Date:04/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/04/stories/2006010402121200.htm

Back Online platform for Kerala farmers soon

Vipin V. Nair

Kochi , Jan 3

FARMERS in Kerala's Malappuram district could soon sell their produce online through the State's e-Krishi platform as the ambitious project is set to take off by end of this month.

"We should be able to conduct transactions on e-Krishi platform by this month end," said Mr Roy Mathew, Head Technology of the Kerala State IT Mission, the agency spearheading the project.

In the first phase of e-Krishi, 61 people, who run Akshaya centres in Malappuram, had been roped in to act as e-Krishi's representatives, Mr Mathew said.

Akshaya is Kerala's e-literacy campaign, which was piloted in Malappuram. After the computer education drive, Akshaya centres now function as cyber cafes and e-payment centres for various government utilities.

These entrepreneurs will be the coordinates for their region's farmers. "These people already have a database of the farmers in their locality. So it is easier for them to bring the farmers into the e-Krishi platform," he said.

If a farmer wants to sell, for instance, areca nut, he can give the details to the Akshaya entrepreneur, who in turn, will put this up on the e-Krishi Web site. Farmers can also post their requirement of fertilisers and utensils on the site.

Sixty-one entrepreneurs were selected from 160 applicants, on the basis of their previous experience, connectivity of their centres and e-payment facility, Mr Mathew said.

"All these people are well versed with Internet and electronic payment," he said. They will charge a fee from the farmers for the service. This amount has not been fixed.

Each entrepreneur is expected to pull in 100 to 200 farmers from their respective areas, thereby creating a sizeable group in the first phase. "That will create a good enough volume for traders to come in," Mr Mathew said.

Those who log in to the e-Krishi site can obtain the exact location of each entrepreneur for any potential transaction. Some amount of traders' details has already been collected and more are expected to join once e-Krishi takes off.

With Akshaya project going State-wide, e-Krishi will also expand simultaneously to more districts.

Recently, the Kerala State IT Mission entered into an agreement with Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) to provide commodity price information on the e-Krishi platform.