India

Home to the world’s largest population of smallholder farmers, India is one of PxD’s two original geographies. In 2022, platforms built by PxD actively serviced 2.3 million smallholder farmers across seven Indian states. Our work in India also includes an active research and innovation agenda.

Platforms built by PxD are currently operational in Karnataka, Kerela, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Coffee Krishi Taranga), Gujarat (Krishi Tarang), Odisha (Ama Krushi), and West Bengal (Krishi Katha).

Read more about our Indian initiatives:

An additional service, Krishi Katha, was built by PxD and is delivered as part of the West Bengal Accelerated Department of Minor Irrigation Project (WBADMIP) of the Government of West Bengal, with support from the World Bank. Between 2019 and 2021, PxD piloted the use of digital advice to nudge farmers in Punjab and Haryana states to move away from crop residue burning – a source of significant air pollution – and to promote sustainable solutions that promote soil health and nutrients. The project, Harnessing Agricultural Residues through Innovative Technologies (HARIT) was implemented in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). 

Research & Innovation

Since commencing operations in 2016, India has been a critical location for research and learning. Our current operations continue to leverage opportunities to advance knowledge and product development in the service of poor farmers. Current research and innovation activities include the use of weather forecasts to inform farming decisions, working with women’s groups to facilitate learning among women farmers, linking private sector firms to smallholder households to facilitate timely access to quality inputs and services, and the rigorous analysis of our services’ impact. A priority area of study for the PxD India team is innovation to assist smallholder farmers to adapt to a changing climate and to work with farmers to actively mitigate climate change.

Prior to our legal incorporation in 2016, Shawn Cole – a PxD co-founder and current chair of our board – conducted ground-breaking research in India to investigate the use of mobile phones as cost-efficient and effective tools for distributing low-cost, customized agricultural information to smallholder farmers at scale. 

Shawn’s research focussed on Gujarat, where we continue to operate Krishi Tarang, our oldest and only wholly-owned digital agricultural extension service. Today, working with a range of implementation partners – public, private, government, non-governmental, local, national, and international – platforms built by PxD service millions of Indian smallholder households with customized information to support evidence-led decision-making to improve productivity, livelihoods, and well-being. 

We are proud to work with the following research and implementation partners in India:

We are grateful to the following funders for supporting our work in India:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

SwissRe Foundation

Walmart Foundation

Vitol Foundation

*In India, PxD works in partnership with Behaviour Change Advisory Services (LLP)