Cashew is a most important plantation crops in the country as it brings in considerable foreign exchange earnings. Keeping this in mind, the Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) in Karnataka has launched a mobile app that would provide information related to the crop’s cultivation, market data and research for stakeholders, including the farmers.
The 'Cashew India' app of DCR, which is under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and located at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, is available in 11 languages and can be downloaded from Google play store, the official statement said.
"The app will give comprehensive information on cashew grafts, nursery, cultivation, plant protection, post-harvest processing, market information and e-market beneficial for farmers, researchers, developmental agencies and processors at one place", said S Mohana, senior scientist at DCR, who conceptualized and designed this app, in an official release.
A farmer or user of the app can upload and store images related to cashew and videos in 'My Cashew' sub-section under the cultivation section. The app also allows the user to record expenditure, observations and data of the cashew farm. Real-time chatting is available for users under the chat room section.
The official release stated that it was also possible to order for grafts online in planting material section from the research stations in a state. Additionally, users can give their buying and selling requirements in the market info section. Experts can be also be contacted through the ‘Ask Expert’ section.
The app has been developed for states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Meghalaya. A multilingual app, it is available in Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Bengali and Garo languages.
The technical Information for the app is provided by the scientists of DCR and from centres of the all-India coordinated research project on cashew in the country.
Source: PTI
