e-portals: An effective way to bridge the gap between farmers and markets

Dr. S. Durga¹, Dr. M. Kousalya Devi²and Dr. Kappala Deepthi³

¹Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of Livestock Production Management, Veterinary College and Research Institute, TANUVAS, Namakkal– 637 001

²Ph.D. Scholar, Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, National Dairy

Research Institute, Karnal -132001

³Assistant professor, Dept. of Veterinary Microbiology, FVAS, RGSC-BHU

Importance of mobile apps in agriculture sector

Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy with over 58 per cent of rural households depending on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. Agriculture, along with fisheries and forestry, is one of the largest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India.

The need for timely access to information for decision making in agriculture and allied sectors needs no emphasis. Keeping this in view various options have been explored by the government for transferring information to farmers in a timely and cost effective manner.

Government of India has launched a number of web and mobile based applications for dissemination of information on agriculture related activities, free of cost, for the benefit of farmers and other stakeholders. These apps helps in providing market information, facilitating market links, providing access to extension services, farm related information etc. These apps can be downloaded from the official website mkisan.gov.in or from the Google play store. This digital change is acting as a game-changer for Indian agricultural conditions. Thus, the apps are helping boost overall business performance and reducing negative environmental impacts of farming.

eNAM Mobile App

National Agriculture Market is an online portal for trading agricultural commodities launched by Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. eNAM mobile application is available for Android phones and can be downloaded from Google Play Store. The aim of the app is to create a unified digital market network in which farmers can trade their produce directly or through registered commission agents with transparent financial transactions.

Features

• Commodities: 150 commodities including food grains, oilseeds, fibers, vegetables and fruits
• Coverage: Around 1000 markets, 18 states and 3 UTs. Government is planning to connect over 22,000 Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAMs)
• GPS-based mandi locator (finds mandis within 100 km radius)
• Can view minimum and maximum prices in mandis
• Online transactions via-BHIM UPI, debit card and NEFT.
• Languages : nine languages (Hindi, Marati, English, Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu,
• Farmers producers companies (FPOs) can upload of details of produce from their collection centres
• Warehouse (eNWR) based Trading: Small and marginal farmers can directly trade their produce stored in WDRA registered warehouses
• Logistics module: More than 7.76 lakh trucks are available with the eNAM platform. Traders book logistics by navigating to service provider’s website from app
• eNAM Call Centre:Contact no. -18002700224 assist in logistics arrangements and related grievances of farmers/FPOs/traders.

AgriCentral – Smart Farming for all

            This is an excellent Android based application downloadable freely from Google Play Store. It provides information about market price and trend in a clear graphical view. In addition assists farmers in gaining access to information on crop diseases, weather, farming news, government schemes and agri events.

Features

• Farm Voice: Interactive forum to ask questions and guidance from progressive farmers all across the country and Agri experts
• Crop Care: Image based identification of pest/disease that has attacked the crop. It also provides expert solution to protect or cure the crop.
• Crop Plan: It gives a personalized calendar of activities based on sowing date and type of cultivation. Information about fertilizers, pesticides, bio-agents and other agri chemicals are also available.
• Market View: AgriCentral claims to have the biggest collection of prices with over 5000 price-points. It also gives market trends to decide on when and where to sell the produce.
• Bulletin: Stay updated with local, national and global developments in Agribusiness. Schemes section tells you the govt. schemes that you can benefit from and how to avail the same. Find out the Agri events/programs like Expos, Krishi Mela etc near you and find out how to reach there.
• Weather: Provides 15 days forecast on temperature, rainfall and humidity to plan farm activities.
• Agri Sense: Exclusive feature for FPO/co-operative/dealer enables transact in Agri-inputs. This feature is available on request to AgriCentral team.

IFFCO Kisan – Agriculture APP

            This also an Android based mobile application launched by IFFCO Kisan, a subsidiary of Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd. It gives information to farmers on various aspects ranging from market prices, weather and other agriculture information’s in text, audios and videos. This enables farmers take informed decisions in all aspects of agricultural and farming related activities.

Features

• Market or Mandi – Instant access to mandi prices, market status and price trends to plan sale of produce. Data source- Agmarket.nic.in & NCEDX.
• Market place- Meeting platform for buyer and seller. A buyer or a seller can register his/her buying or selling requirements.
• Weather – Access to weather forecast for next 5 days with temp, RH, rainfall possibility, Data source-IMD
• Agricultural Advisories- guides farmers to take corrective actions based on prevailing weather conditions.
• Personalized agriculture solutions through voice call.
• An agriculture information library all important agriculture information related to crops, agriculture cycle, agriculture field preparation, water management, agriculture diseases management and agriculture proactive actions.
• Helpline – connectivity to Kisan Call Centre Services “18001801551” number from the IFFCO Kisan app.

Constraints

• It is not available for North-Eastern states
• The app is reviewed by some users as very slow in performance

Gramseva:Kisan

Gramseva: Kisan is a Android app created by Neil Mathew, with the aim assisting farmers to obtain the official prices which will help them bargaining with greedy manipulative dealers and also make informed decisions while selling their produce based on market trend.

Key Features

• Auto Sync with data.gov.in: The app automatically downloads and saves the agricultural commodity price information from data.gov.in on daily basis
• Farmers can view the synced prices offline. Price information of the commodities are stored in the app for one week. This is an important feature for rural areas where continuous internet connection is not available.
• Share price information with co-farmers by SMS, e-mail, WhatsApp

Constraints

• It is available only for six states (Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh).

Useful, easily accessible and freely downloadable value-added mobile applications with above average reviews are presented here. These robust and advanced digital platforms have the potential to empower farmers make informed decision by removing information asymmetries.

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