L. P. da Silva (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2358-1277) ([email protected]) and J. A. Ramos, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Dept of Life Sciences, Univ. of Coimbra, PT-3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal. – A. Pereira Coutinho, R. H. Heleno and LPdS, CFE – Centre for Functional Ecology, Dept of Life Sciences, Univ. of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, PT-3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal. ...

Amongst the emerging Asian Economies, India is a nation with 70 % of population living in rural areas which casts pressure on Government to focus more on development of Rural India. ICT acts as a provider of major opportunities to rural livelihoods and contributes towards poverty reduction. Productivity of rural areas can be enhanced by usage of ICT. Through various E-Governance initiatives lik...

In recent years, I.T.C. Limited (hereafter ITC) developed the “e-Choupals” to the rural areas of India. In this new business model, ITC reaches implicit agreements with some farmers (inside the network) that they can sell the products directly to ITC at the market price in the local market, but allow the farmers, both inside and outside the network, to access valuable information through the e-...

ICT has potential to make significant inroads in a traditional agrarian economy like India. Indian agro-sector has been exploiting the benefits to ICT. Innovative ICT application platforms are being created by private sector players in conjunction with local farmers. One such private initiative has been by ITC Ltd in the state of Madhya Pradesh. It has helped the farmers in many ways, such as d...