Thomson Reuters Expands Mobile Information Service for Farmers in India

Thomson Reuters has expanded its mobile information service for India ’s agricultural community to the Punjab region. Reuters Market Light, which brings commodity prices, crop and weather data to Indian farmers via mobile phone, launched today with over 3,000 subscribers signed up in Punjab, the birthplace of Green Revolution in India. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Parkash Singh Badal inaugurated the service that provides information on 17 crops/commodities including varieties in 60 Mandis spread across the state of Punjab. Sardar Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, Chairman of Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board, was also present at the function. Thomson Reuters plans to expand to a third Indian state by the end of 2008. Following its early successes, Reuters Market Light is now finding that increasingly subscribers opt for 12 month contracts, as opposed to the original three month option.

“India ’s farming community is one of the largest in the world, but yet it remains a relatively opaque market. RML provides crucial customized agricultural information to help farmers maximize their productivity and increase their returns. This innovative service plays to the heart of Thomson Reuters strengths of providing accurate, timely and unbiased information,” said Amit Mehra, managing director of Reuters Market Light at Thomson Reuters, in a press release. Reuters Market Light (RML) was launched in October 2007 in the Maharashtra state where RML has sold over 60,000 subscriptions. It is estimated that the benefits of RML’s accurate, timely information have achieved up to Rs100,000 of additional profits on the sale of crops in the state. In a country where approximately eight million new mobile phone users connect to networks each month and where 60 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture, RML is leading the way to provide easy-to-use information to a vast farming community.