The Effect of Reminders on Farmers’ Knowledge and Adoption of Priority Practices for Cultivating Coffee
IND -21 -1670Last modified on January 27th, 2026 at 8:59 am
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Abstract
PxD operates the Coffee Krishi Taranga (CKT) platform in collaboration with the Coffee Board of India to provide a voice-based advisory service for coffee farmers through a two-way Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.
White stem borer (WSB) is a major pest in coffee cultivation, and causes crop damage and yield losses. In a qualitative survey with Arabica coffee growers in Karnataka, 30 out of 31 farmers had faced a WSB attack in the last coffee season, and 22 of these farmers reported having used corrective measures that are no longer recommended (or have been banned) by the Coffee Board. When asked about the practices recommended by the Coffee Board, more than 80% could not recall any priority practice, despite most having received one round of advisory in the past. Low recall doesn’t necessarily mean farmers didn’t adopt these practices; it could reflect the technical complexity of the recommendations, a limited availability of recommended inputs at local agro-dealers, or a farmer’s reluctance to change established practices.
Given the high economic impact of the WSB, we tested whether repeating key recommendations for managing this pest would result in higher knowledge and adoption of practices when farmers are faced with an attack. To prevent damage from this pest, farmers are advised to take action as soon as infested plants are detected. Different steps are required depending on the extent of damage.
We found that push-call and SMS reminders, in addition to our regular advisory calls, were very effective in increasing the adoption of recommended actions to address WSB infestations. Treated farmers were around 6 percentage points (pp) more likely to take any recommended actions against WSB, and 11 pp more likely if their plants were highly infested. -
Status
Completed
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Start date
Q3 Aug 2021
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End date
Q4 Dec 2021
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Experiment Location
Karnataka, India
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Partner Organization
J-PAL
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Agricultural season
_N/A
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Experiment type
A/B test
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Sample frame / target population
Active CKT users growing Arabica coffee in Karnataka
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Sample size
2,400
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Outcome type
Farming practices, Knowledge, Input adoption
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Mode of data collection
Phone survey
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Research question(s)
1. Does reinforcing technical recommendations by sending reminders increase the likelihood of farmers remembering and adopting the recommendations?
2. Do reminders (call- or SMS-based) increase the likelihood of farmers adopting the recommended priority practices?
3. Which method of reminders is most effective in increasing knowledge and adoption—an SMS message, a push call, or a combination of both? -
Research theme
Agricultural management advice, Communication technology, Message timing and frequency, Pest management
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Research Design
The sample comprised farmers from Karnataka who were growing Arabica coffee and who had picked up at least one CKT call in the previous six months. We randomized farmers at the individual level and stratified them by district, smartphone user, gender, and whether their listening rate in the previous six months was above the median. Farmers were randomly assigned to the following groups:
1. Treatment 1 (T1)—Push-call reminders: Received the standard advisory message and 4 summary reminders via push calls.
2. Treatment 2 (T2)—SMS reminders: Received the standard advisory message and 4 summary reminders via SMS messages.
3. Treatment 3 (T3)—Push-call + SMS reminders: Received the standard advisory message and 4 summary reminders, 2 via push calls and 2 via SMS messages.
4. Control: Received the standard advisory messages only.Messages were sent over seven weeks from September 8 to October 27, 2021.
The sources of data for this experiment were the endline survey and the usage data (inbound, outbound, Q&A). The endline survey covered farmers’ knowledge of key practices and adoption of key practices, farmers’ interest in receiving promotional messages in the future, and farmers’ feedback on the content and timing of messages.
Primary outcomes of interest were the proportion of farmers with knowledge of one or more recommended WSB practices, and the proportion of farmers reporting adoption of one or more recommended WSB practices.
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Results
Push-call and SMS reminders had a positive impact on the self-reported adoption of correct actions to address WSB infestations. Treated farmers (pooled for T1, T2, and T3) were around 6 pp more likely to take any correct action against WSB (control mean = 89%) and 11 pp more likely to take recommended actions against heavily infested plants (control mean = 77%). Both of these results are statistically significant at the 1% level. Push-call reminders (T1) slightly increased knowledge of correct practices for healthy plants (swabbing with lime solution), but had no significant effect on knowledge of recommended insecticides for WSB infestation. SMS reminders (T2) and a combination of both reminders (T3) had no significant effects on knowledge outcomes.