Agriculture app an opportunity to enhance farmer business

Agriculture App An Opportunity To Enhance Farmer Business dev.to/briannacastroa/agriculture-app-an-opportunity-to-enhance-farmer-business-2l6 Brianna Castro

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) gives private companies and government departments of developing countries many means to broadcast knowledge and information, especially to farmers. This is because in the last few years, mobile phone coverage has become increasingly popular across African, Asian, and Latin American countries. Reports show that a majority of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America had access to mobile phones in the year 2009. Interestingly, it was only a few years ago when mobile phones were primarily used only by rich people residing in urban areas. Nowadays mobile phones have also become quite popular even in the rural areas of developing countries. Perhaps that is the reason why almost every app development company should design apps for the farming community.

Despite the many benefits, mobile phones continue to be very expensive in some developing countries. Moreover, the cost of recharging the phones often poses a hindrance in rural regions of countries such as Kenya. In addition to those hindrances in using ICT tools, farmers of rural regions also face technical, organizational, social, and financial obstacles, besides the age-old problem of illiteracy. Moreover, the lack of interest by higher authorities, lack of interest by the private sector to take part in developing ICT programs for rural areas, and the low quality of services provided by the companies are other challenges in the development of a digital agricultural application in the rural areas of developing countries. But of late more and more entities, regardless of whether they are into android app development, or iOS app development are joining the fray and building effective agricultural apps.

1.Communication and Social Relationships Mobile phone apps have dramatically reduced the cost of communication in rural areas across the globe. Rural farmers use them to obtain information and increase their 1/3

knowledge about the various agricultural problems and come up with feasible solutions. In the agricultural sector, Agriculture application Development could be used to get information on weather, transport, market, and agricultural techniques, and also to contact the concerned departments. With such help, farmers would be able to make tentative decisions with a new approach and with much more ease, and that could also lead to a greater social relationship between farmers and business communities. This could be made possible with the short message service (SMS) and voice recordings in addition to voice calls. These kinds of approaches can make ICTs, such as mobile phones, of great importance to agricultural developments by offering connectivity, security, and mobility to the farmers.

2.Market Insight Besides those benefits, there are many other fields where farmers could benefit from the use of mobile phones. The most important benefit among them is the information about the market. Earlier, it was very difficult for small farmers to obtain such information, but these days farmers have been able to collect the correct information when it comes to market price, quantities, and the availability of a product. Additionally, mobile phones could also assist farmers in selling their fresh products to the market quickly, thereby avoiding wastage. Farmers would be able to sell their products to the best bidder and avoid the brokers who often bargain on the prices. Farmers in remote areas would be able to gain access to market information and be aware of prices and available commodities. They would save their time and money on traveling to gather such information. Farmers could explore new markets and reach out to new customers. They could also learn about the market conditions at a specific time and be able to coordinate with brokers and customers more accurately.

3.Cattle Rearing and Weather Forecast Mobile phones could help the cattle farmers in contacting veterinary officers to get information about infectious diseases. That kind of information would prove very useful in rearing cattle, especially during situations such as calving, and hence help in reducing the number of stillborn calves. In the long term, such information could help farmers in increasing their income through cattle rearing and add to the welfare of the cattle farmers.

Using the SMS, a Web-based system could be used to keep the farming communities informed about the weather and pesticides. The potential of such a program can be seen in India, where rural communities gather information about weather disasters and also contact the metrological department to get information before they treat their crops with pesticides.

Real-Time Examples An example of the power of ICT tools was seen in Pakistan. Its Information and Communication Center (ICC) helped in bringing the latest information at the doorstep of the farmers and provided them with information about the weather and also forecasted market prices. Such information helped those farmers in initiating a powerful social discourse to evaluate the applicability and significance of the new information. The success of ICC shows that there is a need to help farmers so that they can appropriate choose from a variety of seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, and a range of other agricultural information to 2/3

enhance their business. Therefore, farmers need to have the latest knowledge and information about inter-mixture of cropping, water management, land preparation, harvesting, and other related activities. This information can be made possible only by using ICTs such as mobile phones, radios, and televisions.

Another example of how mobile phones can benefit the farmers was found in the Philippines. Mobile phones helped the farmers in the country to get advice about using fertilizers through text messages. The farmers were able to enhance their production using that information. A similar example was observed in Kenya, where some farmers gathered information about the costs of fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds along with advice on growing crops in bad weather using their mobile phones. Perhaps the most significant results were achieved in Uganda, where farmers bought fertilizers and certified seeds using mobile phones. Another fantastic example was seen in India, where farmers explored the use of a voice message forum to get access to appropriate agricultural knowledge and information from experts in a timely fashion.

The above examples show that among the many ICT tools, mobile phones are the best sources to circulate relevant information among the farmers and various other layers of the society.

Conclusion Now-a-days, Mobile app is the best Platform to circulate relevant information with the people from every corner via online. In the agricultural sector it is very useful for farmers to sell their Products online, get information on weather, transport, market, and to know agricultural techniques with a agricultural experts. Thus, with a mobile app it become an opportunity for farmers to enhance farm business.

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