Lok Sabha Question No. 2438 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-06
Subject: Kisan Call Centre in Anantapur District
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri G Lakshminarayana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## L O K   S A B H A UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2438

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  AUGUST, 2024

## Kisan Call Centre in Anantapur District

2438. SHRI G LAKSHMINARAYANA

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

Question: (a) the number of calls received from farmers in the Anantapur district by the Kisan Call Centre (KCC) and the types of queries most frequently addressed during the last three years; (b) the  details  of  the  support  and  advisory  services  provided  to  farmers  in Anantapur  district  through  the  KCC,  including  information  on  crop  cultivation, pest management, market prices, weather forecasts, and Government schemes; (c) the measures taken to ensure the quality and accuracy of information provided to farmers in Anantapur district through the KCC; (d) the impact of KCC on farming practices and productivity in Anantapur district, including  documented  improvements  in  crop  yields,  pest  management,  and farmers' awareness of Government schemes; and (e) whether there are  any specific  challenges  faced  in  the  implementation  of  the

- KCC in Anantapur district, and if so, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a)  &  (b):  Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  launched  'Kisan  Call Centres'  (KCCs)  Scheme  on  January  21,  2004  to  harness  the potential of Information  and  Communication  Technology  (ICT)  in  Agriculture  by  answering farmers' queries in 22 official languages on a telephone call in their own language. These call centres are working in 17 different locations in the country covering all the States and UTs including Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh State. A countrywide common eleven-digit Toll Free Number 1800-180-1551 has been allotted for Kisan Call Centre. This number is accessible through mobile phones and landlines of all telecom networks including private service providers. Kisan Call Centre services are available from 06.00 AM to 10.00 PM on all seven days of the week at each KCC location.  Kisan  Call  Centre  agents  known  as  Farm  Tele  Advisors  (FTAs),  are graduate or above (i.e. PG or Doctorate) in Agriculture or allied sectors (Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Poultry, Bee-Keeping, Sericulture, Aquaculture, Agricultural  Engineering,  Agricultural  Marketing,  Bio-Technology,  Home  Science, etc.)  and  possess  excellent  communication  skills  in  respective  local  language. Queries which cannot be answered by FTAs are transferred to higher level experts. These  experts  are  Subject  Matter  Specialists  (SMSs)  of  State  Departments  of Agriculture (SDAs), ICAR  Institutes, KVKs  and  State  Agricultural Universities (SAUs). The details of calls answered during last 3 years are as under:

(calls in number)

| Sl. No.   | Year    |   Farmers' calls answered in the country |   Farmers' calls answered in Andhra Pradesh State |   Farmers' calls answered in Anantapur District |
|-----------|---------|------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | 2021-22 |                                  4580898 |                                            149294 |                                           16753 |
| 2.        | 2022-23 |                                  3352922 |                                             70451 |                                           15260 |
| 3.        | 2023-24 |                                  3402150 |                                            114130 |                                           15787 |
|           | Total   |                                 11335970 |                                            333875 |                                           47800 |

The details of most frequently asked queries by the farmers from Anantapur District during the last 3 years are as below:

(calls in number)

|   Sl. No. | Subjects of most frequently asked queries                   |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |   Total |
|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|
|         1 | Weather related information                                 |      9209 |      8394 |      9135 |   26738 |
|         2 | Plant Protection- Disease & Pest Management                 |      3284 |      2738 |      2658 |    8680 |
|         3 | Nutrient Management                                         |      1171 |      1242 |      1176 |    3589 |
|         4 | Government Schemes related information                      |      1297 |       520 |       398 |    2215 |
|         5 | Cultural Practices                                          |       346 |       405 |       459 |    1210 |
|         6 | Market Information                                          |       283 |       396 |       499 |    1178 |
|         7 | Sowing Time and Weather of area specific crops              |       208 |       271 |       327 |     806 |
|         8 | Fertilizer Use and Availability                             |       227 |       240 |       268 |     735 |
|         9 | Weed Management                                             |       182 |       193 |       144 |     519 |
|        10 | Seeds                                                       |       115 |       197 |       143 |     455 |
|        11 | Varieties of different agricultural and horticultural crops |       105 |       162 |       153 |     420 |

- (c)  All  the  Farm  Tele  Advisors  (FTAs)  working  at  Kisan  Call  Centres  are  graduate  or above  (i.e.  PG  or  Doctorate)  in  Agriculture  or  allied  sectors.  Pre-seasonal  trainings before Kharif  and  Rabi  are  provided  to  all  FTAs  in  State  Agriculture  Universities  and ICAR  Institutes  for  updating  the  knowledge  for  providing  contextually  relevant  and customized technical solutions to the queries of farmers related to agriculture and allied subjects.  The  Farm  Tele  Advisors  refer  the  portal  Kisan  Knowledge  Management System (KKMS), repository of information on agriculture and allied subjects maintained by Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) and websites and published materials of India Metrological Department (IMD), Marketing Division (Agmarknet), State Agricultural Universities (SAU), Krishi  Vigyan  Kendras  (KVK)  etc., for providing information to the farmers on weather, market and technical aspects related to cropping

practices.  The  calls  are  100%  recorded  and  quality  of  calls  are  being  audited  and monitored by KCC Managers and KCC Supervisors on daily basis, by listening to the FTAs call recordings and guiding them further, if required. (d)  An  impact  assessment  study  was  conducted  during  2019-20  in  the  country  on random sample survey basis and it was found that over 85 percent of the farmers found the services of the KCC are very useful.  Around 40 percent of the farmers confirmed that  they  saved  money  after  using  the  information  received  from  KCC  in  their  farm operations. (e) Queries of farmers from Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh State are answered from the Kisan Call Centre at Hyderabad and no specific challenge has been observed in answering the calls from the famers.

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