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Mobile based agricultural Apps and portals for farmers’ welfare in India

Conference Paper in Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences · December 2021

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J. Farm Sci. Spl. Issue, 34(5): (562-566) 2021
RESEARCH PAPER
Mobile based agricultural Apps and portals for farmers’ welfare in India

MANOBHARATHI K1 AND N ANANDARAJA2

1
Ph.D Scholar, Department of Agricultural Extension, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia (Dist),
West Bengal - 741252, India
2
Programme Coordinator, ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Pongalur, Devanampalayam
(Post), Palladam (Tk), Tiruppur (Dist), Tamil Nadu - 641667
Email : mano96bharathi@gmail.com
(Received:November, 2021 ; Accepted: December, 2021)
Abstract: Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and plays a key role in improving standard of living of Indian farmers
personally, socially and economically as well. In India, over 58 per cent of rural households depend on farming. India has the
largest public extension system in world, and huge gaps in transferring recent farm technologies to farm fields. ICT and IoT
tools have advantage to reach the end users with real-time information. Among ICT tools, utilization of mobile phones is
increasing a lot which is changing the communication process related to agriculture and other sectors. The introduction of
mobile phones has led to improvement of various agricultural applications and portals for the welfare of farmers and stakeholders.
A mobile application is software on a mobile phone that enables a user to access specific information, make payments and
transactions, sends Short Message Service (SMS) etc. The application is downloaded (free/payment) from an online store and
may require a internet connection to function effectively. It is easy to use and access, details of package of practices, pest and
disease management, nutrient management, market intelligence, weather forecast and advisory services are available in our
mobile handset itself. Information will be effectively reach farmers in a timely manner. Government has initiated many apps
and portals that facilitate agriculture and farmers. These mobile apps will be updated frequently with new information and
success stories. Kisan Suvidha, Pusa Krishi, Soil Health Card app, IFFCO Kisan app are some of the agricultural mobile
applications which are developed by various public and private collaborations to provide details for farmers welfare. These
apps provide details in several languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and other regional languages. Portals such as
TNAU Agritech portal, Farmers portal, Rice knowledge portal etc. also facilitates with valuable information. Expert systems
on various crops provide specific information related to particular crops. In such ways, mobile technology is transforming
access to information. As the number of apps continue to increase it is important to be selective in choosing the app, review
and ensure that the App provides credible and current information and meets requirements. This paper examines various and
recent ICT and IoT tools facilitates in technology, market, weather and processing information dissemination to farmers and
extension professionals.
Key words: Applications, Expert system, Mobile phones, Portals

Introduction
Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and plays a related to agriculture and other sectors. The introduction of
key role in improving standard of living of Indian farmers mobile phones has led to improvement of various agricultural
personally, socially and economically as well. In India, over 58 applications and portals for the welfare of farmers and
per cent of rural households depend on farming. India has the stakeholders.
largest public extension system in world, and huge gaps in
ICT and ITS Importance
transferring recent farm technologies to farm fields. In recent
times, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools ICT are emerging as a vital tool for societal growth and are
are utilized in an effective and efficient way in agriculture sector driving forces in economies all over the world. ICTs are no
by farmers and stakeholders. ICT and IoT tools have advantage longer limited to promote high end research and development;
to reach the end users with real-time information. ICT is used all sectors of the economy have made substantial changes in
as an umbrella concept that encompasses all forms of delivery, lifestyles and productivity levels through emerging
such as networks, electronic devices and mobile applications technologies. Radio and television have long been used in
that help to use technology to transfer information. In recent India to reach rural communities with new agricultural and rural
times, Information and Communication Technology has proven developmental knowledge. In addition to radio, television and
to be highly beneficial for farmers, especially small and marginal print media, new ideas are being used for dissemination of
farmers in aspects of marketing, increased income etc. Farmers agricultural knowledge in the form of ICT enables portals,
have been granted the right to express their thoughts, kiosks, digital imaging technologies, social media etc. In last
experiences and innovative ideas with the help of ICT. More two decades, improved availability and access to new ICT
exposure has been provided to farmers and encouraged them technologies, especially personal computers Internet and
to use science that looks at agriculture from an integrated mobiles have provided a much wider range of options for
perspective. Among ICT tools, utilization of mobile phones is capturing, storing, processing, transmitting and presenting
increasing a lot which is changing the communication process information in multiple formats.

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J. Farm Sci. Spl. Issue, 34(5): 2021
In this context, ICT has the potential to revolutionize the providing access to extension services, farm related
Indian agricultural sector in terms of significantly improving information etc.
productivity, production and profitability of small and marginal The Government of India has introduced a range of web
farmers, tenant farmers and female workers (Amrit Patel, 2016). based and mobile based applications, free of charge, for the
Farmer can access and use information related agriculture and benefit of farmers and other stakeholders, to disseminate
allied sectors. Among all ICT tools, telephone services have information about agricultural activities. These applications are
been made available in small towns, markets and villages. Mobile available for download from official mkisan.gov.in website or
and Telephone which is a powerful electronic machine that was from Google play store. The apps produced by agricultural
a farmer’s dream earlier has become a reality as the farmers can organisations, private sectors and NGOs are also available.
immediately make use of it to address their field problems and These apps are disseminating agricultural research and
other farm related problems (Manhas et al, 2005). extension information to farmers and other stakeholders, as
With rapid spread of internet facility in rural areas ICT now well as facilitating information exchange among stakeholders.
has the potential to significantly contribute towards solving List of some of the important mobile based apps and
one of the most important major national concern namely information on portal and expert system developed in agriculture
Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) by 2022 through dis- are as follows:
intermediation in both procurement of inputs and services,
minimizing the costs through e-procurement and maximizing 1. Kisan Suvidha
their share in consumer price through e-marketing by bringing Kisan Suvidha is an omnibus mobile app developed by
producers and sellers together and most importantly by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of
providing individualized Extension Advisory Services to India in order to help farmers by providing relevant information.
majority of farmers. The information is currently provided in English, Hindi, Tamil,
Gujarati, Odia and Marathi. The following features includes
Mobile Applications and Portals
about information obtained from this app by farmers:
In developing countries, the rise of mobile communication
technology is opening up a slew of new possibilities for social  Weather: Information includes details of humidity,
empowerment and grassroots innovation. The contribution of temperature, wind and rainfall for the current day and the forecast
mobile applications to Agricultural and Rural Development for future. Extreme weather alerts like cyclones or hailstorms
(ARD) by providing access to knowledge, markets and services etc. are also informed.
to rural inhabitants is one of the areas of potential effects (World Market Price: Latest market prices of commodities in the
Bank, 2012). A mobile application is software that allows a user nearest mandi are provided on daily basis.
to access specific information on a mobile phone or tablet; Agro Advisory: Agro advisory services will be provided to
make purchases and other transactions; send messages and farmers and stakeholders on their own regional languages.
so on. The application (app) is downloaded for free or for a fee Soil Health Card: Information pertaining to soil health is
from a wireless network or from an online store and it may available for farmers who have registered.
require a internet connection to run properly.
 Dealers Information: Provides information on seed,
The key benefits of mobile apps for farmers are that mobile pesticides, fertilizer, farm machinery dealers.
farmers can easily access information. The information is stored Plant protection: This section gives pest, weed and disease-
in the mobile handset itself for easy access, for example the related information as well as management practices for each
details of package of practices, pest and disease information stage of crop development from Seedling/nursery to harvesting.
and scheme related information etc. Wherever the information One can also upload a picture of the affected crop and get a
is dynamic in nature, for example weather details, market prices, response.
advisory services, the mobile app requires Internet connectivity
 KCC: The app also directly connects the farmer with the
to fetch the data from the back-end server databases. The SMS
Kisan Call Centre (KCC) where technical graduates answer
service, in particular, is just a one-way information provider to
farmers’ queries.
the agriculture community. For day-to-day farming, the farmer
needs two-way communication and complex data. Cold stores and Godowns: Information on cold stores and
godowns is also provided.
Farmers need timely information in response to their specific
To begin with this app, a farmer must register his or her
needs. There are mobile applications that provide latest
mobile contact number, select appropriate language and provide
agricultural information about trends, equipment, technologies
information related to his/her own state, district and block.
and methods being used, help identify pests and diseases,
provide real-time data about weather, early warnings about 2. Pusa Krishi
storms, local markets offering best prices, seeds, fertilizers etc. This mobile app was launched for farmers in order to take
In addition, farmers can also interact and get guidance from the technology to farm fields. This app was developed by
agriculture experts across the country via the apps. These apps Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of
help in providing market information, facilitating market links, India. Farmers can use this app to learn about new crop varieties
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Mobile based Agricultural Apps and Portals ...........
produced by the ICAR, resource saving cultivation techniques, Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India. NAM is a Govt. of India
farm machinery tools and implements and other development sponsored pan-India electronic trading platform that connects
technologies. In this app, a feedback section is available that existing mandis to establish a single national market for
enables the farmers to have a conversation with stakeholders agricultural commodities. The aim of this app os to encourage
on a real-time basis. or motivate remote bidding by traders and to provide farmers
and other stakeholders on their smartphones with access to
3. Soil Health Card (SHC) Mobile App
arrivals and price related details.
Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme is a Government of India
scheme promoted by the Department of Agriculture, Co- 7. riceXpert
operation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers This app was developed by ICAR-National Rice Research
Welfare and being implemented in all States and Union Territories. Institute (NRRI), Cuttack. This app is available in two languages
A Soil Health Card provides each farmer with soil nutrient status viz. English and Odia. The main aim of this app is to provide the
for his/her land holding and also provides advice on fertiliser farmers with the details regarding latest rice technologies on a
dosage and soil amendments needed to maintain long term soil real time basis. Some of the features includes:
health. Every three years, all landholders will obtain SHC that
 This app helps with diagnosis of pests and diseases,
will allow the pattern of soil fertility changes caused by nutrient
nutrient management etc. on a real time basis and providing
absorption by plants or other natural causes to be recorded.
customized solutions to farming community.
This will also help to take appropriate corrective action on the
deficiencies in soil nutrients found with the help of SHC.  Also provides with agro advisory, details about new rice
varieties, new tools and implements etc.
NIC has designed and created an Android mobile
 Provides suitable fertilizer recommendation on the basis of
application for SHC to further simplify the data entry work for
soil nutrient availability.
sample registration. When “Location”is turned on, this app
will automatically captures latitude and longitude. Through this  Farmers and farm women can use this App as a diagnostic
mobile app, details about farmer, land, crop and fertilizer will be tool in their rice fields and also make customized queries
collected. through text, uploading photo or recorded voice which
would be addressed by a panel of experts on real time basis
4. IFFCO Kisan Agriculture with quick solution along with recommendations through
IFFCO Kisan Agriculture app was developed by Indian SMS.
Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd. This app allows access in  Also provides a platform for the farmers who have no
the form of text, photos, audio and video in the selected organized way to sell their products. Farmers can post their
language, to different modules, including agro advisory, rice or rice related products for display to buyers. The buyer
weather details, market prices etc. The app also offers helpline can access the detailed information about the products
numbers to get in touch with Kisan Call Centre Services. The through the app and get the products at the best prices
app supports eleven languages across India including English. through direct interaction.
This app provides the information related to weather, market
Portal and Expert System Initiatives at TNAU
price, agro advisory etc. Some other features include:
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (India) has investigated
Ask the Experts. Farmers can talk to Agriculture experts for the power and potential of ICT involvement in farm technology
advice. They can take a picture of infected plant and send it to transfer, with the goal of speeding up the flow of information
the experts and get the customized agricultural solutions about the technology, market related information, weather report
through voice call with the experts. etc. to public extension system and then ultimately to farming
5. APEDA Farmer Connect community. Effort on promotion of ICT will help the ‘young
APEDA Farmer Connect app was developed by Agricultural minds’ to be in the farming. TNAU is very popular among the
and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority various Agricultural universities of India for its own portals
(APEDA). A farmer may use this app to apply for farm registration named “Agritechportal” and also for its own Expert system on
and approval from the state government, as well as lab sampling various crops. Let’s see here specifically about these two mobile
from approved laboratories. The farmer is able to track the status based online solutions for problems of farmers. Important ICT
of applications. The information can only be accessed by an initiatives by TNAU are as follows:
authorised state government official, farmer or a registered 1. TNAU AGRI TECH PORTAL
laboratory. State Horticulture Departments can use the mobile
2. TNAU Multi Video Conference facility
app to collect information about farmers, their lands and products
of farm and also farm inspections on real time basis. This app has 3. Dynamic Market Price Information for Perishable
in-built GPS system to recognize the location of the farm. Commodities
4. TNAU- Agricultural Market Information System
6. eNAM Mobile App
5. TNAU-IIT, Chennai Mobile Agro Advisory Services
eNAM Mobile App was developed by Small Farmers’
Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), Ministry of Agriculture & 6. TNAU Video Modules

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J. Farm Sci. Spl. Issue, 34(5): 2021
7. TNAU Plant Protection Information iii. Information System.
8. TNAU e-Course information a. Information System
9. TNAU Weather Information Network Information system component is an internet based system
10. TNAU-ICAR Mobilizing Mass Media for Sharing Agro that includes static information where all the complementary
Information and technological details about various crops were available.
Extension functionaries, research scientists and policy makers
11. TNAU-online e-Radio
are using this information for their reference about the related
A successive extension approach will depend on how it crop. The content in this component is updated frequently on
enhances the information flow along the members of agriculture the basis of recent technological advancements.
value chain, and whether this is done sustainably and
effectively. Sustainability and effectiveness of extension are b. Decision Support System (DSS)
determined by the four factors, the type of information provided, DSS is a computer based decision making system. A
how and to whom the information is provided, the strength of decision is a choice between two or more alternatives based on
feedback in each link, and the capacity of the approach to estimates of their values. Supporting a decision entails assisting
provide relevant information. farmers who are working alone or in a group in gathering
information, generating alternatives and making decisions. DSS
Agritech Portal- Transforming the Lives of Farming
has therefore been considered and designed to provide farmer
Community
with the best possible options and decisions for present
Agritech Portal is a new initiative by e-Extension Centre of agricultural operations. DSS consists of information about
Directorate of Extension Education, TNAU to eliminate the season, variety, soil, water, land preparation, management of
communication gap between the university scientists, nursery, nutrient, pests and diseases, details about tools and
agriculture officials and farmers. This dynamic portal holds implements, post-harvest ideas, value addition and information
around six lakh pages in Tamil and English with multiple media about various institutions and schemes.
content. The Portal (http://agritech.tnau.ac.in) has been
dedicated to service on 27th Sep, 2009 for the benefit of field c. Crop Doctor:
extension officials and other stakeholders. Agritech portal Crop doctor is an important part of expert system which
transfer the agriculture related information and new technologies acts a Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool. This component is based
to the farmers and extension officials. Accordingly, the on ‘if and then rule’ programme. It is especially image and picture
Government of Tamil Nadu has taken-up the portal initiative as based system component. The main role of crop doctor is pest
flagship programme under National e-Governance and Tamil and diseases diagnosis along with nutritional disorders which
Nadu State e-Governance to share all developmental are affecting the crops chosen. In the main visual signs (primary
programmes for the well-being. TNAU agritech portal has also symptom) with several phases, the first visible indication is
been awarded the ‘Best e-governance agri portal’ by seen as thumbnail photos with multiple stages (secondary
Government of India during 2010-11 and 2014-15. symptoms). By using if and then rule programme, primary and
secondary symptoms were documented in stages and loaded
Expert System in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
into expert system shell. Then, the concerned experts have
An Expert System (ES) is a computer programme designed validated the symptoms and comes out with solution outcome.
to stimulate an expert’s problem solving actions in a narrow
domain or discipline. ES is also called as Knowledge Based Agmarknet
System (KBS). For the decision making and location specific AGMARKNET is a e-network for marketing of agricultural
technology dissemination process, an expert framework could products with a correct and appropriate knowledge about prices
be created. A typical application and subfield of artificial and market arrivals by the farmers and trading by stakeholders.
intelligence is an expert scheme. The Expert System helps to It is accessible through internet access. It is a central sector
pick crops or varieties, to diagnose or classify pests, diseases scheme which covers and collects agricultural produce prices
and to make important management decisions. information and details about market arrivals on a day-to-day
basis. e-Alert is a method of providing information to common
As network project of Indian Council of Agricultural
public about prices of agricultural produce with the help of e-
Research, the expert system was developed for agriculture
mail and SMS.
(Paddy, Sugarcane, Banana, Ragi and Coconut) and animal
husbandry for the three states in their respective languages CONCLUSION
i.e., Tamil Nadu (Tamil), Karnataka (Kannada) and Kerala The agricultural production system has developed into a
(Malayalam) to provide timely expert advice with ICT initiatives complex business system, requiring expertise and information
to farmers. The Expert System developed to cater to the needs from many sources to be collected and incorporated. In order
of Farmers, Extension workers, Scientists, Students based on to stay competitive, modern farmers often rely on agricultural
this, the three components were developed. They were: specialists and advisors for knowledge and decision making.
i. Decision Support System, Unfortunately, when the farmers want it, assistance with
agricultural knowledge is not always available. Farmers should
ii. Crop Doctor / Health Adviser
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 Mobile based Agricultural Apps and Portals ...........
begin using ICT tools, especially mobile based apps, portals this situation, farmers faced the loss and they were not got
and expert systems to address this issue. As the number of benefited by practicing agriculture. One of the reasons for this
apps continue to increase it is important to be selective in situation is that farmers are mostly relies on middlemen and
choosing the app, review and ensure that the App provides traders for their business transactions. Farmers were not known
credible and current information and meets requirements.As fully about the importance and usage of ICT based tools
farmers are slowly moving towards Personal Digital Assistance especially mobile applications and e-portals. Through mobile
(PDA) based mobile applications. Hence, it is appropriate and apps and portals, farmers can able to know the market price
efforts and initiatives needs to focused on realistic Artificial information through market intelligence, so that they can do
Intelligence (AI) based application on real time is the order of their business transactions on their own without relying on
day. It may overcome the general recommendations and any other stakeholders or middlemen. Therefore, farmers need
advisories which provided by the extension wing into farm to start using mobile based apps and portals to promote their
specific and crop specific advisories. knowledge and skills through mobile which is available in their
own hands. Through the attainment of knowledge by farmers
As we know, during this COVID-19 pandemic situation, lots
with the help of ICT tools, they can increase their standard of
of economic crisis were faced by farmers especially due to poor
living and can lead a prosperous life at any circumstances in
marketing facilities and channels. Farmers were unable to sell
various times of life.
their agricultural produce in the market for better price. Due to

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