Leveraging Information Technology to Boost International Trading in Agricultural Products.
The advent of 21st Century has been marked by the arrival of technological revolution in various fields including Agriculture, Genetic Engineering etc. This technological revolution has been powered by major breakthroughs in computing technology which has today produced before us a system of seamless exchange of data including in Video Format. Needless to say the present technology of internet needs to be fully utilized to enhance the exports of agricultural products, so that the agriculturist class as well as agriculture sector; both reap the benefits of access to the global markets.
This task possibly cannot be done by an individual agriculturist, who is not so well educated. It also involves some initial investment which should be better shared by a group of farmers. Therefore, the system can be set up either by some educated farmers or by some voluntary agencies who are working in the field of providing modern support to the farmer communities.
Setting up an E-Commerce enabled site is almost the same as creating a website except that it requires the facility of accepting online payments. Since acceptance of online payment makes it mandatory to deliver the products to customer in time; it becomes essential for a goods trading e-commerce site to tie up with a reputed courier like DHL. Thus, as soon as the order is booked and payment is made, simultaneous advice is made electronically to both the supplier as well as the courier by the system automatically. The supplier then keeps the Cargo ready and the courier picks up the cargo as per a predetermined schedule and delivers the goods to indentor worldwide within the stipulated time period. This is how E-Commerce Worldwide functions and there is no reason why we cannot take this system to our farmers in this country. E Commerce Solution, Software are easily available on line which can then be customized according to the local details. Alternatively leading software developers like TCS and Infosys can also be asked to set up the system. In any case the help of an IT expert is required to set up the whole system including the Hardware i.e. Servers, Computer Terminals, Scanners, Printers etc. alongwith high Bandwidth Secured Connection. The products then can be photographed as well as Videographed and they can be displayed online. It is economical to load video on You Tube which is a free service and provide the link URL on the farmers’ Website. Videos requires huge storage space as well as huge bandwidth for interactive experience to the customers Worldwide. Services like You Tube or Googal Video offer free Video Storage and high Bandwidth As it is difficult for smaller Companies to manage such big storage or bandwidth, using this globally free service is not bad idea. It is also seen that Video experience is essential for the satisfaction of the prospective buyers as all details like processing, credibility of vendors, location of your business, transportation facilities, transportation schedule etc. can be explained to the viewers in detail. Also it is an excellent opportunity for the producers to declare online that no child labour is involved in the production of their goods. Any speciality like use of organic manures etc. can be highlighted very well in the Video.
Once the syatem is in place, it requires massive publicity across the internet. In fact help can also be sought from various export promotion bodies as well as Indian embassies abroad for creating awareness about the products as well as the web site; which will act as the farmers’ gateway to the world.
With a such system in place, markets from over world can converge on to the quality produce of various agricultural goods in our country. Given the hard working nature of our farmers and the high quality agricultural products, there is no doubt that such a system will entice worldwide buyers to the doorsteps of our farmers.
Agnika
