The farmers of a couple of Indian states – West Bengal and Punjab – can now challenge their counterparts in developed nations on the technology front. These farmers from the border states of India can use their mobile phones to receive weather updates through SMS. The technology is offered by the Kanpur based Ingen technologies and soon going to spread over the service to other staes too. The Indian Meteorological Department has certified the system.

But the point is whether the farmers are catching up fast on worldwide phenomenon of mobile phone technology. The availability of services has to go hand in hand with the availability of mobile phones to the farmers. Otherwise, It is quite pointless offering these services. India is changing and the change reflects the development of rural society too.

Several Indian movies have portrayed the Indian farmers as victims of inconsistent monsoons in India. Gone are the days when over-view shots reeled the ever-anticipating village crowd looking at the sky praying to the almighty for few droplets of rain.

The application can help the farmers in better understanding of different farming aspects like crop planning, scheduling, tracking, and forecasting. Rather than looking at the sky, these farmers can now check the messages on their mobile phones for updates on temperature, humidity and rainfall with additional information on atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, wind speed and soil moisture. X

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