mFMS here to track movement of fertilisers

While the system would be introduced across the State (infact across the nation) with one nodal agency per district, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts will have Mangalore Chemical Fertilisers Limited as their nodal agency.

The Company has already started collecting documents from fertilizer dealers such as their PAN, godown capacity, license details, mobile number, address, agency name, proprietor’s name, dealership nature, details on ‘O’ Form (which company they deal with) etc. All of these details will be uploaded to facilitate the implementation of the system.

National Informatics Center, Department of Information Technology, Government of India, has been mandated with the task to ensure an Information Communication Technology enabled information visibility across the supply chain of fertilisers in the form of Mobile Based Fertiliser Monitoring System. The system will be able to track the movement of fertilisers from production to retailers.

Subsequently, the system will be extended to capture sales to beneficiaries by the retailer and transfer of subsidy directly to ultimate beneficiary, i.e, the farmer.

The subsidy will be paid after the receipt at the last point is captured on the system.

Information on the availability of fertilisers at the nearby retailers from whom the farmer buys will be made available daily, on real-time basis. Retailers are to acknowledge the receipt of fertilisers and report the closing stock on daily basis, either through SMS from a mobile or through Interactive Voice Response System or web application.

The system will then update the transparency portal that will be there in the public domain. With this, the tracking of the movement of fertilisers, from production to last point can be monitored, thereby assisting all the stakeholders in ensuring that the subsidised fertilisers are reaching the intended beneficiary.

With the information visibility at the last point of sale to the farmer, it is expected that the diversion to non-agricultural use or its black-marketing etc will be significantly reduced as the availability or lack of it at the farm gate can be monitored, informed a source in Agriculture Department.