How Indian farmers are improving yields and supporting each other with the help of a free farming hotline

For millions of farmers, the difference between a good harvest and a devastating loss can come down to getting the right advice at the right time.

In Odisha, India, a free agricultural helpline is helping farmers with advice based on real-time data—enabling them to act faster when pests, weather, or crop disease threaten their livelihoods. For Sradhanjali Pradhan, one phone call can help save her crops—and once she gets an answer, she shares it with her neighbors.

Her story shows what becomes possible when local leadership, real-time data, and practical technology come together: farmers can protect what they grow, strengthen their incomes, and help entire communities become more resilient.

Hear one farmer’s story

Early in Sradhanjali Pradhan’s farming career, when pests destroyed her crops, she lost more than just the thousands of rupees she was counting on and the food she was growing for her family that season. The crop failure meant she could barely afford to pay her daughter’s school fees.

Today, Pradhan can act quickly—and help many others in her community do the same.

Whenever she spots a damaged flower or suspects a pest infestation in her crops, Pradhan, a farmer in the Indian state of Odisha, has a secret weapon: She pulls out her phone and calls 155333, a free hotline known as the Krushi Samrudhi Helpline (KSH), which is run by the state’s agriculture department. On the other end of the line is a KSH representative who can log her question so an agronomist can respond with timely advice on how to avert crop damage before it’s too late. Thanks to a central database, whoever answers the phone can pull up details about Pradhan’s farm, including its size, the soil type, and the crops she grows.

Once Pradhan learns what to do, she spreads the word to others.

“As soon as I know which treatments to use, I tell the nearby farmers so they don’t need to call for the same disease,” she says. Pradhan takes particular pride in sharing the information with older farmers who aren’t comfortable with mobile technology or those who haven’t yet noticed the threat. Sometimes she receives an inbound call from KSH’s command center, which provides customized advisory information. Either way, Pradhan’s fellow farmers rely on her to stay one step ahead, and with her one phone call, an entire village benefits.

A community of women farmers

Over the past several years, Pradhan has become more than a farmer. She’s now a trusted source of agricultural knowledge for her fellow farmers and a central figure in her community as the secretary of a women’s self-help group (SHG) with members from multiple villages. She is married to a photographer, and they have a daughter.

Pradhan’s day starts with family time: She cooks breakfast and lunch for her husband and daughter and makes sure they have everything they need for work and school. In the early afternoon, once the sun is past its peak, she goes out into the fields. She often works alongside her best friend, Ranjukta Maharana, and other friends whose fields are close by. They chat and catch up as they work the land. “It’s not just farming, it’s nice exercise for the body,” Pradhan says.

After they’ve tended to their crops, the women gather under a tree to share tea or a small picnic. This is their time to rest, tell jokes, play a game together on their phones, or talk about what’s on their minds. Pradhan’s day ends with more family time. She makes dinner for her family, and they tell each other about their day.

Saving time and money, improving crop yields

Pradhan began growing marigolds when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, to help support her family. She turned out to be a natural: Her first crop earned her a profit of 10,000 rupees (US$105), twice the average monthly salary for an Indian farmer. This success motivated her to add other flower varieties and to grow eggplants, cucumbers, and papayas to eat at home and to sell.

But before the hotline launched in 2022, every time Pradhan detected pests on her plants, she had to hire a rickshaw to get to the Block Agricultural Office and then wait all day to speak to someone. Not only was it time-consuming and costly, but any delay in visiting the office meant that the pests could spread and cause serious damage.

These trips also meant missing out on cherished afternoon hangouts with her female farmer friends. “We were losing that time and that happiness together,” she says.

All that changed with the introduction of the KSH hotline. And Pradhan has seen her crop yields improve thanks to the advice she’s received.

The free guidance from the hotline is one part of a holistic system developed by the Odisha state government with support from the Gates Foundation. The other part, Krushi Samiksha Kendra (KSK), is a centralized monitoring system—India’s first—that collects real-time data on conditions like pest incidence and extreme weather that affect the state’s more than 9 million farmers. The government relays this information to farmers via regular mobile alerts and voice messages, along with tips on accessing government support for buying seeds and other inputs.

Working and prospering together

Among all of the women in her village, Pradhan is especially close with Maharana, the president of the self-help group, whom she describes as a “sister.” They met about eight years ago, shortly after Maharana was widowed.

Together, they started farming some small patches of empty land, inspiring others to do the same. “When other women saw us two ladies working in the fields, it motivated them to join us,” Pradhan says. “We achieved a lot of things together. People started noticing us, and they started respecting us as well.”

As president and secretary of the self-help group, respectively, Maharana and Pradhan work with the other members to identify useful investments they can make as a group. For example, they pooled their resources to buy a machine that grinds grains and pulses into chhatua, a protein-rich powder that is mixed with milk or water to make a nutritious breakfast porridge. The members sell the powder at the market for extra income. The group has also invested in farming equipment—including a power tiller, a grass cutter, and an agricultural sprayer—to make their farming more efficient. When they are not using the equipment, they rent it out to other farmers and share the revenue.

The two leaders always consult each other and the other members when making decisions. “Even though Mrs. Maharana is the president of the group, she never makes a decision all on her own,” Pradhan says.

As secretary of the group, Pradhan manages the group’s finances, handles bank loans on its behalf, and organizes meetings and activities. She feels a deep responsibility to help individual group members whenever they have a problem, whether by lending them a small sum of money to get through hard times or helping with a family or personal issue.

Quicker answers, better harvests

Before the hotline started, Odisha’s farmers faced a range of challenges, from pests to cyclones and drought. Agricultural households in the state earned roughly 40% less than the national average. But since the launch of KSH and KSK, farmers who use the services have seen a 94% reduction in land affected by major pest outbreaks, resulting in as much as a 21% reduction in severe crop loss and more sustainable livelihoods. They get answers from the helpline within 48 hours, bringing agricultural expertise to even remote parts of the state that extension officers normally couldn’t reach. So far, at least 7.9 million farmers have benefited.

For Pradhan, these services have translated into higher yields, which means more time with the people she cares about—her family, Maharana, and her other friends in the self-help group. One of the group’s favorite activities is sewing school uniforms together for children in the village. Each year on November 14, Children’s Day in India, the group distributes uniforms to those who need them. “We feel so happy seeing these children wearing uniforms that were hand-stitched by us,” Pradhan says.

When technology can help farmers improve their agricultural practices, it also translates into more time with family and friends and a stronger and more resilient community. Pradhan no longer has to miss afternoon hangouts with her friends. “We have time to build relationships with each other and deepen our friendships,” she says. That’s what progress means for her.