In India, conventional agricultural extension has faced major problems in transferring the agricultural knowledge and technology from research lab to land farmers through traditional communication methods like training and demonstration. To overcome these challenges, information and communication technology (ICT) tools hold immense potential to make available easily the large volume of agricultural knowledge and agro information services. This mode of delivery of scientific agricultural information is affordable, relevant, searchable and updated from large number of stakeholders. In this connection, agricultural universities and IT institutions like UAS Raichur and IIT Kanpur have developed a unique IT platform called “Agropedia Indica” which provides a platform to share agriculture knowledge and connects farmers to agricultural experts directly.

It is difficult for rural people and farmers to get timely advisory services from agricultural experts because of lack of proper communication channels and absence of problem-specific solutions. Agropedia provides a comprehensive, integrated model for digitized content in the agricultural domain. This e-initiative intends to bring together a community through ICT enabled knowledge creating and organizing platform with an attempt to leverage the current agricultural extension system. It provides sustainable agricultural knowledge model and extension content of important agricultural and horticulture crops, virtual extension activity in the form of advisory service through mobile technology and developed a platform for connecting all the extension personnel in India and globe to overcome the present challenges.

Agropedia portal was launched in January 2009 as a part of the National Agriculture Imagery Programme (NAIP) project entitled “Re-designing farmer-extension-agricultural research/education continuum in India with ICT- mediated knowledge management”. During its first phase, concept maps and multilingual content for nine mandated crops were developed and digitized by experts  from  ICRISAT, IITK,  GBPUAT,  Pantnagar  and UAS, Raichur. After  its  substantial success, Agropedia phase II was launched with a voice messaging facility for the farmers of India. Further, vKVK was launched to send agro-advisory in the form of text and voice message via mobile telephony. The  key  elements  of  Agropedia  are  knowledge  models  and objects and  the  content  in Agropedia is aggregated and organized through the use of knowledge models. The Agropedia portal works as a platform to facilitate exchange and delivery of information between the agricultural community through a web portal and mobile phone networks. This portal allows farmers to access this knowledge repository through vKVK to communicate with registered farmers. Therefore, it is an open ended knowledge sharing platform designed to disseminate knowledge and encourage communication.