India is a country of farmers, and we still provide them with little help. In most areas of India, farmers continue to seek education on farming practices. However, there is not much technologically accessible help available for them. Sandra and Shubham, UI/UX design experts at Yellow Slice, designed a digital solution for farmers in India to get literacy about farming
Problem Statement
Due to the complexity of tools and low digital literacy, small farmers struggle to access data-driven insights. They require practical, real-time assistance with weather forecasting, crop planning, and soil health. They deal with problems such as,
- They aren’t well-versed in technology, so they don’t know how to use it to their benefit.
- Most farmers in India are not educated and lack formal training.
- Those farmers who use the internet for their benefit don’t have access to a dedicated platform.
Solutions
Approximately 68% of farmers in India use smartphones. Hence, we decided to create a digital platform for their assistance called Farmer Suggest. A simple chatbot on WhatsApp that delivers localised farming advice in regional languages has key features such as,
- Works on smartphones that farmers already use
- No need to install a new app
- Supports text, voice messages, and images
- Language-first, low-literacy-friendly UX
What exactly does it do?
It provides recommendations on the following aspects,
- Weather Updates: Real-time forecast for the farmer’s village advising them on watering, pest risk, etc.
- Crop Recommendation: Based on soil type and season, with step-by-step growing guides.
- Soil Check: Farmers can ask questions, send soil photos, and get fertiliser suggestions.
- Voice/Message-Based Q&A: Farmers can ask questions in their own words, and experts or AI systems reply.
Expected Outcome
- Localised digital support will improve yields.
- The suicide rate of farmers will reduce because they will get the help they need to earn the revenue they deserve.
- Farmers will have closer access to technology and receive help in an accessible manner.
