Text messages empower poor farmers

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas sees how poor Indian farmers are using business text messages to get better prices for their goods.

At the Khandova temple in Jhejuri it's festival time. The harvest is just in and it's time to celebrate. Thousands of farmers, dressed in white, come from across Maharashtra state to climb the steep hill up to the temple. With them are their wives wrapped in brightly coloured saris and children too.

Inside the temple handfuls of turmeric powder are showered over everything. People sing, dance, and pray for good fortune.

Two hundred and fifty million Indians rely on the land for their survival. But many live in real poverty. And in Maharashtra the suicide rate among farmers is high. So the pressing question for India is how to improve farmers' livelihoods.

Costs down

Standing in a grove of lush green banana trees I find Kapil Jachak. He's busy checking his mobile phone for text messages containing practical information for farmers.

It's a new service called Reuters Market Light, and he was one of the first to sign up in this area.

Read the full BBC article here.

More information on Reuters Market Light can be found in this article 'Empowering farmers through real time weather and price information: Reuters Market Light' on the Inclusive Business website.

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