of Indian agriculture

Abstract

Information technology has been playing an important part in increasing the availability of inputs, better access to real-time information, and marketing of agricultural output. Use of drones, Online Mandi, Precision irrigation, Advisory services, Supply of agricultural inputs, Financing, Supply chain and Marketing of agricultural produce are some of the areas where both big players and startups are focusing on. The government is also focusing on digitization with online trading platforms like eNAM. India has over 227 million active users in rural areas, which is greater than the 205 million active users in cities as of November 2019 (Internet usage in rural India overtakes urban areas, 2020). There was an increase of 30 million internet users in Rural India between March 2019 and November 2019. The study tests the hypothesis that internet penetration among the farmers and other rural stakeholders has reduced the information asymmetry and has provided better opportunities in terms of financing, purchasing inputs, increasing farm productivity and improve profitability. The secondary research on different literature reviews revealed the extent of Internet Penetration in Rural India, Perception and Information needs of farmers towards Internet and technology and how intervention of government and Agri-tech Start-ups can help in increased socio-economic benefit of farmers. The study also focuses on the constraints faced by the farmers and the reasons why the adoption is very low. Personal interviews were done with farmers and Firm personnel (Agri-tech Start-ups) to understand the perception of both sides. A primary research was also done to analyse the social media pages of start-ups and the most subscribed YouTube channels for agriculture advisory. The primary and secondary research were analysed to find out five gaps in the Agriculture ecosystem – Knowledge, Strategy/Policy, Delivery, Communication and Customer Gaps.Then we proposed the way forward for Start-ups and Government in addressing those gaps to increase the efficiency of awareness and adoption of technological practices and Internet by the farmers, which in turn would help them achieve higher productivity and profitability.