आसानी से और जल्दी से जानकारी प्राप्त करने के लिए किसानों के लिए मोबाइल सॉफ्टवेयर

Farmers often struggle for basic information like weather updates, crop prices and expert advice, ending up often relying on hearsays.  A new mobile app “Kisan Suvidha” launched at march 21, 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will prove helpful for farmers in this regard but they must own a smartphone.

The app is likely to have many takers as India is second largest smartphone market in the world with 87 million mobile Internet users in rural areas. Keeping its targets audience in mind, the app is designed with user-friendly interface consisting of important parameters to provide info on.

The farmers can get critical and definite information on the weather forecast, dealers detail to sell to, the market price of a commodity in nearest area, information to protect plants from pest, weed and diseases, and expert advice from farm experts. Besides, farmers can directly get in touch with Kisan call centre where technical graduates answer their queries.

The features "Kisan Suvidha" mobile app

1. To begin with, a farmer has to register the mobile number, choose a language—at present limited to Hindi and English—and enter details of the state, district and block or sub-district.
2. A tap on the weather button shows details of temperature, humidity, wind and rainfall for the current day and the forecast for the next five days. Additionally, a farmer can get extreme weather alerts like hailstorms or unseasonal rains—a useful tool for farmers. For instance, after harvesting, farmers often leave their cereal crops in the field to dry. Prior information on freak rains can help them save their crop.
3. The market price button shows latest price of all crops traded in amandi or registered agriculture market of the particular district a farmer belongs to. Additionally, he gets to see the maximum price in the district, state and the entire country on a particular day. For small farmers, who often sell their produce to local traders, this could be an important bargaining tool. Also, farmers can decide on whether to take their produce to the mandi or delay it based on information on current prices. Other information points are useful too.
4. The plant protection button gives pest, weed and disease-related information as well as management practices for each stage of crop development—from nursery to harvesting. A farmer from, say Ganganagar district in Rajasthan, can scan the information for all major crops grown in the district like mustard, wheat and vegetables.
5. The agro advisory section shows messages for farmers from district agriculture officials and state universities in their local language. These primarily deal with crop management practices based on the prevailing situation, say a remedy for a widespread pest attack or imminent showers. Farmers can also access names and mobile numbers of input dealers selling pesticides, seeds, fertiliser and machinery.
6. This is a handy tool—farmers can now make a call and compare prices and availability before they actually head out to purchase these inputs. The agriculture ministry, which developed the app, describes it as an “omnibus for quick and relevant information”. Adding more local languages will take it a step further.

Some other mobile app related to Agriculture

The android apps for farmers can be downloaded from the official website mkisan.gov.in or from the Google play store. Below is the list of all android apps t for farmers

Pusa Krishi application

Pusa Krishi app help farmers know the various types of crops and information about those.

MKisan android Application

The android app allows farmers and all other stakeholders to obtain advisories and information being sent by experts and government officials at different levels through mkisan portal without registering on the portal.

Shetkari Masik Android App

The app can be used to download Shetkari Masik magazine and can be read without internet connectivity. “Shetkari Masik” is one of the most popular monthly magazines in the Agriculture sector, under publication since 1965. It is published by Department of Agriculture, Maharashtra.

Farm-o-pedia App

The app is targeted for rural Gujarat and is useful for farmers and anyone involved in agriculture business. The app can be used to get suitable crops as per soil and season, crop wise information, check whether in your area and manage your cattle.

Crop Insurance Android App

Crop insurance mobile app can be downloaded and used to calculate the Insurance Premium for notified crops based on area, coverage amount and loan amount in case of loanee farmer. The app can also be used to get details of normal sum insured, extended sum insured, premium details and subsidy information of any notified crop in any notified area.

AgriMarket

AgriMarket mobile app can be used to get the market price of crops in the markets within 50 km of the device’s location capture by GPS. There is another option to get price of any market and any crop in case person does not want to use GPS location.

Authors:

Mukesh Choudhary, V. Bhati ¹

Department of Extension Education Rajasthan college of Agriculture, Udaipur

PhD Scholar, Department of Horticulture, SKRAU, Bikaner

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