Stay connected to yield more

Direct Video Assisted Redressal is a user-friendly interactive communication bridge between farmers and scientists that can bring a change in the farming sector in Uttarakhand, say experts:

Anjali Nauriyal

Agriculture will always be expected to generate rich dividends for Uttarakhand. Yet with each passing year, hurdles resulting from illiteracy and lack of technology need to be overcome using innovative measures. Farmers need knowledge and know-how inputs from time to time, but they are hardly computer savvy and are mostly at a loss as to how to reach out to experts and scientists. While a farmer may not be able to read or write, he still needs to interact.

In this regard what can come to the help of farmers is the latest technology developed especially for farmers called the Direct Video Assisted Redressal (DVAR). This is an interactive real-time communication bridge between the farmers and scientists. It is a blend of various technologies such as VC, VOD and OLVM that provide an interactive platform to farmers to solve their day-to-day problems.

Uttarakhand being a hilly state can make use of this technology most fruitfully, observes Dr. Anil Joshi of HESCO. "DVAR, I believe, has just three buttons to interact with; this is what makes its use easy. It is easy to understand without any barrier of language and will help farmers to solve their day-to-day problems by giving them a format through which they can interact with various agricultural departments. Importantly it can also help the government to create awareness and disseminate information through its various departments. This will help them to also create awareness and participate actively in the development process. It can also be very handy to private companies to advertise to target populace," states Joshi, who has been working for years to address some of the major problems of the farmers in the state.

DAVR also comes with many advantages for scientists. Scientists can now spend more time on research and not on the fields. They can provide individual video instructions to farmers and create a farmers pool for their research in order to reduce yield margin between research and field production. In the way motivated farmers can be encouraged to contribute to the development process of the state.

Vinita Shah of the Organic Commodity Board remarks that DAVR would be advantages even for the government. Firstly it can create awareness about its various schemes and policies. Further benefits of the internet can be made available to a larger population of our mountainous state breaking down language and technology barriers.

It is learnt that central funds in Uttarakhand were returned without utilization in the last financial year. These could have been utilised for DVAR had the government been more proactive and followed the successful example of other states in making use of this technology effectively.

Scientists at the GB Pant Agricultural University are fully convinced about the effectiveness of DAVR. But the VC, Dr. V.S. Bist, asserts, "Yes, certainly we should go ahead in using newer and more effective technologies. But the mindset in general is not ready to accept new technologies. Anything new we tend to adopt late as a result of this mental block and as a result development is sluggish.

For instance, the smart class room technology is old but we are not ready to use it. DAVR we can begin on a limited scale to begin with. We have started an international school this July where we have a certain flexibility of funds and we can try out anything new."

A close study of the DAVR reveals that it would benefit illiterate users who need not be acquainted with government hierarchy or know computer. Above all, they do not need to have any reading and writing skills.

Dr Joshi affirms the fact and adds, "What our farmers require is quick and scientific answers to be more productive and make use of the government policies through timely information. If we look at other technologies available, we can see the DAVR advantage.

Mobile phones require both parties to be present and a huge number of scientists and farmers can prove to be very inconvenient. Emails, web chats and internet require computer knowledge. Broadcasting TV is one way communication. Video conferencing requires both parties to be present. DAVR therefore offers an easy option as it makes use of a mix of technologies. It has options for leaving messages and asking for live help. They can ask for soil health cards which they can get through printouts.

They can also get weather reports and advisory services and get short messages from the government etc.