Agriculture in India is growing with the introduction of the Green Revolution, the White Revolution, and Golden Revolution and Horticulture Revolutions. Agriculture experts have brought smart farming technologies that enabled them to reduce costs, maximize yields and increase profits. And there is perhaps a no better example of smart farming than with the ‘mobile app’.
There are apps for social networks, banking, travel, health, fitness, news, calendars, games, you name it, there is sure to be an app there for it. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to support the transmission of localized information and services working towards making farming socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, while contributing to the delivery of nutritious and economical food for all – this comprises the Digital Agriculture.
This has also led to the rise and development of mobile apps which are helping existing government schemes and other agriculture-based information to reach farmers in rural India. 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. Now, with a click of a button, farmers can access information regarding weather, dealers, market prices, plant protection, agro advisories, IPM practices etc. Thus, these advancements will definitely help bring significant change in the lives of farmers and the field of agriculture.
Here are 10 Mobile Apps that has made agriculture easy and more productive for the farmers:
1. Kisan Suvidha- Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 to work towards empowerment of farmers and development of villages, the app design is neat and offers a user-friendly interface. It provides information on current weather and also the forecast for the next five days, market prices of commodities/crops in the nearest town, knowledge on fertilizers, seeds, machinery etc. The option to use the app in different languages makes it more widely accessible.
2. Pusa Krishi - The app was also launched in 2016 by the Union Agriculture Minister and aims to help farmers to get information about technologies developed by Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), which will help in increasing returns to farmers. The app also provides farmers with information related to new varieties of crops developed by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), resource-conserving cultivation practices as well as farm machinery and its implementation will help in increasing returns to farmers.
3. Crop Insurance -The app helps farmers to calculate insurance premium for notified crops and provides information cut-off dates and company contacts for their crop and location. It 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. It is further linked to its web portal which caters to all stakeholders including farmers, states, insurance companies, and banks.
4. Agri Market -Launched along with the Crop Insurance app by the government of India, the app has been developed with an aim to keep farmers abreast of crop prices and discourage them to go for distress sales. Farmers can get information related to prices of crops in markets within 50km of their own device location using the Agri Market Mobile App.
5. ‘Uzhavan’ (meaning - farmer)’ App - This app allows farmers to have access to nine types of services, including details about their crop insurance, information on farm subsidies, book farm equipment and related infrastructure and receiving weather forecast for the next four days.
6. CCMobile App -Tracking health metabolic metrics and delivery of a parcel is a norm but thi app goes beyond it. Interestingly, this time for farmers. Actually, “CC” is an acronym for Connected Crops and the app, compatible with Android and iOS, tends to connect farmers with their crop. The users can read the environment metrics like temperature, humidity, wind velocity and moisture remotely. They can also compare those metrics over a period of time, say weekly, fortnightly or monthly to assess the status of their crop. The sensor readings are available through SMS / email alerts, graphing and historical data.
7. Spray Guide -Ensuring the right composition, viscosity or consistency of pesticide or other agricultural solutions is important. The app calculates everything, viz, the amount of solute, the amount of solvent, the mixing time and the spraying areas so that you get the best value from your investment. The app is compatible with Android, iPhone and iPad. Users can share their experience including data and results with others over their social accounts.
8. IFFCO Kisan - Offered by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), the app is dedicated to farmers of India. They can seek advice from agriculture experts and scientists and explore its library to know about crops, agriculture cycle, agriculture field preparation, water management, disease control and agriculture proactive actions.
9. Ag Mobile – is an agriculture app designed to provide commodity market reports and agriculture news for farmers as well as agriculture professionals. Take stock of weather, related forecasts and maps, watch live commodity market prices and seasonal comparison, and capture news that can affect your agricultural endeavour on the go. The data or insights are derived from Barchart and Successful Farming. Also, learn commodity trading skills and listen to crop advisor, grain merchandiser, analyst, or broker, etc.
10. Machinery Guide - As the name echoes, this app is to assist you with using the farm equipment for various purposes like soil cultivation (cultivator, rotator, roller, etc.), sowing, manuring, planting, fertilization, pest control, produce sorting, harvesting, irrigation, etc. precisely. The app
