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
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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
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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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