The number of farmers approaching Kisan call centre (KCC) for farming related tips more than doubled to 20 lakh in 2010-11 fiscal, a fact which reflects the utility of the service.

KCC is a call centre based extension service that provides the farmers with expert advice on different aspects of farming and allied activities in their own language.

"In 2011-11, over 20 lakh calls were received by the Kisan Call Centres as compared to 9 lakh calls in the previous year," an official statement said.

Since its inception in 2004, KCCs have received more than 62 lakh calls.

At present, 25 KCCs are operating in the country, it added.

The Agriculture Ministry after seeing the growing response from the farming community has decided to increase the number of seats of KCC representatives at the call centre so that every call can be received and answered quickly.

Efforts are also being made to involve common call centres to answer farmer's queries with the help of a Kisan Knowledge Management System and other portals developed by the Ministry, it said.

States have also been requested to support the KCCs in all possible ways, it added.

A State-level monitoring committee has also been constituted comprising Secretary (Agriculture), Directors in agriculture and allied departments, representative of local BSNL office, and the nodal officer to monitor the activities of KSS.

The committee reviews the issues related with organisation of training programmes, publicity and telephone connection issues, and ascertains the authenticity and accuracy of answers given by KCC representatives to farmers.