Design and evaluation of mobile technology in agriculture - Empower farmers to get fair price for their produce
Vijayasekar, Nirmal (2018)
Vijayasekar, Nirmal
2018
Information Technology
Tieto- ja sähkötekniikan tiedekunta - Faculty of Computing and Electrical Engineering
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2018-04-04
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201802231308
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201802231308
Tiivistelmä
Agriculture is the foundation of human endeavors. It is the basis of human civilization and most of the human activities are based on agriculture. It is also one of the oldest occupations of man. However, it is also often overlooked. Today agriculture is riddled with problems. Scientific research, in an effort to solve the problems, are directed towards agricultural sector. These scientific researched methods and tools reach capable farming communities who can afford it. The agricultural sector is diverse and includes multi-national companies, large landowners and small landholders. Small landholders are farmers who own less than 2 acres of land, produces 80% food consumed in developing countries. Due to limited resources at their disposal, the small farmers are separated from access to resources, tools, and knowledge.
Mobiles phones are fast growing and increasingly becoming cheaper to own and operate. Smartphones have revolutionized our way of living. But due to the limitations in literacy, awareness and high cost of existing services, small-farmers seldom use smartphones to its full potential in agriculture. This limit the usefulness of mobile phones, reducing it to make and receive calls. There is a gap between perceived usefulness and actual use of mobile phones. This leads to small farmers missing out opportunities offered by other markets and are vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen. This thesis explores the possibility of creating a mobile service, that can fill in the gap created by illiteracy, cost, and availability of reliable information to small farmers.
This thesis proposes a mobile application that farmers can use through smartphones to get agriculture related information through peer-to-peer information sharing. The design for the proposed service will be usable by small farmers with minimum literacy and no prior experience using a smartphone. Additionally, the small farmers are regularly exploited by middle-men due to the farmer's lack of knowledge on the market price information. The need for up-to-date information on crop-price is necessary for small-farmers to get a better price for their produce. The thesis investigates how small-farmers can share information among them regarding market price, so they have a better negotiating capacity. Finally, the thesis explores the user's expectations, needs, farming practices and limitations and presents design recommendations for future work on the topic.
Mobiles phones are fast growing and increasingly becoming cheaper to own and operate. Smartphones have revolutionized our way of living. But due to the limitations in literacy, awareness and high cost of existing services, small-farmers seldom use smartphones to its full potential in agriculture. This limit the usefulness of mobile phones, reducing it to make and receive calls. There is a gap between perceived usefulness and actual use of mobile phones. This leads to small farmers missing out opportunities offered by other markets and are vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen. This thesis explores the possibility of creating a mobile service, that can fill in the gap created by illiteracy, cost, and availability of reliable information to small farmers.
This thesis proposes a mobile application that farmers can use through smartphones to get agriculture related information through peer-to-peer information sharing. The design for the proposed service will be usable by small farmers with minimum literacy and no prior experience using a smartphone. Additionally, the small farmers are regularly exploited by middle-men due to the farmer's lack of knowledge on the market price information. The need for up-to-date information on crop-price is necessary for small-farmers to get a better price for their produce. The thesis investigates how small-farmers can share information among them regarding market price, so they have a better negotiating capacity. Finally, the thesis explores the user's expectations, needs, farming practices and limitations and presents design recommendations for future work on the topic.