SMS Helps Rural Farmers

Cell phones are handy devices and can be used for seemingly endless purposes. Indian farmers are using SMS to help them earn more money from their crops.

Standing in a grove of lush green banana trees I find Kapil Jachak.
He’s busy checking his mobile phone for text messages containing practical information for farmers.
It’s a new service called Reuters Market Light, and he was one of the first to sign up in this area.
The first message every morning is a daily weather forecast for his area.
“By getting the weather reports we can see exactly how much water our banana plants need,” he says, “I keep my cost down, and get the best crop I can.”

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