ICT Driven Dec ision Support & Information Dissemination DSID ): A Comprehensive Technical Appraisal o f DSID System s i n Indian Agriculture

Abstract

Sustainable growth of the agricultural production system demands the availability of right technical inputs about the weather, crop, land, fertilizers, and irrigation at the right time. To disseminate useful information to farmers in an effective and timely manner, many research initiatives have been undertaken by various government and private agencies’ in India to develop decision support and information dissemination (DSID) systems. This paper appraises fifteen number of such systems that are developed in India in the last decade. The appraisal discusses the (i) user information (type of users, participation method and level of skill level), (ii) system information (developing agency, system type, interface, supported application domain and outcome), (iii) system design specification (input/output, data collection method, architecture, user connectivity means), (iv) system development technologies (development technologies and tools), (v) system response (support delivery method, recommendation mechanism, response time) and, (vi) system services (user response, social and economic benefits). Considering all the above mentioned factors, summary sheets have been prepared and analyzed on the basis of normalized weights assigned to each aspect. As a result of analysis, criteria/method for evaluation of system quality (on the basis of support, satisfaction and perceived usefulness) has been formulated. Furthermore, the paper also investigates various challenges that need to be addressed to build effective and efficient DSID systems. Considering the fact that the presented appraisal is somewhat more focused towards technical, social and user oriented aspects, the authors believe that this appraisal will help technologists, researchers, and developers to understand the research initiatives and associated challenges that need attention with respect to the Indian context.