METHODOLOGY: SOIL TEST BASED FERTILISER RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM (STFRS) SOIL HEALTH CARD Developed for DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GOVT. OF WEST BENGAL METHODOLOGY: SOIL TEST BASED FERTILISER RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM (STFRS)

क्योंकि मशीनें रिश्वत नहीं माँगती ई-गवर्नेंस' ज़रूरी क्योंकि मशीनें रिश्वत नहीं माँगती

People Process and, Technology

Objectives of Soil Testing Assessment of current soil fertility status according to physical, chemical and ecological properties of soil Help make arrangement for soil amendment and recommendation of manure for both macro and micro nutrients according to soil fertility level suitable for crops to be grown Help in recommending only essential and adequate amount of nutrients Prevention of overuse of fertilisers which in turn results in reduction the cost of cultivation and prevention of degradation of soil quality due to overuse of fertilisers Prevention of possible nutrient toxicity Maintenance of proper soil health and plant nutrients reserves for healthy growth of next crop in sequence

Goal To usher in efficiency & effectiveness in the functioning of SOIL TESTING LABORATORIES by leveraging Information Technology to enable them to provide soil health cards to farmers and other stakeholders on time and shall help preparation of SOIL MAPs for effective management of resources

Soil Testing Portal (in line with WBAGRISNET) Continued….

Soil Test Based Fertiliser Recommendation System consist of the following Major Modules: Online/SMS Request for soil testing and collection of samples Detailed Sample Registration – Source of Sample, Land Specific Information & Information on Crop(s) Test Result Entry & Computation Recommendations from Experts Generation of Soil Health Card in Local Language and English Internet based (ONLINE) generation of Soil Health Card from any location Acknowledgement of receipt of soil sample at laboratory and intimation on generation of SHC through SMS MIS Reports for administrators, laboratories and VLE Inputs for Soil Fertility Maps SMS Alerts to farmers about readiness of Soil Health Card

Sample Registration – Source Details

Impact Better service to the rural community (Farmers) Considerable reduction in time to obtain a Soil Health Card from a laboratory by the farmers has motivated them to opt for more tests of their soil MIS on registered and tested samples for a duration has been made available SMS based abridged Soil Fertility and Fertiliser Advisory per crop

Work Flow: Developing and maintaining necessary infrastructure for testing soil health and dissemination of the information to the farmers at the village level. Pictorial Representation of SHC being made available to a farmer through a Government Laboratory: Intimation through SMS + WEB access + PRINT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PRINT + SMS SOIL SAMPLE LABORATORY (Government) SHC Sample Analysis & Data Entry

Work Flow: Pictorial Representation of SHC being made available to a farmer through a Non Government Laboratory: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PRINT + SMS SOIL SAMPLE Intimation through SMS + WEB access + PRINT Pay per Sample LABORATORY (Non Government) SHC Sample Analysis & Data Entry Proposed in 2010: Pay Rs.40 per Sample to Private Laboratory GOVERNMENT

Work Flow: Pictorial Representation of SHC being made available to a farmer through a CSC (Common Service Centre): ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PRINT + SMS VLE @ CSC (Village Level Entrepreneur at Common Service Centre) Intimation through SMS + WEB access + PRINT Proposed in 2010: Pay Rs.10 per Sample SOIL SAMPLE Courier eACKNOWLEDGEMENT LABORATORY (Government or Private) SHC Sample Analysis & Data Entry Proposed in 2010: Pay Rs.40 per Sample to Private Laboratory GOVERNMENT

Work Ahead: Calculations Total pages: 96 Existing Reports: 12 Security Audit Man-days per page: 4 Man-days per report page: 3 6 man-months Duration: [{(96 x 3) + (12 x 4)}/22 + 6]/3 = 7 calendar months Add: Learning phase: 1 calendar month Pilot implementation: 1 calendar month Rollout: 2 calendar months Total: 11 calendar months Assumption: No change in db design & any change may be a parallel process

Services to Farmers: List of Govt. and Private Laboratories and List of Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) – WEB + SMS Soil Health Card Generation, both in English and Vernacular languages Soil Nutrient Availability Report – WEB + SMS Query on status of submitted Soil Sample by farmers – WEB + SMS

Services Available @ Laboratory: Soil Sample Registration and updation (till test results are entered) Acknowledgement Generation (else, test results cannot be entered) Sample Rejection Test Result Entry and updation (till SHC is generated) Generation of Soil Health Card Annual Progress Report

Services to be made available to Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) @ the CSCs: Soil Sample Registration Acknowledgement Generation Test Result Entry Revenue Transaction Monthly Report

Services available to Administrator: Total No. of SHC generated during a given period Laboratory wise total of SHC generated during a given period Monthly Performance Report for VLE Master Entry, Query & Report on recommended dose of FERTILISER depending on AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONE, CROP, SEASON, DURATION, SEEDING TYPE & WATER DEPTH Updation of SHC if requested by Laboratories Master entry pages

Activities Activities for any project can be divided into three major categories viz. – pre-project activities on-project activities post-project activities This methodology as a defining strategy may be incorporated within AGRISNET for effecting the delivery mechanism for the project

COLLABORATE AND DELEGATE A Rule Nobody can do it alone There are always people who can do the job better than you Find them, work with them COLLABORATE AND DELEGATE EXCUSES!

Pre-project Activities Core Group formation Assessment Budgeting Risk Management Delivery Mechanism Requirement HW/SW/Manpower Quality Capacity/Capability Building Responsibilities Core Group System/Software Budgeting Delivery Mechanism Network Requirement HW/SW/Manpower Farmer Centric Applications Capacity/Capability Building Core Group System/Software Budgeting Delivery Mechanism Network Requirement HW/SW/Manpower Farmer Centric Applications Capacity/Capability Building On-project Activities Post-project Activities

Rollout Strategy: The database will be centralized (i.e. a single database) for operations by the States For each State, separate state login page may be prepared with defined roles/logins for users for data entry/ updation/MIS and Citizen Interface to the applications The present/existing software also enables this feature (mentioned in (b) above) that is perfectly role based with each State having its own administrative rights for the software

Rollout Strategy: Satisfy the requirement analysis with respect to Creation of General Master Directory (like District, Sub-division, Block, GP, Mouza (Village), Post Office, etc.) Specific Master Directory ( like Recommendation of Fertiliser with respect to the prevailing Agro-Climatic Zone and soil types that determine the outcome of Soil Test Result) is an essential and primary requirement and the necessary user interface is available considering the requirements for the states The existing module may suffice the needs of the States willing to adopt this software

Rollout Strategy: The costing towards deployment of manpower for Analysis, Process Modeling, System Design, Development, Capacity Building including the cost of ICT Infrastructure for software development / customization, site preparation – for development, customization and deployment, handholding operations, cost for transportation for undertaking study etc has to be considered Testing & Release of Application by State Teams through proper change management notes of satisfaction User Acceptance through proper handing over note of satisfaction End User Training with proper documentation Project signoff

Action Plan: Fixation of Strategy for Development and Deployment Identification of the Scope of Activities for execution Identification of Resources as per the Scope Fixation of Time Frame as per the Scope Estimation of expenditure for deployment of resources within the time frame Official responsible for implementation of this service at a location should not be moved out or transferred The official be so chosen that he/she is sufficiently away from superannuation

S Availability of Core Competency in the area Success stories available Upbeat farming and research communities Plagued with internal operating problems – Ill equipped laboratories Negative attitude Demoralised staff Weak image Underutilised facilities W Strong will to introduce ICT in Soil Testing Growth of awareness on Soil Testing and its usefulness To serve or cater to new segments Turf wars Disruptions – through preemptive designs Unavailability of ICT with Internet connectivity Unskilled manpower at work O T

IDENTIFICATION OF RESOURCES AND THEIR DEPLOYMENT PLAN Major resource constraint will be availability of skilled manpower for execution of different level of activities viz. selection of sufficiently skilled hired manpower for providing development and then, implementation support at State and Centre level The ICT infrastructure for development of application including proper site for development and customisation Cost for travel/transportation of manpower for System Study Finalise the source for funding with steady flow on receipt of UC

Let’s Work Thank You