Integrated Technology Enabled Agriculture Management System (iTEAMS)

What is iTEAMS in Meghalaya?

Integrated Technology Enabled Agriculture Management System, almost always called iTEAMS or 1917 iTEAMS, is a state-sponsored scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of Meghalaya. According to the department's scheme record, the objective is "addressing the critical issue of enabling and facilitating access to remunerative and sustainable markets for farmers' produce in the most transparent and effective manner" through a facilitation service the department brands as iTEAM, Dial 1917.

iTEAMS is unusual among state schemes because it has no application form. A farmer dials 1917 free from any mobile phone, reaches the Agri-Response Centre (ARC), and is registered on the call. The Meghalaya Government portal lists the scheme's sponsor as "State", the concerned department as the Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department and the beneficiaries simply as "Farmers".

The department launched the service in December 2017, and its own departmental blog records the launch by the then Chief Minister on 29 December 2017. The Citizen Charter of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare still lists it under additional information: farmers can call 1917 for market connect, agro-advisory services and for hiring an Agri Response Vehicle.

What does iTEAMS actually do for a farmer?

The department lists five activities a farmer can be assisted with on 1917:

1. 12/6 physical connectivity to markets, the service operates twelve hours a day, six days a week for moving produce.
2. Access to input suppliers and bidders. A direct line to people selling seed and inputs and to buyers bidding for produce.
3. Tailor-made advisory solutions on crops, package of practices, animal health care and similar subjects.
4. Assured logistics and transport solutions at Rs 2.00 per kilometre per quintal, which the department also expresses as 0.20 per kilogram per kilometre, the same rate written two ways.
5. Livelihood options through leasing an Agri Response Vehicle, so the scheme is also a small-business route, not only a service.

The published entitlement is: telephone advice, free mobile SMS to registered farmers, and transport service to evacuate farmers' produce to markets at Rs 2.00 per km per quintal. The pattern of assistance is recorded as free telephonic advisory, access to a Subject Matter Specialist (SMS in the technical sense. An agricultural expert), and transport services.

The point the department repeatedly makes is that a farmer reaches markets and prices directly, without going through middlemen. For a hill state where a village may be 40 or 60 kilometres from a regulated market, knowing today's price before loading a truck is the difference between a profit and a distress sale.

Who is eligible for iTEAMS?

You can register if:

• You are a bonafide farmer engaged in agriculture in Meghalaya. That is the department's stated eligibility criterion, in full.
• You have access to any mobile phone. The call to 1917 is toll free.
• You are a buyer or input supplier who wants to be reachable on the network. The mode of selection is recorded as "open to all farmers and buyers to register", so the trade side registers too.

You cannot expect service if:

• You are outside Meghalaya. The Agri Response Vehicles, the Agri-Response Centre and the advisory network are state services; a farmer in another state is not eligible and should use their own state's helpline or the national Kisan Call Centre.
• You are looking for a cash subsidy or a grant. iTEAMS pays no money to anyone. It is an advisory, market-linkage and logistics service, and the only rupee figure attached to it is a charge you pay for transport, not a benefit you receive.

There is no land ceiling, no income test, no age bar and no caste or category requirement published for iTEAMS. That is deliberate, the service is meant to be universal within the state's farming community.

What documents are required for iTEAMS?

Compare this with every other scheme run by the same department, where the Citizen Charter requires a prescribed form or a plain-paper application to the Agriculture Development Officer. iTEAMS is the exception: the registration happens on the call.

How to apply for iTEAMS and use the service

1. Dial 1917 from any mobile phone in Meghalaya. The number is toll free, so the call costs nothing even on a low balance.
2. Register with the Agri-Response Centre. Give the operator your name, your village and your CD Block. You are then on the register and will start receiving free SMS alerts.
3. Ask your question or place your request. For crop advice, ask to be put through to a Subject Matter Specialist. For prices, ask for the current rate at the market you sell in. For inputs, ask to be connected to a registered supplier.
4. Book an Agri Response Vehicle when you have produce to move. Tell the operator the crop, the quantity in quintals, the pickup village and the destination market. The charge is Rs 2 per kilometre per quintal, so 10 quintals moved 30 kilometres costs Rs 600.
5. Keep the SMS. Registered farmers get free SMS on prices and advisories; these also serve as a record of what the service told you.

To register as a buyer or input supplier, the same 1917 number applies, the department's mode of selection line covers both sides of the market.

How do I check what iTEAMS costs and what I owe?

The transport rate is the only charge, and it is published in two equivalent forms by the department: Rs 2.00 per kilometre per quintal on the scheme page and in the Citizen Charter, and 0.20 per kilogram per kilometre in the objectives list. One quintal is 100 kilograms, so 0.20 x 100 = Rs 20 per kilometre for ten quintals, the two figures agree.

Work out your own cost before you book:

• Distance in kilometres x quantity in quintals x Rs 2 = the fare.
• 5 quintals over 20 km = Rs 200.
• 20 quintals over 50 km = Rs 2,000.

Advisory calls and SMS carry no charge at all. If anyone asks you to pay for crop advice on 1917, that is not part of the scheme.

Common problems, and what to do about them

• The call does not connect. 1917 is a short code and needs mobile network coverage. From a patchy area, try from the block headquarters, or ask the Agriculture Development Officer at your CD Block to place the call with you.
• No vehicle available on the day you want. Physical connectivity is published as 12/6 to twelve hours a day, six days a week, and ARVs are a finite fleet. Book ahead of harvest rather than on the morning of it.
• You stop getting SMS. Your registered number may have changed. Call 1917 again and re-register the new number.
• You want the price for a market the operator does not cover. Meghalaya also publishes wholesale prices for agriculture and horticulture crops online through the state agricultural marketing board, and the Citizen Charter lists that as an information service of the department.
• You expected money. iTEAMS is not a subsidy scheme. For subsidies, look at the department's separate heads — farm mechanisation, plant protection equipment at 50% subsidy, plantation crop planting material at 50% subsidy; each of which is applied for on paper through the ADO or HDO.

How iTEAMS fits with the department's other services

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare delivers advisory through several channels, and it helps to know which one to use:

• 1917 iTEAMS: Meghalaya's own line for advice, prices, market linkage and transport.
• Kisan Call Centre, 1800-180-1551. The national line, open 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM daily including Sunday.
• National e-Governance Plan for Agriculture (NeGP-A). A centrally sponsored scheme under which the department provides advisory on crops, pests and diseases and market information over internet and mobile. Contact is the Agriculture Information Officer, Directorate of Agriculture.
• Soil Health Card and Soil Testing, free soil testing and a Soil Health Card, applied for through the ADO or directly at the Soil Testing Laboratory at Shillong, Tura or Jowai.

Help and grievance redressal

• iTEAMS Agri-Response Centre; dial 1917, toll free, from any mobile
• iTEAMS website to 1917iteams.in
• Director of Agriculture, Cleve Colony, Government Fruit Garden, Shillong 793003 to telephone (0364) 2222460, fax (0364) 2223228, email agri-meg@nic.in
• Agriculture Information Officer, Directorate of Agriculture; telephone (0364) 2229127, email aio-agri-meg@nic.in
• District Agricultural Officer of your district, 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM in summer and 10.00 AM to 4.30 PM in winter
• Online grievances, the state grievance portal at mii.nic.in

The Citizen Charter of the department states that grievances may be given in writing to the concerned District Agricultural Officer during office hours or directly to the Director of Agriculture at the Shillong headquarters.