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Kisan Call Centre

Kisan Call Centers (KCCS) was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture to harness the potential of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Agriculture. The Project seeks to help farmers in addressing their queries through a telephone call, in their preferred dialect. As of now, these call centers are operational in 14 different locations across all the States and Union Territories. The farmers may contact them through mobile phones and landlines of all telecom networks, the response to which is provided in 22 local languages.

Scope and Objective

Kisan Call Centres (KCC) has proved to be handy in establishing a network of relationship among scientists, policy makers, extension workers, farmers and other stakeholders to exchange their views and make for a unique and revolutionary development of agriculture in the country. The initiative has been launched with the object of leveraging the extensive telecom infrastructure in the country, and providing extension services to the farming community for speedy transition of technology and providing the latest technical updates to farmers. The Call Centre is required to respond to issues raised by farmers in the local language, on a continuous basis.

Level of Operation

The Kisan Call Center comprises of three levels. A brief account of them is provided below:

Level I

This is the basic Call Center interface, which is equipped to address the queries of the farmers during all seven days of the week, from 6.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. Here, the call coming from the call center is picked up by an operator (level-I expert), who after a short welcome message collects the basic details of the farmer and his/her queries.

Operators posted in these centers would in most cases be an agricultural graduate with a rural background, who is proficient in the respective language.

Level II

This level comprises of Subject Matter Specialists, whose proficiency could be related to important crops and enterprises. The centers here function in all working days during work hours on a roster basis.

A Level II personnel is brought into the picture if a Level I person is unable to answer the question, as the call is then forwarded to the Subject Matter Specialist. In case of any inability to answer, there is a system to revert to the caller by post, fax, e-mail or telephone.

Level III

This group is installed to ensure ultimate answering and resolution to the queries of farmers which were not resolved at Level II, connected on offline mode. It comprises of a dedicated cell located at the Nodal office, Directorate of Jute Development, Kolkata, who would receive questions that have not been answered at the first and second levels.

Topics Covered

Following are the major topics handled by KCC experts:

• Disease and pest control for different crops grown in the region.
• Good agricultural practices, livestock management, fishery, etc.
• Plant pathology.
• Soil sciences.
• Animal husbandry.
• Best farming practices to be practised across the country.
• Crop-related information in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry aromatic plants, spices, plantation crops, cash crops, etc.
• Vermicompost, organic farming, etc.
• HYV seeds and nutrient management for various crops.
• Market-related information for various crops across the state.
• Farmer support programmes.
• Other information pertaining to agriculture that impacts farmers, farming practices, etc.

Information provided to farmers is categorized into three types, which includes information on pre-cultivation, cultivation and post-cultivation. Information on pre-cultivation includes information concerning field preparation, time and place of availability of HYV seeds, availability of fertilizers, training and orientation for the farmers when it comes to usage of best seeds, balanced use of pesticides and fertilizers, the quantity of water required for different crops, etc. Under the phase of Cultivation, the Center provides information concerned with pest and disease control, irrigation, government schemes, loan, etc. In the post cultivation phase, information is provided on the market, storage facilities, transportation, value addition, etc. The aforementioned information is sourced through backend data support systems which are inbuilt in the MIS system.

Registration

Farmers may contact KCC through a toll-free number (1800-180-1551). The registration of farmers is carried out through the Kisan Call Centre Agent, who collects and records personal details of the farmer in the Kisan Knowledge Management System (KKMS). The farmers are then asked to opt for either the text message or voice message mode for receiving information/advice. The preferred vernaculars include Hindi and English, while the regional language in Roman Script is provided as an option for handsets that don’t support Regional Language fonts (e.g. Kisan Ko Salah di jati hai). The farmer also has the option of limiting and selecting the scope of information required by him/her.

Web Registration

Famers with internet access may register through the portal or visit the nearest Common Service Center (CSC) to register with the assistance of a Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE).

SMS Registration

Farmers may also register by sending an SMS on 51969 or 7738299899. The format for the same is “KISAAN REG < NAME >, <STATE NAME >, <DISTRICT NAME>, and <BLOCK NAME>” (only first 3 letters of State, District & Block Names are needed).