This seems like a good way to help farmers in Haryana to get information that helps them, and that too without running around and chasing after some Government Babu who may not be too interested. Sometimes one wonders as to how Government departments are able to implement such innovative solutions, that too, which actually work and which can be used by people in the State, no matter where they reside:

Farmers in Haryana are SMSing a free government helpline to get solutions to their agro-problems. The government set up this trouble-shooting service in February, the first of its kind in the country. Farmers can contact senior officials of the agriculture department for advice. Even illiterate farmers are taking help of others in the family or neighbourhood to send SMSes.
Officials say it will take time to exploit such technology in the farm sector. They feel this service will go a long way to educate farmers once they get hooked to it. The department feels that farmers have been deprived of scientific advice as agriculture department officials and professors of agriculture universities have been unable to disseminate information to farmers in remote areas. Mobile technology is helping surmount these problems.

This can be really useful for farmers. If Indian agriculture can increase their productivity, it will enrich a lot of farmers and really drive up the rural economy, and bring about a change in the income level across the country. What really helps is that when such a service is implemented in one region, other regions make an effort to copy it and learn from the implementation.
In February, the Haryana Agriculture Department set up the totally free SMS service to reply to the problems and queries of the farmers. All the farmers need to do is send a text message to 9915862026 after which scientists and officials get in touch with the farmers through telephone. What’s best is that the farmers are contacted within 24-48 hours itself. Another good thing about the service is that the farmers do not experience any dent in their pockets whatsoever, as the telephone call costs is borne by the state government.
The Central government had also set up a toll free Kisan Call Centre. Level-I Call Centre for Haryana had been arranged 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 Department is offering further help through the process of computerization and automation of the field offices and had launched its website, www.agriharyana.nic.in.

The agriculture sector in the country faces several drawbacks. Wastage due to spoilage, large number of middlemen, bad condition of vegetable mandis, etc lead to an overall bad impression of the agriculture sector in the country. For the end-users, there is no easy to get re-assurance that they are getting good quality foods and vegetables; that their local vendor is not fleecing them (even a Re 1 markup over a sustained period of time can be a pretty large figure in the overall family’s budget, and especially for poor families). What is required for a lot more investment and improvement in the agricultural sector. Large retailers with their incorporation of direct contacts with farmers, providing tips and techniques for better cultivation, more cold storage for reducing spoilage is one way. Another measure that needs to be taken is the improvement of traditional vegetable markets in the country, with better information flow, more facilities, essentially measures that will help improve the lot of farmers as well as end-consumers. It seems like a measure is being taken in Ludhiana in Punjab in this regard, which is a great move:

After industry now it’s the turn of agriculture to record major advances in this ‘Manchester of India’. The construction of Punjab’s first ‘model vegetable market’ in the city spread over 55 acres has reached the final stages and will be completed at an investment of about Rs 70 crore. The first ‘model market’ will have 5 cold stores with 50 mt capacity.
To purify vegetables and fruits two machines with the latest technology will be installed in the market and 50 electronic boards displaying rates of major vegetable markets in the country will also be set up. “A whopping sum of Rs 70 crore would be invested on the modernisation of the Ludhiana vegetable market alone, while in rest of the state we will invest Rs 260 crore on revamping 124 markets.

This is a great move, and should help everybody. Agriculture is still the primary livelihood for a sizable section of the population of this country, as well as being a big part of the budget for poor families.