Haryana: SMS service for farmers becoming popular

Chandigarh, Aug 6 (UNI) Free-of-cost SMS service introduced by the Haryana Agriculture Department to answer the queries of the farmers on mobile is becoming popular.

A total of 1134 messages have been received and answered by the Department up to July-end, an official spokesman said here today.

The Haryana Agriculture Department, he said, was first in the country to have introduced such an innovative service wherein farmers could send their problems through SMS and get it get them resolved at the earliest.

Out of the total SMSs received, 829 were related to the problems of Agriculture, 273 Horticulture, 6 Fisheries, 17 Animal Husbandry and 9 Forests.

He said after receiving their messages, the farmers were contacted through telephone by the scientists and officials within 24 to 48 hours to answer their queries.

The service was being actively monitored by the Agriculture Department, he added.

For seeking solution on telephone, he said the farmers could also call the Toll Free Agriculture Helpline. This service was first started by the State Government in Ch Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar and then extended to Regional Research Centre, Uchani in Karnal and Bawal in Rewari.

Farmers could seek solutions of their problems on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Hisar and Bawal Centres between 1000 to 1200 hrs and on Tuesday and Thursday from Uchani Center between 1000 to 1100 hrs.

He said the expenditure on telephone calls was borne by the state government. This service was proposed to be extended to all week days.

Besides, the Central government had also started a toll free Kisan Call Centre. Level-I Call Centre for Haryana had been established at National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon with telephone number 1551. The level-II Centres of this service had been established at Directorate of Agriculture, Directorate of Horticulture, Panchkula and CCS Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar.

The farmers could avail the facility for seeking solutions to their problems directly from the scientists and officers. In addition, the Department was in the process of computerization and automation of the field offices and had launched its website, www.agriharyana.nic.in.

UNI