The Agriculture Department has launched SMS service to give instant information to farmers about weather forecasts and agriculture activities such as plant protection measures, fertiliser application and crop insurance.
The service has been launched through the farmers’ portal, using the Farm Crop Management System (FCMS), developed by the State Government, Joint Director of Agriculture N.V.Krishnamoorthi said.
The SMS service in Tamil, which was launched on an experimental basis last week, has received good response.
The farmers were sent 58 types of messages. Mobile phone numbers of 1.78 lakh farmers with the size of land holdings and pattern of crop cultivation have been stored in the FCMS, developed in partnership with IIT-Madras’ Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI).
