Texts Empower Farmers

Article

A BBC News report from Maharashtra, India, on how poor farmers are using the Reuters Market Light SMS service to get better prices for their crops. Farmer Kapil Jachak describes receiving a daily weather forecast each morning to manage irrigation, followed by afternoon price updates for produce like bananas and melons in nearby markets, cutting costs and shifting bargaining power away from wholesale traders who had long held the upper hand over farmers selling in markets like Pune.