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

Abstract

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and plays a key role in improving standard of living of Indian farmerspersonally, socially and economically as well. In India, over 58 per cent of rural households depend on farming. India has thelargest public extension system in world, and huge gaps in transferring recent farm technologies to farm fields. ICT and IoTtools have advantage to reach the end users with real-time information. Among ICT tools, utilization of mobile phones isincreasing a lot which is changing the communication process related to agriculture and other sectors. The introduction ofmobile 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 andtransactions, sends Short Message Service (SMS) etc. The application is downloaded (free/payment) from an online store andmay require a internet connection to function effectively. It is easy to use and access, details of package of practices, pest anddisease management, nutrient management, market intelligence, weather forecast and advisory services are available in ourmobile handset itself. Information will be effectively reach farmers in a timely manner. Government has initiated many appsand portals that facilitate agriculture and farmers. These mobile apps will be updated frequently with new information andsuccess stories. Kisan Suvidha, Pusa Krishi, Soil Health Card app, IFFCO Kisan app are some of the agricultural mobileapplications which are developed by various public and private collaborations to provide details for farmers welfare. Theseapps provide details in several languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and other regional languages. Portals such asTNAU Agritech portal, Farmers portal, Rice knowledge portal etc. also facilitates with valuable information. Expert systemson various crops provide specific information related to particular crops. In such ways, mobile technology is transformingaccess to information. As the number of apps continue to increase it is important to be selective in choosing the app, reviewand ensure that the App provides credible and current information and meets requirements. This paper examines various andrecent ICT and IoT tools facilitates in technology, market, weather and processing information dissemination to farmers andextension professionals.