C a s e  3

Sugarcane Information System

Kamran Rizvi

Sugarcane Information System (SIS) is an initiative by the Sugarcane Development & Sugarcane
Industries Department, Lucknow. It integrates 125 sugar mills and 3 million farmers across
44 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP). The system manages the procurement of sugarcane from
farmers using innovative technologies such as a website, Interactive Voice Response System
(IVRS), SMS to farmers, hand-held computers, Global Positioning System (GPS) and General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS) systems, etc. These technologies have redefined the sugarcane
procurement process and brought in transparency and accountability into the system. The
system has been functional since September 2010 and has impacted all stakeholders positively.

 Project Background
India is a leading producer of sugar in the world and almost half the national production
of sugarcane comes from UP. In UP, sugarcane is grown in 44 districts of the state and
covers an area of 2.3 million hectares.

 The Critical Stakeholders in the Sugarcane

Procurement Process
Sugarcane Development and Sugarcane Industries Department
Sugar mills could be owned by cooperatives or private owners, but the sugarcane
procurement price as well as the final production by sugar mills are controlled by
 Sugarcane Information System    55 

Figure 1: Geographical spread of SIS.

various state and central government agencies. Ten per cent of total sugar produced
every year is sold through public distribution system at a subsidised rate by the sugar
mills. The remaining 90 per cent is sold in the open market; however, a sugar mill needs
government’s approval before selling sugar in the open market.

Sugarcane Commissioner
Cane commissioner regulates the interaction between sugar mills, society, and the
farmers. He/she is responsible for the promotion and development of sugarcane, its
efficient marketing, and sale and payment for sugarcane to the farmers and sugarcane
growers. He/she has the statutory powers to regulate the sale and purchase of sugarcane
with respect to both the sugar mills as well as the farmers. This is a huge task, especially
when seen in the context that the sugarcane belt in the state is approximately 1,000 km
long and 250 km wide, covering 44 districts.

Farmers
About 3 million farmers are involved in the cultivation of sugarcane, and it is the main
source of their livelihood.

Sugarcane Mills
There are 125 operational sugar mills in the state. These purchase sugarcane worth
1,80,000 million each year, and sugar manufacturing is one of the largest industries in
56    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
the state. Sugar mills are heavily regulated industries. From farmers, they procure
harvesting in a radius of 7.5 km. This area is called reserved area, and farmers from
these areas bring their crop to the sugar mills. However, sugar mills can also procure
from areas beyond their reserve areas, known as assigned areas. In assigned areas, sugar
mills establish various purchase centres where farmers sell their produce to the mill’s
procurement clerk. Sugar mills do not make on-the-spot payment to farmers.

Sugarcane Cooperatives
Sugarcane farmers are organised into 168 Sugarcane Growers Cooperative Societies.
UP Cooperative Societies Act (1965) regulates and identifies cooperatives in general
and sugarcane farmer’s societies in particular. Each society has an elected board of
directors that decides all the issues relating to the marketing of sugarcane. The grower
cooperatives represent the farmers in their interactions with the sugar mills. Any farmer
can become a member of his area’s society by paying a lifetime membership fee of ` 212.
The society earns a commission of 3 per cent on total cane procured by a sugar mill from
the society’s members. Societies also provide pesticides, fertilisers, seeds, etc., to their
members on a credit basis.

 What Makes Sugarcane Procurement

Process Different
Marketing of sugarcane is entirely different from that of wheat or rice. The latter are
harvested and sold once and payment is made immediately. They have multiple buyers,
and the produce can be stored for a long duration. In case of sugarcane, the sugar mills
are the only purchasers and further, the procurement is staggered into 12–100 installments
over a period of 6 months. This is because sugar mills procure fresh sugarcane everyday
according to their installed capacities. Table 1 compares sugarcane and wheat or rice.
This results into as many as 50 sale-purchase transactions for a farmer of 1 hectare
landholding. Therefore, the agrimarketing chain of sugarcane is very complex and
difficult to manage.

Sugarcane is a perishable item that loses both its sugar content and weight after
harvesting. This means less money to farmers and lower production of sugar by
factories if supply chain is not efficiently managed. Further, payment for sugarcane
purchased is made some days after supply. Thus, the farmers and the sugar mills have
to be in regular interaction/communication with each other round the year. Each
physical visit/contact of farmer with the sugar mill/society amounts to an interaction.

Table 2 shows the mill-farmer interaction matrix. For a farmer with average land holding
of 1 hectare, the table gives the interaction matrix.
 Sugarcane Information System    57 
Table 1: Comparison of wheat and sugarcane

Table 2: Farmer and sugar mill interaction

Farmer–Sugar Mill Interaction

S. No. Activities Number of
Interactions (approx.)
1 Survey of fields 2
2 Calendar of supply 1
3 Start of sugar mills/centres 2
4 Supply tickets 12
5 Weighing of sugarcane 12
6 Payment for sugarcane 12
7 Development and other activities 9
Total 50

There are nearly 150 million transactions between the 3 million sugarcane growers
and the 125 sugar mills. Each interaction is equally important and has a direct bearing
on the income of the farmers as well as the sugar mills.
58    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
 The Earlier Process
The year-long interactions between mill and the sugarcane farmer starts in mid-April.
These interactions used to be mostly devoid of any technology tools, resulting in
numerous problems for each stakeholder. Following is a description of pre-Sugarcane
Information System (SIS) sugarcane procurement process.
Survey: A village-wise survey was conducted to ascertain expected sugarcane
production for the given year. This activity lasted for 2 months. Each farmer’s expected
production was recorded along with variety. Once planted, sugarcane can be harvested
thrice. The first harvest is called plant and the next two are called ratoon. Each can be
subdivided further into early, general, and late variety. Different varieties have different
sugar recovery rates leading to different sugarcane price. Once the survey was over,
data was compiled for each village and displayed in the village for any objection and
correction. Sugar mills gave preference to ratoon followed by early, general, and late
variety. Since they should procure proportionately from each farmer, they used the data
to create supply calendar for each farmer.
Calendar preparation: Data from the survey was compiled by sugar mill using
software to create a supply pre-calendar for each farmer. Standardised software was
used to create pre-calendar and issue supply tickets. Every sugar mill in the state
used almost similar software for this purpose. Factors such as farmer’s last two years’
supply, mode of transportation, landholding, etc., were taken into account to create a
Table 3: Calendar showing fortnights in rows and days in column. Numbers in a cell
indicate number of supply indent (tickets) expected to be raised on a farmer
 Sugarcane Information System    59 
pre-calendar showing when a farmer was expected to bring his harvest to the mill. Each
farmer’s calendar showed expected supply indent per fortnight spread over 180 days. In
case of any objections, the pre-calendar could be revised. Final calendar also contained
information about farmer’s debt to the sugarcane society, bank account number, and
mode of transportation.
Start of the sugar mill: Sugar mills usually operate between November and April.
Their operation and closure (including closure due to breakdown) are regulated by
the office of the Cane Commissioner and should be informed to the farmers. A public
announcement using PA systems mounted on a vehicle was used for this purpose.
Sugarcane supply indenting: Sugar mill used supply calendars to issue indent
slips to farmers. Farmers were expected to supply within a specific time period (not
exceeding 3 days). Number of indent slip depends on the farmer’s expected production
and his mode of transportation. To keep track of the farmer’s supply to the mill, farmer’s
societies distribute indent slips and also keep their copies.
Weighment: Farmers brought sugarcane to their assigned purchase centre along with
the indent slip. Without the indent slip, sugarcane could not be bought at the purchase
centre. Purchase clerk at the centre weighed the sugarcane and created a slip mentioning
the quantity and variety of the sugarcane.
Payment: For each supply indent, sugar mills made a direct payment to the farmer
by crediting money into his bank account and intimating the same to respective farmer’s
society. Sugar mills were connected with banks over the net and money was transferred
after deducting the farmers’ due to their society.
Closure of sugar mill: After due approval from the Cane Commissioner, sugar mills
stopped their work. They may operate for 180 days; however, as per the directives of
the government, they may operate for less or more time as well. Any closure of the mill
should be announced over the public address system.

 Problems Faced by Various Stakeholders

in the Earlier Process
There was no communication system between the farmers and the sugar mills. For each
information or clarification, farmers had to travel to the sugar mill or the society, which
is usually 25–50 km away from his home. There were huge crowds of farmers at the
sugar mill and society offices, wanting to get information relating to their transactions.

Problems faced by farmers

The problems faced by various stakeholders included the following:
i. Exploitation by middlemen: The complex web of interaction between the farmer and
sugar mill was not supported by information sharing. This situation was exploited
by middlemen who deprived the farmers of their rightful returns on their crop.
60    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India

Figure 2: Long queues before the introduction of SIS.

ii. Wasteful expenditure on travel: For each information or clarification, the farmer had
to travel 25–50 km to the sugar mill at least 20 times a year. Each visit cost around
` 200 and would consume the entire day. The cost of these avoidable trips for the
3 million sugarcane growers works out to be ` 5,220 million.
iii. Lower incomes due to smaller supply to sugar mills: The farmers got ` 40 per quintal
more for sugarcane supplied to a sugar mill as compared to the manufacturers of
jaggery. The lack of authentic information about supply schedule, etc., forced the
farmers towards the jaggery units, which in turn, led to lower incomes.
iv. Lower incomes because of smaller area under sugarcane: The cultivation of sugarcane
gives an additional income of ` 6,000 per hectare to the farmer’s, viz., alternative
crops like wheat and rice. Problems involved in supply of sugarcane to sugar mills
were forcing the farmers to alternative crops, which led to lower incomes.
v. Reduced weight due to staleness of sugarcane: After harvest, sugarcane starts losing
both its sugar content as well as its weight. In the absence of reliable instantaneous
communication with sugar mills, the farmers would harvest sugarcane 48–72 hours
before the supply date. Each delay of 24 hours in supply time led to a 4 per cent
reduction in weight of sugarcane, thereby causing financial loss to the farmers. See
Figure 3 for loss of weight of sugarcane with passage of time after harvest.

Problems faced by sugar mills

i. Loss of income due to arrival of stale sugarcane: Fresh sugarcane has high sugar
content, which quickly reduces with time. A reduction of 24 hours in supply time
would increase sugar recovery by 0.20 per cent, leading to additional income for the
sugar mills.
ii. Lower utilisation of installed capacity: The 125 sugar mills have an installed capacity
to crush sugarcane for 180 days in a year, whereas availability is sufficient for only
120 days. Due to the existing bottlenecks, the farmers diverted their sugarcane to
jaggery producers. Thus, the sugar mills and the farmers were both losing money.
 Sugarcane Information System    61 

Figure 3: Fall in sugar recovery and weight with time.

iii. Unnecessary data entry: About 70 per cent of the sugarcane is purchased at remote
centres located deep in the villages. The manual handwritten weight receipt slips
were transported back to the sugar mills for entry into database. This was costly and
prone to mistakes.

Problem faced by the sugarcane department

i. Presence of middleman and mafia: Sugar mills pay ` 30–40 per quintal more for
sugarcane compared to the jaggery and khandsari units. Middleman would purchase
sugarcane from small farmers cheaply and sell it to sugar mills at a higher price.
This caused deep resentment among farmers.
ii. Long delivery time of interaction intimation: The time interval between the occurrence
of a transaction and its confirmation was at least seven days. Further, intimation of
an interaction likely to occur in future would arrive too late or sometimes, even after
the event.
All these situations were causing financial loss both to the farmers and the sugar mills
and there was a sense of anger and resentment towards the sugarcane department.

 Planning of Sugarcane Information System

SIS offers almost real-time access to information generated at each step of the sugarcane
procurement process. The problems faced by 3 million farmers and 125 sugar mills could
be solved by a reliable, robust, quick, and cost-effective communication system between
all the stakeholders. The central objective was to provide complete transparency to all
the transactions/interactions between the sugarcane farmers and the sugar mills so that
62    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
the middlemen could be eliminated. This was a mammoth task as there are more than
150 million interactions in a year. The communication system had to be such that the
end users, i.e. the farmers could use it easily and the information provided was latest
up to the last minute. This was very important because literacy level in the rural areas is
low and the ability to use IT-related services was even lower. It was decided to launch
a comprehensive SIS that would address all the concerns of the stakeholders. It consists
of a website, SMS and query SMS system, and Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)
system to be provided by each of the 125 sugar mills.

 The Redesigned Sugarcane Procurement Process

The sis is an e-Governance project that was conceived, developed, tested, and finally
implemented in UP in May 2010. Each farmer–sugar mill interaction is mediated by
a hand-held computer that instantaneously updates the central server. SIS offers real-
time access to information generated at each step of the sugarcane procurement process.
It pushes data to the farmers on three different communication media, namely, SMS,
IVRS and website. Hand-held computers and Global Positioning System (GPS) update
cane server over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and cane server pushes this
information over SIS in almost real-time basis.
At the beginning of the process, a message is delivered to each farmer stating the date
of the survey along with the surveyor’s phone number. Once the survey is completed,
survey data and calendars are delivered using SIS on all three communications media.
Each farmer gets a message about his supply indent slip. At the time of weighment,
a GPRS-enabled hand-held system is used to key in data about procurement such as
weight, variety, and total monitory value. Hand-held terminal updates the cane server
over GPRS and the cane server sends this information over SIS in almost real-time basis.
Once payment is done, SIS sends this information to individual farmers. Figure 4 shows
the system architecture for SIS.
The process architecture is designed to capture all transactions of the agri-marketing
chain in real time, upload it on website, trigger an instant SMS, and retrieval by IVRS.
The use of three parallel systems ensures that users of varying literacy levels are catered
for. SIS is an e-governance platform that serves 3 million sugarcane growers who supply
their produce to 125 sugar mills. The data acquisition and data dissemination systems
are its two main components. A brief description of both is as follows:

Data Disseminating Components

The SIS has three data disseminating components designed for the farmers.
i. Website: The website of SIS is a gateway that opens to 125 different websites
operated by as many different sugar mills. All the websites are standardised on a
model finalised by the department. Each of the 3 million farmers has been assigned
 Sugarcane Information System    63 

Figure 4: System architecture.

a separate web page by the related sugar mill. The farmers can view all their
transactions on their personal web page and even refer to the log history of the
information passed on to them.
ii. SMS System: Since all farmers had access to mobile telephony, mobile phones
were used for sending SMS as well as attending to query SMSs. All the 3 million
sugarcane farmers have been contacted individually and their mobile numbers were
collected. The SIS sends around 130 million SMSs to all the farmers that cover each
interaction/transaction.
iii. IVRS: IVRS is more suitable for low literacy level farmers since it reads out the
instructions as well as the desired information. Each sugar mill has provided toll-
free telephone lines for ease of access.

Data Acquisition
How do we keep information of 170 million operations in rural areas up-to-date in real
time? Put a hand-held computer at farmer sugar mill interface to record the transaction.
Devices such as hand-held computers and GPS are being used for accuracy in data
acquisition. Being battery operated and rugged, they work well in remote areas. Since
these devices are GPRS-enabled, they can be used to communicate with the central
databank in real time from even remote locations. Presently, 7,000 hand-held computers
and 2,000 GPS devices are being used for data acquisition.
64    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India

Figure 5: A screen showing the web page of a farmer.

i. Hand-held computers: Sugarcane procurement centres are located in remote rural

locations where there is no electricity or internet. After weighing of sugarcane,
the farmers were given handwritten receipts, which were prone to manipulation
and overwriting, to the detriment of the farmers. Now, every purchase centre is
equipped with a hand-held computer. This device is GPRS-enabled and can be used
to communicate with the central data bank in real time, even in remote locations.
After weighment, the hand-held computer gives a printed receipt and updates the
database which sends an SMS to the farmer. Thus, the farmer is doubly sure that his
 Sugarcane Information System    65 
data is correctly recorded. Presently,
7,000 hand-held computers are being
used at farmer–sugar mill interface to
record transactions.
ii. GPS: For supply chain management
of sugarcane, every farmer’s field was
to be surveyed for area and variety
of the sugarcane. Prior to the advent
of SIS, at least a team of four persons
was deployed for the survey of each
field. Each field was measured using
measuring tapes and data was entered
Figure 6: Hand-held computer.
into long survey registers. The entire
process was manual and prone to errors. Now, only one person goes out with a
GPS device connected to a hand-held computer and does the needful. The process
is cost-effective, accurate, and updates the database in real time. The farmers’ web
page also shows the result of survey on the Google Earth image.

Figure 7: Result of GPS survey on Google Earth.

66    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
New System and New Methods of Working
i. GPS survey: Prior to the SIS, at least four persons had to be deployed for the survey
of each field. Now, only one person goes with a GPS device connected to a hand-
held computer and does the needful, making the process cost-effective and accurate,
and updates the data base in real time.
ii. HHC weighment: Earlier, farmers used to get handwritten receipts for the supply of
sugarcane. The process was manual and prone to errors and manipulation. Now, as
soon as the sugarcane is weighed, the records are entered in a hand-held computer,
which provides a written receipt to the farmers and updates central data base
instantaneously. With this, an SMS is sent to the beneficiary and he is assured that
his transaction has been recorded.
iii. Weighment using SMS: To get his sugarcane weighed, the farmer does not need a
supply ticket; by using SMS, he can supply his sugarcane to the sugar mill.
iv. Electronic weighbridge: Electronic weighbridges are installed replacing the manual
beam scales to avoid malpractice of under weighment prevalent in pre-SIS era.

 Planning Processes for SIS

Stakeholder Consultation
SIS is the result of a unique collaboration between the government, the 125 sugar mills,
and 168 sugarcane societies. The stakeholders were the sugarcane growers represented
by the 168 cooperative grower societies, the management of 125 sugar mills and the
officials of the sugarcane department.

Figure 8: Stakeholder consultations in progress.

 Sugarcane Information System    67 

Requirement Gathering
The problem and its solution were discussed with all the stakeholders. The farmer
representatives gave inputs regarding the use of technology most appropriate to the
countryside. The responsibility of implementing the solution rested with the sugar mills.
The system had to be robust, easy to operate, and yet be cost-effective. Each sugar mill had
to be an independent delivery centre. Thus, each sugar mill had to be totally convinced
about the utility of SIS if the project was to be successful on a sustained basis.

Study of Best Practices

The CEOs and IT heads of each of the 125 sugar mills were individually consulted and
convinced about the SIS. Once this was done, the department worked hand-in-hand
with the sugar mills. All the data relating to the 3 million growers was entered into
the computers of the sugar mills. The data was cross-checked with the growers for
accuracy.
Thereafter, all the five system, viz., websites, SMS, IVRS, HHC, and GPS were
activated. The Service Level Agreement (SLA) incorporating all features that ensure
uniformity and quality were signed by all 125 sugar mills.

Capacity Building Initiatives

The grower societies played a key role in taking the SIS to the farmers. They organised
numerous training sessions and also distributed leaflets amongst the farmers. This
awareness was crucial because it educated the farmers about the utility of SIS. Later, the
grower societies collected feedback from the farmers, which led to a clear assessment of
shortcomings and to the eventual improvement of SIS upto the level of expectation of
farmers.
Training of IT personnel: What is expected of each sugar mill was communicated
clearly through training.

Figure 9: Training session in progress.

68    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
Training of farmers: Master trainers were trained who in turn trained the others in
how the farmers can benefit from SIS.
Launch of model website: All templates are kept here for the guidance of sugar
mills.
Regular review: Monthly review was a must for guidance and course correction.
Monthly review meetings will IT personnel were meant for two-way exchange of ideas.
These were also brainstorming sessions where new course of actions were decided.
Independent IT experts were consulted regularly to get the best practices from all across
the country.
Independent assessment: Prestigious institutes such as IIT/IIM were involved for
in-depth reviews.

 How and Why is it Transformational

The SIS is the nation’s biggest rural IT platform and has been found to be a robust,
reliable, and valuable tool for the sugarcane farmers of UP. The system has transformed
the sugarcane marketing chain by providing accurate, timely, and reliable access to
information to various stakeholders. Using a portfolio of information and communication
technology (SMS, website, and IVRS), SIS has made sugarcane procurement process
transparent to farmers while completely redefining the relationship between the farmers,
sugar mills, cane unions and the government. Such a huge IT infrastructure like SIS has
not only come up to the expectations of all stakeholders, but is continually marching
ahead to explore new possibilities. It has brought equality between the rich and poor, big
and small by ensuring equal availability of information to all farmers.
Prior to the advent of SIS, the whole process was manual, handwritten and prone to
errors. The farmers were forced to run from pillar to post for getting required information.
They would move from one place to another, from one office to other, from one table to
the next to get the desired information. They would often have to bribe the officials to
get their information. The SIS has transformed all this with a simple solution-to push the
required information for farmers in real time and at their doorsteps.

The success of SIS shows that IT can penetrate the barriers of illiteracy and the poor
can benefit from it. Use of three parallel systems, viz., websites, SMS, and IVRS to
disseminate information is being done for effective management of sugarcane marketing
chain from the farmers’ fields to the mills. Each of the 125 sugar mills in operation
in the state has been made an independent delivery system for information. Due
to standardisation, the sugar mills have identical websites and 3 million sugarcane
growers have their individual web pages that provide comprehensive information.
The services are of uniformly high standard.
 Sugarcane Information System    69 
Each interaction of the farmers with the sugar mill is followed up by a confirmatory
SMS. Uniform protocol for IVRS has been designed by which sugar mills provide the
grower information through toll-free lines.
SIS sends information to the farmers via three different media, viz., website, SMS,
and IVRS, to make it capable of catering to the needs of farmers of all literacy levels.

Collaboration between cooperative society, mill, and the department

SIS is the outcome of unique collaboration where the project was conceptualised by the
department, private enterprise was responsible for its implementation, and farmers were
to benefit from it. SIS is not funded by the government; the sugar mills have borne the
cost of implementation. The core concept of SIS was defined by the government and
each sugar mill has adopted SIS according to its needs with additional features.
The three stakeholders dropped their territorial claims and worked closely together
to benefit the farmers.This system brings true equality by delivering high quality service
to all farmers, irrespective of status. The rich and poor, weak and strong—they all benefit
equally by getting free service. SIS has made millions of transactions paper-free and
therefore, has been able to reduce carbon footprints and save precious natural resources.
This initiative supports the campaign for a clean and green planet.

Figure 10: Stakeholders’ collaboration—roles and responsibilities.

70    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
Other Services Offered through SIS
SIS is being used by the government agencies to also make announcements of the Voter
ID card and pulse polio schemes. The state government has also initiated the use of this
innovative technology for public distribution system and various social welfare schemes.
The Maharashtra Sugarcane Department has also shown keen interest in the system. In
fact, it is suitable for all governments that are faced with the challenge of reaching out
to a population with varying levels of literacy.

Implementation Processes for SIS


i. Identification of solution: The meeting with all stakeholders was called in August–
September 2010. Independent IT experts were also called to contribute with their
expertise. An effective, instantaneous, and reliable communication system that
could share complete information between the 3 million growers and 125 sugar
mills was the solution. It was jointly decided that a three-tier system involving the
use of website, SMS and query SMS system, and the IVRS should be adopted. This
would ensure that all farmers with varying literacy levels could equally benefit
from the system. Further, all the 125 sugar mills were to serve as independent
delivery centres.
ii. Resistance to change: The use of information technology to provide information
in a rural setting needed a paradigm change. The sceptics were quick to ask
whether IT could penetrate the barriers of illiteracy and infrastructure bottlenecks.
Progressive farmers were designated as the agents of change and IT managers

Figure 11: Training of IT personnel.

 Sugarcane Information System    71 
acted as the leaders of change. Through concerted efforts, the idea developed deep
roots.
iii. Collection of mobile telephone numbers: All the 3 million farmers were contacted
individually to collect their mobile telephone numbers. This was completed in
September–October 2010.
iv. Design of model website: Model website for a sugar mill was launched by the
Sugarcane Commissioner in September 2010. It contained the basic templates for
the database to ensure uniformity across the whole state.
v. Launch of website by sugar mills: The IT personnel of each sugar factory were
trained by the sugarcane commissioner’s office. Thereafter, each sugar mill
in November 2010 created the database of its growers and displayed it on the
website. Due to standardisation, all sugar mills websites were identical and the 3
million sugar growers had their individual webpages that provided comprehensive
information.
vi. Launch of IVRS: Uniform protocol for IVRS was designed by the Office of
Sugarcane Commissioner. The sugar mills provided grower information via IVRS
through toll-free lines. This was done in November 2010.
vii. Launch of SMS and query SMS system: Each interaction of the farmers with the
sugar mill was to be followed up by a confirmatory SMS. Growers started getting
the SMS from November 2010. Till date, 240 million SMSs have been sent.
viii. Hand-held computers: These were used to provide printed receipt to the grower
instead of a handwritten one. Each of the 7,000 purchase centres got the hand-held
computer during November 2010 to October 2011.
ix. Training of growers: The sugar mills as well as the cooperative growers’ societies
trained the farmers from November 2010 till March 2011. Leaflets were distributed
widely to educate the farmers in the use of SIS.
x. SLA: To ensure that each sugar mill provided uniform, reliable and high-quality
service, the use of SLAs was made mandatory. The model SLA was adopted by
the sugar mills in November 2010.
xi. Training of IT personnel: To communicate the desired performance levels,
the IT personnel of sugar mills were given training at the office of sugarcane
commissioner.
xii. Performance review: The performance review of each sugar mill was carried out
by the office of sugarcane commissioner. The farmers and sugar mills were called
for monthly reviews. Each problem was identified and hosted on the website. In
the following month, the review included the solution of previously identified
problems. Regular monitoring ensured that all the components of SIS were
complying with the standards.
Since the launch of SIS, many changes have been incorporated that have made the
system more friendly towards the rural farmers. The use of Hindi language for all the
services under SIS has been an important change.
72    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
 Challenges Faced and Overcome
The main constraints and challengers were overcome by using several ingenious strategies
described below:
i. Size and geographical spread: The SIS is the largest rural IT network in India. It
connects 3 million sugarcane growers with 125 sugar mills that are spread out in 44
districts. The problem was solved by making each sugar mill into an independent
delivery centre. The services to be provided by the mill were specified in detail.
The progress was monitored by special audit software that processed information
directly from the sugar mill data base servers. The decentralisation of the delivery
platform solved the problem by dividing it into manageable smaller problems.
ii. Resistance of sugar mills: The cost of the SIS was to be borne by the sugar mills, and
they were initially reluctant. However, right from the initial stakeholders’ meetings,
the problem faced by the sugar mills were identified and solved by the SIS. Each
sugar mill gains about ` 70 million annually by the use of SIS. This has led to the
sugar mills adopting the system in right earnest.
iii. Low IT literacy level of the farmer: The state has a literacy rate of 65 per cent and
the rural areas have even lower levels of literacy. The SIS took this into account by
using three subsystems—websites, SMS, and IVRS simultaneously. The farmer at the
lower end of the literacy spectrum uses the IVRS, which reads out all the desired
details. The SMS system is used by farmers of average literacy to read the message
or ask a literate person to do so. The farmers who are computer literate use the
website to get the information. The use of SIS has led to the popularisation of cyber
cafes in rural areas where, at a nominal payment, farmers can get their complete
printed information. The training session of the growers at the 168 grower societies
also had an impact in popularisation of SIS.
iv. Collection of 3 million mobile phone numbers: The task of collecting the mobile
telephone numbers was an uphill one as no one had earlier collected so many
telephone numbers. Each village was mapped out and specific village-wise teams
were designated to collect the numbers. Over a period of 3 months, after continuous
monitoring, the task was completed.
v. Lack of connectivity: Some parts of the state did not have adequate mobile towers,
which led to poor connectivity. The farmers were willing to purchase mobile phones
but there was no network. Further, the sugar mills needed high-speed internet lines
to host the websites. The mobile service providers were contacted and were assured
good business. They readily set up the infrastructure at these locations, which led to
the success of SIS.

Impact of the Project: In Measureable


Terms and Intangibles
The SIS was implemented from August 2010 and has since then been operational. The SIS
has won the gold medal of prestigious international commonwealth CAPAM Innovation
 Sugarcane Information System    73 
Award for the year 2012. The Government of India has awarded gold medal of the
National Award for e-Governance to the SIS in the category of Citizen-Centric Services.
The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi,
have also studied the SIS. A Microsoft-sponsored study has also been conducted on the
successful implementation of the project.The financial, educational, and social benefits of
SIS have come to the sugarcane farmers, sugar mills, and government.

Benefits to farmers
The key benefits to the farmers are transparency, elimination of middlemen, saving in
unnecessary travel, increased supply of sugarcane to the mills, increase in area under
sugarcane crop, and higher weight of sugarcane supply. The financial impact of SIS on
farmers is shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Financial impacts on farmers due to SIS

S. No. Item Before SIS After SIS Increase in income

million (in `)
1 Number of trips to sugar mills/society 20 4 5220.0
offices per year
2 Time interval between harvest and 48 24 1546.2
supply to purchase centres higher
weight of supply (hours)
3 Higher production supplied to sugar 56.76 64.43 459.8
mill vis-à-vis jaggery units (million
hectares)
4 Increase in area under sugarcane 1.79 2.25 348.0
(million hectares)
5 Increase in productivity (tonnes/ 56.34 57.00 891.4
hectare)
Total 8465.4 million

At the purchase centre, farmers get real-time access to information about weight,
variety, and value of the crop. Any discrepancy in data entry can be brought to thenotice
of purchase clerk and corrected on the spot. Similarly, an SMS is sent to the farmer when
payment advice is sent to the bank.

Benefit to sugar mills

The benefit to the sugar mills are supply of fresh sugarcane, increase in sugarcane supply,
and reduction in data entry. Table 5 summarises the financial impact of SIS on the sugar
mills:
74    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
Table 5: Financial impacts on sugar mills due to SIS

S. No. Item Before SIS After SIS Increase in income

in million `
1 Time interval between harvesting and 48 hours 36 hours 966.0
supply to purchase centres (higher
sugar recovery)
2 Time interval between arrival of 18 hours 14 hours 579.4
sugarcane at purchase centre and
supply to the factory (higher sugar
recovery)
3 Cost of data entry of grower wise 41.8 million Zero 208.8
sugarcane purchase details (no. of
entries)
4 Increase in sugarcane supply to all the 56.76 64.43 5253.0
sugar mills (million tonnes)
Total 7007.2 million

The software package consisting of websites, software for SMS system, IVRS, and
hand-held computer cost ` 1 million for a sugar mill. For all the 125 sugar mills, the total
cost of implementing the SIS is ` 125 million. The SIS increases the income of sugar mills
and farmers by ` 15,472.6 million. The benefit to cost ratio of SIS is 124 : 1.

Harvesting sugarcane is a labour-intensive activity. After a supply indent ticket is

issued, lead time between harvest to crushing at mill should not be beyond 72 hours.
Prior to SIS, supply indent slips were manually distributed leading to higher indent
failure and confusion at farmer’s end. SIS ensures that supply indent is pushed to the
correct farmer, leading to lower indent failure and reduction in harvest to crush lead
time.

Hand-held terminals at the purchase centre also provide the sugar mills with real-
time access to total procurement across various procurement centres. On an average,
each sugar mill procures 40 per cent of the sugarcane at the mill’s gate and the rest
in various outstation purchase centres spread across the reserve and assigned areas.
Sugarcane procured at various outstation centres has to be transported back to the mills.
By providing procurement information, SIS improves planning of pick-up from the
procurement centres by trucks.
Some other benefits of SIS include:
i. The farmers no longer have to travel needlessly to distant offices to fetch
information. All the information is available free of cost to farmers at their
doorstep. The farmers can choose from amongst website, SMS or IVRS to fetch
information.
 Sugarcane Information System    75 
ii. The sugar mill personnel too have benefitted from SIS. The tedious task of
manual survey and handwritten rewards have been replaced by GPS and
hand-held computer operation. The data is accurate and available in real times.
iii. Importance of IT personnel has been firmly established in the sugar mills. IT
training of weighing clerks, field surveyors, and others has become mandatory
as the new processes are entirely IT driven.

Benefits to the Government

i. Elimination of sugarcane mafia: Over 2,00,000 middlemen who did not own land
but were supplying sugarcane by purchasing from the small/marginal farmers
and selling to sugar mills have been eliminated. The income of the real sugarcane
growers has increased as they now get the higher price fixed by the government.
ii. Reduction in layers of government: The roles of various middle-level functionaries
have been eliminated by SIS, resulting in direct benefits to the real producers of
goods like farmers and mill owners.
iii. Transformation in the attitude toward e-Governance: The major transformation is in
the mental attitude towards relevance of e-Governance and its role in improving the
services to the rural community that has been established by this initiative.
iv. Increase in use of ICT in rural areas: The SIS has led to a jump in the use of cyber
cafes, internet, laptops, SMS, and IVRS in rural areas. The level of IT awareness in
rural areas is at an all time high.

Lessons Learnt

The process of implementation has been an enriching one. The key lessons learnt are:
i. Use of technology appropriate to literacy level: The SIS uses three parallel systems
that cater to the varying IT literacy levels of the users. The farmers at the lowest
end of literacy spectrum use the IVRS whereas the literate and progressive farmers
prefer the website. The SMS benefits all as it can be read with the help of others.
ii. Sustainability: The SIS addresses the financial, social, regulatory, and environmental
sustainability of the project. All stakeholders benefit substantially from the initiative
and this ensures its sustainability.
iii. Decentralised implementation: Each of the 125 sugar mills were made an
independent delivery centre. The sugar mills and sugarcane growers were within
close vicinity of each other and the implementation was easy.
iv. Decentralised monitoring: The 168 cooperative growers’ societies were given the
task of monitoring the implementation. The service provider and the end users were
in constant touch leading to perfect execution.
v. Agreed goals—stakeholder consultation: The system was designed after incorporating
the suggestions of both the farmers as well as the sugar mills. The agreed goals
facilitated the implementation in a smooth manner.
76    Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
vi. Training: IT personnel of the sugar mills were trained to understand the design
standards. The time spent on training led to perfect communication of the Cane
Commissioner’s vision with the IT personnel. This ensured that implementation of
SIS was quick and upto the design standards. Similarly, the farmers were trained in
the use SIS by the 168 growers’ societies.
vii. Regular monitoring: Each sugar mill was personally monitored by the Sugarcane
Commissioner’s team. Monthly review meetings were followed up by monitoring
of implementation until the desired standards were achieved.

Long-Term Significance

i. Low literacy rates no barrier to e-Governance: The successful implementation of
SIS in a state with low literacy rate is a remarkable achievement that highlights the
fact that an innovative IT solution can penetrate barriers of low literacy and deliver
results to the last person. The simultaneous operation of three media provides access
to all beneficiaries taking into account the varying IT literacy levels of the individual
users.
.ii. Sustainability: The SIS had no budgetary support from the government and cost is
borne by the sugar mills. The sugarcane farmers, the growers’ cooperatives, and the
sugar mills are all receiving considerable financial benefits from SIS while helping
government perform its role as a facilitator. All these factors ensure the financial,
social, and regulatory sustainability of the initiative.
iii. Penetration of IT in rural areas: The availability of information through SIS has led
to the increase in use of computers in rural areas. The confidence gained by the
farmers by the use of ICT tools is revolutionary and is an invaluable asset.
iv. Reduction in layers of government and middlemen: The implementation of SIS has
brought complete transparency to all transactions. This has resulted in the elimination
of middlemen and has cut down the role of middle-level officials, thereby simplifying
the system and getting rid of corruption.
v. Replicability: The lessons learnt can be replicated in the following areas:
The SIS can be used by all organisations and government departments that interact
with a large number of people spread over a wide geographical area. The areas where
SIS can have a relevance are: (1) Social Welfare Department – inform beneficiaries
about release of scholarships and social security pensions; (2) Primary Education
Department – verify attendance of teachers; (3) Land records – inform the owners
about any change in ownership; and (4) Rural Development – inform citizens about
release of funds for local village bodies.
 Sugarcane Information System    77 

 Future Roadmap
While extending the use of SIS services for sugarcane department, new features are being
added to the system. Live feed from CCTV cameras installed in sugar mills at weighment
centres is being provided through websites, so that farmers can know the proper time to
carry their produce to the mills. A web-driven complaint redressal mechanism has been
established in which farmers can register their complaints through SMS or websites and
the mills are responsible for solving the problem in a given time frame. The farmers are
informed through SMSs about the redressal of their complaints. A plan for establishing
touch-screen kiosks at village level is under progress and it is planned to use the system
for marketing of other crops, especially those of perishable nature such as horticultural
crops.