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MyAgriGuru is a mobile application for farmers that seeks to create an integrated network between farmers and agriculture experts across the country. Introduced by Mahindra Agri Solutions, the free mobile application (app) is currently available only for Android users and is offered in three languages — English, Hindi and Marathi. The app was upgraded from its previous version and re-launched in March. So far, over 4 lakhs farmers have downloaded the it since the first launch.
What’s new
Two key features have been added in MyAgriGuru 2.0.
One, it has been personalised to suit each farmer’s requirements, that is, the app can be customised depending on the geographical location and the type of crop a farmer cultivates. The farmer will have to enter details about his/her State, district and the village before logging into the platform. Thus, the interface is designed as per the user profile, giving farmers all the relevant information.
Two, a ChatBot facility has been introduced. Through this technology, the user gets instant solutions to queries. This can be accessed under the ‘AskMe’ icon on the home screen of the app. The farmer can either type his query or ask (through ‘voice input’) the Bot which will provide the solution in the language chosen, as best as possible. At present, the bot can respond to queries on sugarcane.
App usage
This GPS-enabled mobile app is simple and easy to navigate around. It has five menus — Home, AgriBuzz, Crop, Update and Market price. The ‘update’ icon gives the latest news and announcements related to agriculture and these are updated on a regular basis. The app also provides complete information on 17 crops, including banana, bengal gram, cotton, chilli, wheat and potato, under its ‘crop’ section. The mobile app user can also interact with agri experts and agri professionals through the ‘Agri Buzz’ section and get responses to queries. Under this section, farmers can share pictures and even video clips of their crops and receive suggestions or opinions from fellow farmers or experts. So far, this section has recorded over 55,000 interactions.
The application offers daily mandi prices on the crops selected, captured from the Centre’s Agmarknet portal and updated on a daily basis. In addition, the app provides spot and futures prices of exchange traded commodities through tie-ups with commodities exchanges MCX and NCDEX.
MyAgriGuru also provides daily tips for farmer to help improve farming activities practices. For instance, one of the tips of the day offered by the app on mango states: if incidence of anthracnose (fungal infection) is observed on alphonso mango, spray (fungicide) thyophenate methyl 1 gram.
The app also provides weather information and forecasts for at least a week.
Downside
The MyAgriGuru app is available only for Android users and requires uninterrupted internet connectivity.
The language selection offered is limited. Mandi prices reflect only the prices of the commodity on that day, a user cannot view historical prices in the app.
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