Assam CM launches app to promote buyer-seller network for farmers

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday launched a mobile app to facilitate timely sale of agriculture products, particularly fruits and vegetables, by promoting a buyer-seller network.

Sonowal said that the 'Kisan Rath' app, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), would be a new vehicle for boosting agri-business by opening up markets across the country for farmers of Assam so that they can get the best price for their produce.

Officials working in the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (APART) project would provide training to farmers and other stakeholders on using the app which is functional in three languages - Assamese, Hindi and English.

"The app will help farmers emerge stronger in the competitive market and prove a boon for growers of perishable fruits and vegetables due to reduction in wastage of their produce," the chief minister said.

The 'Kisan Rath' app would connect more than 10,000 farmers, 50 farmer producer organisations and 1,000 verified agricultural traders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been working to double farmers income to give them a life of dignity and various central government schemes have strengthened the agricultural ecosystem in the country, he said.

The Assam government has also implemented several state schemes in a bid to make agriculture more productive and remunerative, Sonowal said.