Quote from: minus on January 08, 2014, 05:05:23 PM

Today I met with a head of a Organic farming co-operative initiative in Tamil Nadu and was trying to see how bitcoins can fit into the picture.

I was focused on two things
1. To encourage distribution of bitcoins
2. To encourage people transact with bitcoins

So I asked them if they could issue a very small portion of the profit (say 0.5%) as bitcoins?
They were willing to experiment.

As I was discussing how money can easily be transferred across wallets. The fundamental question was
1. Most of the people in villages do not have access to internet or smart phones. So how are these people going to hold or transact in bitcoins?

So are bitcoins only for literates with a understanding of technology and who hold sophisticated gadgets ?

Well the question about technology is a big one. the bitcoin network requires transaction to be verified, making offline transaction using paper wallets not viable. even if these private key wallets are issued by a Certifying Agency, forgery becomes a problem.

the short answer is that the farmer will require a device with an internet connection. not a sophisticated gadget but a simple android device or an atom/arm computer.

a co-operative can use this as their main source of transaction, as this does not come down to an individual farmer. But rather the wholesale of goods to the market or individual buyers through delivery or pickups.