Building Trust in Digital Advisory Services for Indian Agriculture

Building Trust in Digital Advisory Services for Indian Agriculture

India has over 100 million smallholders. Most of them have never spoken to an agricultural extension agent. Not because the system does not exist, but because in practice it barely reaches them.

India’s agricultural extension system operates at a ratio of roughly one agent per 1,000 – 1,200 farmers. Extension agents are stretched thin across dozens of villages, often without transport, updated training, or reliable connectivity. For the average smallholder farmer, timely and useful advisory support is often not readily available at the right time. Instead, they mostly rely on neighbors, local practices, and guesswork.

For women smallholders, the gap is wider. Women constitute over 60% of India’s agricultural workforce, yet they are systematically excluded from the advisory ecosystem. Extension agents are predominantly male and usually interacting with male households, even when women are the ones managing the fields. Social norms restrict women’s mobility and access to many physical training. This invisibility has resulted in lowering the adoption of sustainable practices, poor input management, and reducing yields.

This is where Digital Advisory Services, delivered through smartphones, can open different doors. A mobile platform can reach a woman farmer directly in her language, on her schedule, without requiring her to attend a meeting she was never invited to. It puts timely advice on crop management, input use, and sustainable practices into her hands, bypassing the social and structural filters that have long kept her out of the advisory loop.

Yet the technology delivers the best results when it is supported by human engagement. When extension agents actively introduce and demonstrate digital tools, guide farmers through the platform, answer their initial questions, and reinforce the credibility of the advice provided, it creates an important shift in farmer's confidence and trust. This trust can become the bridge between awareness and action, encouraging farmers to adopt recommended practices more effectively. Over time, these informed decisions will lead to measurable improvements such as better yields and stronger confidence among smallholders especially women, knowing they have access to reliable guidance whenever needed.

Hence, Digital tools cannot replace people, and people cannot match the reach of digital tools. The two need to work together to strengthen the Digital Advisory Services (DAS) in Agriculture in India.