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digitalGREENhttp://www.digitalgreen.org
Agriculture in India600M agriculture-dependent lives
Majority small landholders (<3 acres)
<$2 a day ($750 a year)
Growing debts ($300 per year per farmer)
Earlier technology intervention…– Green revolution had mixed results
• Increased yields, but…• Led to rising input costs, declining soil
fertility• Due to excessive use of
fertilizers/pesticides
Indiscriminate use of technology partially responsible for current agrarian crisis
A farmer from Yellachavadi village,outside of Bangalore
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Agricultural Systems?
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Poor roads
Credit card
Computing device and connectivity not enough!
farmer expert
Quantity buyersPoor quality
control
Market
44
Agriculture Extension
Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers
“Training & Visit” extension popularized by the World Bank in 1970s
– Face-to-face interactions of extension officers and farmers
100,000 extension officers in India– Extension agent-to-farmer ratio is
1: 2,000– 610,000 villages in India with
average 1,000-person population
Typical extension officer salary isRs. 4,000 per monthExtension officer “commuting” between farms
IT & Indian Agriculture
• Kiosks with Internet access
for farmers
• aAqua– Pull-based Question and Answer Krithi Ramamritham, IIT Mumbai
• eSagu – Push-based Expert Review of Digital Photos Krishna Reddy, IIIT Hyderabad
6
?
Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005)
Agricultural Social Networks
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77
How can the speed and effectiveness of agriculture extension be improved at a reasonable cost?
The Problem
Extension officer on-field demonstration
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Video provides…– Resource-savings: human, cost, time– Accessibility for non-literate farmers
Digital Video for Extension
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Six months in field trying various combinationsOver 200 days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative design
Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination,
Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc.
Background of actors in video, Types of content, Location and timing of screening, Method of dissemination,
Degree of mediation, Background of mediator, etc. 9
Early ExperimentationParameters VariedEarly Experimentation
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Participatory Content Production
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Digital Green System
Introduction to innovations– Standard extension
procedure
Rough “storyboarding”– Repetitive pattern; easy to
learn– Minimize post-production
Local farmers on their own fields– Reduce perception of
“teachers”– Promote “local stars”
1111
Digital Green System
Video Database
Online video database (http://www.digitalgreen.org)
>500 videos of 8-10 minutes each
Quality-control, minor video editing, and metadata tagging
Indexed by type, topic, locale, season, crop, etc.
Distributed via DVD
1212
Digital Green System
Mediated Instruction
Local mediator– Performance-based honorarium
Human engagement– Field questions, capture feedback,
encourage participation– Balance genders
On-demand screenings – Choice time and place– Not “stand-alone” kiosk
Support and monitoring – Daily metrics and feedback– Official extension staff
1313
Digital Green System
Structured Sequencing
Group Participation
Practices with longer-term
visible rewards
Practices with short-term
visible rewards
Community Assessment
Audience
Awareness
Season
Location
Time
1414
Digital Green System
1. Participatory content production
2. Video database
3. Mediated instruction
4. Structured sequencing
15
21 villages in Karnataka:– Language: Kannada– Crops: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut– Population: 50-80 households– Irrigation: 10-20 households with access– Television: 15-20 households
Metrics:– Knowledge: Before-and-after– Attendance: Farmers at each screening– Interest: Intent to take-up a practice– Adoption: Number of households taking up
each new farming practice or technology
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Experimental Set-UpPreliminary Evaluation
ExpertExpert
Extension Officer
Extension Officer
Farming Community
Farming Community
Farming Community
Research Assistant
Local Mediator Local Mediator Local Mediator
Poster Green(3)Same as Digital Green with local mediator, but no TV/DVDMediator makes posters and holds regular group sessions
Classical GREEN (8)Same as usual
Digital Green (9)3 sessions per weekCost:
Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD per villagePC / camera costs sharedExtension officer sharedMediator salary
Accountability:Daily metrics and feedbackOfficial extension staff
15-month study
Audio Green (1)Same as Poster Green withMP3 audio tracks from videos
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7 times more adoptions over classical extension
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15 months: 13 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars
Sustained local presence
Mediation
Repetition (and novelty)
Integration into existing extension operations
Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer
Desire to be “on TV”
Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos
Digital Green: Early Results
Apr-
07
Jun-
07
Aug-
07
Oct
-07
Dec-
07
Feb-
08
Apr-
08
Jun-
08
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Classic GREENDigital GreenPoster GreenAudio Green
Adop
tion
Rate
(%)
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System Cost (USD)/Village/Year
Adoption (%) /Village/Year
Cost/Adoption (USD)
Classical GREEN $840 11% $38.18
Digital Green $630 85% $3.70
Poster Green $490 59% $4.15
Cost-Benefit
17
Note: Decreasing amortized cost of hardware with time and scale
Digital Green is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than classical extension!
$200 $100
19 1
2
3
Network Effect
Viral Web 2.0 in the Web-less world - Content ecosystem: education, entrepreneurship, entertainment - Cost-realistic access: pico projectors, TVs, DVD players, and camcorders
Reinforce existing social networks to diffuse innovations through communities
Local “idol” competitions to be a better farmer
Digital Green System
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>650M Farm-dependent
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PlatformDigital Green System
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Cloud-based central databaseSynchronized with local databases
Online Offline (no/low connectivity)
Browser-based inputData stored in local database
Synchronized when connectivity available
COCODigital Green System
www.digitalgreen.org/tech
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Platform
Robust system to share, track, and analyse data to manage operations and target interventions over time
Analytics dashboard built on top of a simple yet robust dataentry system that can toggle between online and offline connectivity modes
Digital Green System
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http://www.digitalgreen.org/
Offline mode 10x faster than online
100,000 simultaneous offline users
AnalyticsDigital Green System
analytics.digitalgreen.org
Non-Non-Profit Digital Green
Digital Green’s value to farmers is established.
Could DG be supported by ads?
Advertisers get access to a distributed, captive audience with demonstrated interest in better agriculture.
Ads follow Digital Green’s distribution channels.
To do: – Scale Digital Green– Devise mechanism for ensuring
appropriate ads– Quantify ad effectiveness– Quantify ad value to advertisers
Digital Green DVD title screen
Subsidize agriculture extension with ads?
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VARRAT
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Over three years, improve the cost-effectiveness of the existing people-based extension systems of our partners by a factor of 3-times, per dollar spent, to improve the livelihoods of 60,000 smallholder farmers in 1,200 villages in India.
Digital Green 2.0
33
Thanks!http://www.digitalgreen.orgteam@digitalgreen.org
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