KHETI

Kheti is a communication concept combining software on mobile camera phones and web 2.0 services. The current Kheti prototype provides a simple interface for a user to create a multimedia package (known as SDS - Short Dialogue Strip) consisting of up to six pictures and an audio track of one and half minute. This can then be sent to a web site where advisors can view photos in high resolution, and then advise the farmers. Kheti has had a short feasibility test in the Sironj Crop Producers' Company, a co-operative of small farmers, in Madhya Pradesh, India. In this trial, five members of the cooperative provided the Kheti services to the co-operative members in 25 villages. In three months, over 200 queries were handled and some significant risks to harvests (and household economies) were mitigated.