Everything agriculture is just an app away

NAGPUR: A mobile application may soon prove to be a one-stop source for farmers from across Maharashtra. Free Android app

Shekru

offers consolidated and organized data relevant to farmers — events in the state, government schemes, audio interviews and recordings on useful topics and farmer-related television shows.

The app, which has been downloaded by as many as 40,000 people in last two years, was developed by 44-year-old Mumbai-based IT professional Ananth Krishna.

Krishna said that vernacular medium is the app’s key feature and added, “There are resources in Hindi and English, but hardly anything comprehensively structured in Marathi. Newspaper advertisements are one source for farmers, and many have to visit taluka office to get basic information about schemes. The app allows them to be better equipped about welfare schemes and documents required before they go to the taluka office.”

Krishna had also teamed up with subject experts like Irfan Sheikh, who joined the team for brief period, and institutions like Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hingoli. Presently, they are a three-member team including Bibhishan Bagal of Satara and

Mohan Kale

of Solapur.

Ask what drove him to contribute to the field of agriculture, he’ll tell you about ‘Jagriti yatra’ he volunteered for in 2008. An initiative of NGO Jagriti Sewa Sansthan, the yatra takes youth on a train journey across India, to understand smaller towns and villages through enterprise.

“After meeting farmer’s kids, I was inspired to do something for agriculture. So, I went to Nashik to see what I could do, and found that many people were not aware about training and educational resources that are available out there,” he said, and added that he toyed with several ideas over time before he decided to build the app.

He said that the platform penetration for men and women in rural areas is low as people are not tech savvy. But the app could be an alternative platform, he said.

Krishna wants to build a small offline centre for farmers’ training and guidance in resource-starved districts as “there is nothing like face to face training”. In the future, he said, they would include health, wherein men and women would be able to listen to recordings by counsellors in their own privacy.