India | Innovations

Monsanto India to Offer Farmers Greater Agricultural Insights

Monsanto India today announced it is expanding its Monsanto Farm AgVisory Services (MFAS) in India.

6/5/2014

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Monsanto India today announced it is expanding its Monsanto Farm AgVisory Services (MFAS) in India. Through expanding its AgVisory service platform, Monsanto will offer agricultural advisory services to farmers across three states in India via an SMS mobile based platform, which includes real-time information on market prices, weather alerts and other relevant support services. Now, MFAS will be expanded to serve an additional 1.3 million local farmers, providing them access to more information about the many factors that affect the success of their crops and farming practices. 

Mike Frank, vice president of international row crops and vegetables for Monsanto, emphasized the company’s vision to collaborate with farmers around the world to help grow more food sustainably. “Continued improvement in farm management recommendations through the use of data science and information technology is important for agriculture around the world and can benefit all farmers, regardless of their farm size or farming methods,” said Frank. “Expanding our platform underscores our ongoing commitment to deliver new products and solutions that can provide smallholder farmers around the world with additional actionable information that can boost productivity and help manage risk.”

To expand services to farmers, Monsanto will offer service that provides daily mobile text messages to farmers, providing them with important data-driven insights that can be used to make informed decisions on market prices and weather. Monsanto India’s current advisory service portfolio will be enhanced to include these additional service offerings, and provide farmers with information advisories across the crop cycles.   

In 2010, recognizing mobile devices would be an ideal platform for delivering information to farmers in rural India, Monsanto launched a free service known at the time as Dr. DEKALB Farm Care to support farmers in the region. The service, now known as MFAS, offers a toll-free number that corn, cotton and vegetable farmers can call to speak directly with an agriculture advisor. Available 365 days a year, the service is a customized approach that provides farmers with immediate access to information on a variety of topics to help support their production efforts. From seed selection to land preparation to pest control and more, the service provides agronomy services in seven languages to farmers in 16 Indian states.

“I have in the past season, called Monsanto Farm AgVisory Services 21 times and have got timely help on pest, disease and weed control. I now use three less sprays and save Rs. 1500 – Rs. 2000,” says Basalingappa Hosamani, a farmer from Karnataka, India.

Push notifications which are customized messages on pre-sowing to harvesting, also are sent out to registered farmers on their cell phones throughout the season. Currently, Monsanto has more than 1 million farmers registered on its MFAS in India.