Research in Review: 2022
2022 was a tremendous leap forward for research at PxD. Our research and operations teams completed a total of eight A/B test experiments and impact evaluations. We collected data in person and over the phone …
India
New Report: Exploring private sector collaboration to fund free digital extension for smallholder farmers
A new PxD report details fee-for-service private sector collaboration to support free digital extension service delivery to farmers in poverty With support from the Swiss Re Foundation, PxD investigated the viability of new forms of …
Befriending the farmer: Reflections on building and transitioning the Ama Krushi service
On 1 August 2022, PxD completed the transition of the management and operations of Ama Krushi – our largest digital service – to Tatwa Technologies Limited, a third-party firm that won a competitive government tender. …
Brewing better weather services for Indian coffee farmers
Accurate, medium-range weather forecasting information can help mitigate smallholder farmers’ exposure to climate-related risks. PxD is in the process of launching new products to assist smallholder farmers to make more informed and timely decisions based …
Reading the coffee grounds: A landscape analysis of challenges confronting Indian coffee growers
Precision Development (PxD) has completed a landscape analysis to more systematically understand the challenges faced by users of the Coffee Krishi Taranga (CKT) service, with a focus on three core areas, namely, sustainability, market linkages, …
Increasing information sharing with women farmers in Odishan smallholder households
Precision Development (PxD) recognizes that the informational needs of poor women farmers, and the challenges they confront, are unique. As a consequence, our services must be tailored to reach and be relevant to the needs …
Weathering the storm: Smallholder farmers and the untapped potential of weather forecasts
Accurate weather forecasts would reduce uncertainty for farmers, yet they are under-supplied and under-studied in developing countries. Government and market failures reduce the quality and reach of weather information in rural regions, reducing its value …
Research in Progress (and in Practice): 2021 in Review
Precision Development’s goal is to generate large aggregate impacts for the poor. Research plays a central role in advancing that objective. In a collaborative post, our Research Team surveys their work in 2021 and outlines …
Accessing the Power of E-Commerce for Smallholder Farmers
Can e-commerce address constraints that inhibit growth and productivity among Indian smallholder farmers? Rohit Goel, a Research and Operations Associate on PxD’s India Team, investigates and traces the contours of an exciting PxD pilot in …
Leveraging Women’s Groups to Bridge Gender-Specific Information Gaps in India
Vaishnavi Surendra, Post-Doctoral Researcher, and Revati Vaidya, Process and Product Innovation Associate, mark the International Day of Rural Women At PxD, we aim to generate research and design products and services that bridge information gaps …
Kharif in Odisha: A Monsoon of Information
Tarun Pokiya, Lead Agronomist, Prasanna Kumar, Senior Software Engineer, Hannah Timmis, India Research Manager, Tushar Singh, Research and Operations Associate, Srinivas VT, Senior Associate, and Revati Vaidya, Process and Product Innovation Associate, collaborated on this …
Who’s Talking? Varying Narrator Gender to Enhance User Engagement
Sam Carter, Revati Vaidya, Simon Rubangakene, Georges Poquillon and Habtamu Yesiget recount how we improved our content and services by learning about our end-users response to messages recorded with men’s voices and women’s voices. Do farmers act differently when they hear …
So Many Ideas, So Little Time: Using Adaptive Experiments for Efficient and Iterative Inquiry.
Tomoko Harigaya, Precision Agriculture for Development’s Director of Research, and Grady Killeen, a former PAD Research Associate, consider the merits of adaptive experiments. How does one create space to take stock of what we are …
Showcasing our work in India: World Bank Webinar
On 16 December, PAD’s CEO, Owen Barder, and India Country Director, Niriksha Shetty, presented an overview of PAD’s work in India, with a particular focus on our work in Odisha, to a group of World …
Introducing our Updated COVID-19 Dashboard
Incorporating new survey data, and new visualizations, Dashboard 2.0 allows one to observe and compare trends across rounds of surveys and geographies. Andrew Wang, a PAD summer research associate on the global research team, who …
How can researchers ensure that data collection in the midst of a pandemic is worth the time and effort?
PAD’s India Research Manager, Hannah Timmis, and Senior Research and Operations Associate, Maya Woser, reflected on lessons learned for the International Growth Centre’s blog
The Journey to One Million: PAD in India
Niriksha Shetty, PAD’s India Country Director, reflects on a remarkable milestone. In September, 2020, Precision Agriculture for Development in India* surpassed the 1 million mark for farmers who receive advisory content through our services. This …
Frontline delivery in the time of COVID: Ama Krushi in action
How do you continue to deliver digital services to farmers during a pandemic? Otini Mpinganjira, Odisha State Lead, & Vineet Keshaw, Senior Implementation Associate, pay tribute to a remarkable team effort that has kept farmers informed in unprecedented times.
Read moreFrontline delivery in the time of COVID: Ama Krushi in action