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Tech-savvy farmers reap rich dividends

e-farming Technology is now reaching out to thousands of farmers in the State with a variety of farming apps and websites. M A Siraj throws light on
Last Updated 20 April 2015, 16:59 IST

Technology has been a boon to world in a major fashion. Be it electronic devices or mechanical artifacts, we live in the age of comfort. But there has been one section of our society, which has remained oblivious to the wonders of technology. I am referring to our farmers.

With no access or knowledge about the wonders of internet, the general quality of farming has remained stagnant for a long time. Lack of vital information relay has caused many failures in the farming field. Word of the mouth used to be the most credible medium in the olden days. But today, things are changing and how! The State, known for its IT industry is finally marking its foray into the farming scenario.

Various farmers across the State are now looking up to the internet to acess farming-related information through agricultural apps and websites. They can now practically see pictures of pests, identify disease themselves and take early remedial measures. Weather alerts and cautionary signals allow them to initiate protective measures well in advance.

The popularity has even led to the emergence of many kannada websites that offer farming tips, weather and pest-related alerts and remedies for diseases. According to Dr Mohan Talakalukoppa, senior scientist, Cashew Research Centre at Puttur, these farming apps are of two types, those that help farmers in cultivation of various crops and the ones that provide information about ruling prices in the markets and also facilitate e-bidding for most lucrative prices. Mohan himself has also created a website called krishikannada.com, which puts forth all the useful farming tips for a variety of crops
conducive to the State’s farms.

For Ravindra Kambar from Raibagh in Belagavi district, who grows turmeric and sugarcane in his 10-acre farm, kannadakrishi.com has proved extremely helpful
in accessing useful information on diseases. For Rajesab Beleri from Naganur
village of Dharwad district, the State Government’s ‘krishimaratavahini’ website has proved to be a boon as he can access information regarding rates of cotton and chilli at APMC at Hubballi and Byadgi at a push of a button on his smartphone. An arts graduate, Rajesab owns a six-acre farm in Naganur village and grows nearly three quintals of onion, ten quintals of cotton and ten tons of Bengal gram annually.

E-linking markets
KrishiMaratavahini website was launched by the State Government in 2013 and has proved extremely useful for the agricultural traders in the state. It networks 155 main markets, 355 sub-markets and provides market rates for 97 different
agricultural products. According to M C Swami, general manager of the Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board, the website gets nearly 4,000 hits a day and is accessed by nearly 3,500 traders.

It eliminates the middlemen by providing e-tender facility for traders from their terminal anywhere in the State. While Bengaluru, Mysuru, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Davangere and Chitradurga have main terminal markets, some cities act as specific markets i.e., Shivamogga for areca nut, Chamrajnagar for tamarind, Byadgi for dry chilli, Tiptur for copra, Kalaburagi for pigeon pea, Mysuru and Mandya for jaggery and paddy, and
Bengaluru APMC for onion and potato.

For Venkatesh, who calls himself a weekend farmer (he works with ISRO in Bengaluru for five days a week), website kisan.com has proved extremely useful in that he could download information as to how to carry on mixed cropping of banana, papaya and areca nut. Earlier, only the farming supplements of the Kannada newspapers from Bengaluru were the source of information for Venkatesh who has a Masters degree in Hindi.

Internet has also helped him get in touch with a farmer in Tamil Nadu, who shares information on drumstick farming.

Suresh A B from Anupahalli in Hosakote taluk, accesses farming-related information on both smartphones and a internet-connected computer at home. Suresh’s farm has groundnut, ragi and tamarind. Niranjan Rao, a farmer from Mangakodige village, 60 km south of Shivamogga, internet proved useful in getting a biodigester for production of biogas in his 12-acre farm. A regular browser of krishikannada.com, he is a certified
organic farmer now.

Mobile farming
It was eight months ago that C Anandababu and his friend Shiva developed ‘Ryotrige Krushi’ mobile app. An alumnus of IIM-B, who has worked in the United States for eight years, Anand wanted to contribute to his State. It took the duo three years to develop the app that provides end-to-end know-how about important crops. Since, it is totally audio-visual and in Kannada, it overcomes the literacy barrier too. Babu’s basic degree (MSc in biotechnology) also stood in good stead when he brought technology and agricultural information together. The app can be accessed on any smartphone without internet connection. His ambitious app even managed to get sponsors. The Deshpande Foundation of Hubballi joined them as ecosystem partner and have been using it for creation of awareness among farmers. Even NABARD sponsored the app for 4,000 farmers.

Vageesh Kumar from Tholunse village, 18 km from Davangere, has been using the Ryotrige app for the last eight months to transfer knowledge to other farmers on the farm. Vageesh says, “Anandbabu’s app provides generic names of the pesticides while websites of various pesticide firms would only provide their company’s branded pesticides.” Vageesh has a Master’s degree in microbiology and finds the Ryotrige app useful as it is operable even in offline mode, especially in farms where there is no internet connectivity.

Rajeshekar Patil from Jiganahalli village in Ballari district is yet another user of this app. He says he downloaded it at a huge discount provided at a Krishi Mela organised by the State’s agriculture department. For Vijayadeva Reddy, a metallurgy graduate from the Indian Institute of Science, who grows maize, banana and red gram in his farm at Kurubarahalli in Gauribidanur taluk, krishimitra.in and krishikannada.com have been source of latest information and updates.

The penetration of the information technology is set to transform the farming and marketing of the agricultural produce in the State in a big way. As e-devices get cheaper and various apps and websites upload information in Kannada language, the profitability of farming will take a big leap in the State. These changes are eliminate the middlemen and reduce the time gap in the produce reaching the consumers. It also empowers the farmers by bringing to them better dividends for their sweat and toil.

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(Published 20 April 2015, 16:59 IST)

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