Opportunities for information technology in agriculture marketing value chain

Abstract

India has traditionally been an agriculture-based economy. Inefficiencies in the infrastructure tend to hit the overall economy quite badly. With India gradually turning into an information technology hub and more and more IT majors both Indian and International setting up base in India, IT could play a significant role in reducing the efficiencies in the agricultural value chain. Moreover, a growth in the rural economy will lead to growth in the industrial sector too. This, we will enhance the overall development of the Indian economy. With the focus of the IT firms In India gradually turning towards the rural sector, we feel that there is a strong need for an in-depth analysis of the issues at hand. Thus the need for this study arose. Information technology can have an impact on the rural economy through various routes. Some of these alternate routes flow through the realms of agriculture value chains, rural education systems, rural means of entertainment, rural financial systems and so forth. Although, quite a few common issues are to be tackled through each of these routes, yet, some of the issues are especially significant for the agricultural sector. We feel that is nearly impossible to do justice to tackling the issues of each of the routes within a short span of three months. Thus, we will hereon focus primarily on the opportunities that Information technology can have on the agricultural value chain in particular and on the overall rural economy at large.