Mobile Application to Aid Farmers | 12 Aug 2019

Government to launch a new mobile application, “Uber for tractors”, which will help in hiring of expensive agricultural equipment.

  • Customer Hiring Centres (CHCs) will be connected with the help of this app, just like the Uber connects an individual with cabs.
    • There are now more than 38,000 custom hiring centres (CHCs) across the country, which rent out 2.5 lakh pieces of farm equipment every year.
  • The app will show the CHCs which have the equipment available within 5, 20 and 50 km of location, with their rates.

Benefits

  • Informed Decisions: Feedback from both the CHC and the farmers will allow customers to make informed decisions.
  • Database: The app will also create an invaluable database for policy-makers, who can track the use and cost of equipment.
  • Promotion of New Technology: The system would also help to track the usage of new technology that the government wants to promote, such as the Happy Seeder that aims to prevent stubble burning that causes air pollution, or solar dryers that can help farmers process and preserve their produce.

Solar Dryers

  • Solar dryers uses solar energy in drying applications.
  • They use air heated through solar energy collectors, which can be installed in modules according to the requirements of hot air.
  • They have numerous applications in industries such as textiles, food processing, paper, pharmaceutical, and agro-industries.

Customer Hiring Centres

  • Customer Hiring Centres (CHCs) are basically a unit comprising a set of farm machinery, implements and equipment meant for hiring by farmers.
  • Marginal farmers (Farmers whose land holdings are less than two hectares of land), by virtue of their economic condition are unable to own farm machinery on their own or through institutional credit.
    • Therefore in order to bring farm machinery available within the reach of small/marginal holdings, collective ownership or Custom Hiring Centres are being promoted in a big way. 
  • Ideally, the CHCs should be located within a radius of 5 to 7 kms of land holdings. This will reduce the transport cost and time of transport of agricultural machinery.

Source: TH