A new app, Atmanirbhar Krishi, has been launched by the Centre to provide farmers with real-time weather forecasts and agricultural information. The app was developed by engineers from Tech Mahindra Makers Lab. Atmanirbhar Krishi, launched in June 2021, aims to provide farmers with timely and relevant agricultural information. Farmers now have access to information provided by different government departments on the KisanMitr platform through Atmanirbhar Krishi App.
What is the vision for the app?
In addition to collecting and analyzing soil type, moisture, weather and water table data, the team also analyzed farm-level measurements to figure out which crops to plant, how much fertilizer is needed, and how much water needs to be provided for each farmer. There were five stages in the design of the app:
- Data aggregation
- Building centralized insights
- Enable local expertise (KVK) supported interactions and insights
- Deriving Machine Learning inferences
- Continuous improvement
Salient Features of Atmanirbhar Krishi App
The salient features of the Atmanirbhar Krishi App are as follows:
- Simplified language
- Available in 12 languages
- Free of cost for farmers, start-ups, KVKs, SHGs, or NGOs
- Works on minimal bandwidth keeping in view the connectivity issue
- Doesn’t collect any inputs from the farmer
- Relies on geo-location of the farmers
- Data relevant to other locations can be collected by entering the Pincode of that particular area.
- Available on both Android and Windows platform
The significance of Atmanirbhar Krishi App
- It provides real-time useful and appropriate information to farmers digitally.
- The app will facilitate KVKs to interact with farmers more specifically as per the existing ground realities.
- KVKs may also integrate the information available with them on existing cropping systems and agronomic practices while interacting with farmers.
- The information available on the app will ensure that the decisions made by the farmers are based on the importance of the sustainability of water and the environment.
- It will also help the farmers in enhancing inclusivity in the decision-making process.
Data and their Sources in the Atmanirbhar Krishi App
| Data | Source |
| Weather and Weather-based Information | Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) |
| Land surface information, Vegetation index& Crop | Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) |
| Soil Type and Soil Health | Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmer Welfare (DACFW) The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) |
| Surface Water (River/Reservoir/Canal) & Ground Water | National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) IncludesCentral Ground Water Board (CGWA) |
Raja Seeva, one of the major stakeholders in the development of the Atmanirbhar Krishi App and KisanMitr, is the Founder Trustee of the Indian Centre for Social Transformation (ICST) in Bengaluru.
Professor K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, spoke at the event, “With the Atmanirbhar Krishi app of the KisanMitr initiative, farmers will have in their hands, evidence-based information generated by our research organizations like IMD, ISRO, ICAR, and CGWA. This information, when used by the farmers to make decisions on cropping patterns, mechanization of small farmers’ holdings or stubble burning, will ensure that decisions are made factoring in the importance of sustainability of water and environment, and judicious use of resources. An app available on a basic phone with information in a language comprehensible to farmers will also enhance inclusivity during the decision-making process.”
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