Developing an ICT platform for enhancing agricultural productivity: the case study of EID Parry

India traditionally is an agrarian economy, where even today 40% of the country’s GDP is derived from agriculture and agriculture products. Lately the Indian farmer community was not exposed to the use of ICT for its well-being, but since the Indian private sector has entered the arena, the acceptability of the latest innovations and tools by the farmer has increased. EID Parry, the group company of Murugappa Group, is one of the pioneers in the pesticides and agro-products. It was the first company to start sugar mill in India. The company launched the Parry’s Corner ICT initiative to derive the synergies from its vast experience and the farmers knowledge pool. The spread of the information kiosk was limited to the paddy and sugarcane clusters in Tamil Nadu. Parry’s Corner was pivotal in increasing the yields and reducing the expenditures for the farmers. Farmers here are able to access wide range of information from the information kiosk’s such as the climatic conditions, knowledge about the urea, fertilizers, seeds and also the cropping patterns. Other ancillary information was also provided such as regular employment news and latest happenings around the world.