Telangana To Launch Fertiliser Booking App To Curb Farmers’ Panic

The agriculture department of Telangana is all set to launch a mobile app-based purchase system. According to the department, the mobile app is designed to make sure seamless distribution and sales of the fertiliser. Earlier, the agriculture department faced sharp criticism over the urea supply to farmers in the state. Notably, the mobile app is available for Android phones on the Google Play Store with the name of Fertiliser Booking App. It was tested in Peddapalli district earlier this year. The testing was extended to 10 more districts.

Plan of Fertiliser booking app attacked by the opposition parties

Undoubtedly, the Fertiliser booking app‘s use has been made compulsory for farmers who need urea. Shockingly, this has been attacked by the opposition parties, who found that this would lead to problems. Agriculture department officials cited that the primary focus was to remove the panic among farmers over the urea availability. Agriculture Commissioner B. Gopi stated that booked bags are reserved for a full day, and the booking is valid for 24 hours. If a farmer cannot make it to the selected store within that period, a fresh booking needs to be made.” The system will show the number of bags available at a given store. As farmers book their requirements, those numbers will be deducted from the available number. Unclaimed bags and the rest of the bags will be added back to the available stock. This plan has been carried out to prevent the panic that was seen in the last crop season, when farmers with larger fields picked up what they wanted in a single go, leaving many small farmers grappling even to get some bags of fertiliser.

Farmers need to reveal their plans to the Fertiliser booking app

The mobile app makes it mandatory to reveal which crop a farmer plans to raise; the urea he or she can purchase will be decided accordingly. There are two data points: one, the extent of land, and the second, the crop to be raised. For instance, each acre of paddy requires 2.5 bags, maize 3.5 bags an acre and chilli five bags. The idea is to provide security to farmers that they will get the urea at a time they need, and without any panic or rushing to the shops to stand in long queues. Dr Gopi stated that farmers who do not have smartphones to use the Fertiliser booking app can have their requirements booked by volunteers who will be available at all 10,000 fertiliser shops in the state, who can further facilitate them in booking their urea requirements.