At the push of a button: IT project offers instant solutions in Gujarat village

After championing a number of innovations in plant breeding and crop research,the Anand Agricultural University AAU in Gujarat...

After championing a number of innovations in plant breeding and crop research,the Anand Agricultural University AAU in Gujarat has come up with another solution to bridge the farmer-scientist divide. AAU and US-based Jasmine Netsolve Private Limited JNPL have embarked on a pilot project in village Navli based on a Digital Video Assisted Redressal Technology DVART device to facilitate realtime interaction between the farmers and agricultural scientists.

Now farmers at Navli,the AAU adopted village,only have to punch three buttons at a device installed in the Gram Panchayat premises to find a cure for their problems. The farmers have to punch the green,red and yellow buttons on the DVART device which is equipped with a camera. The moment the farmers press the green button,their video will be captured on the screen,where they can convey their crop-related concerns. The red button will record the video and in half an hour the video will reach the AAU IT centre while the yellow button comes with an enclosure to house the specimen of the plant in question. The picture of the problematic specimen will also be taken and forwarded to the AAU IT centre.

If the IT- enabled project running on pilot basis at Navli is successful,most issues related to crops infestation and animal husbandry will be solved in a jiffy. Himmat Vansdadia,Director JNPL said that this was the first DVART project in the country. This is a pilot project,along with AAU we plan to set up a DVART device in 25 villages of Gujarat. We had also applied for patenting this technology nearly three years ago to the Government of India. However,patenting takes at least four and half years, he said.

There is an option in the device which will generate a receipt bearing a code number to the farmer,all that needs to be quoted in the next interaction with the scientists. Soon after they key in the given code on the numeric keypad,the video of the scientists would appear giving his/her advice. Praveen Patel,a Navli farmer,said, As a farmer I am engaged in many tasks,I dont have the time to talk to the scientist in the Agricultural University and solve the problem. This device has saved my time.. I can reach scientists any time and seek their advice on my crop. Randip Patel,another farmer said, My crop is infested with root rot,all I just did an hour ago is put my specimen in the box,got the picture of the root and expressed my problem on the video and will get my reply tomorrow.

Meanwhile,AAU Director IT Raghuvirsinh Parmar,said, We started this project on September 9,as of now we have received as many as 63 queries,each,query is related to the vegetables infestation,animal husbandry,poultry feed and nutritive issue of plants and animals. We also plan to connect with other departments through the Internet so that scientists dont have to come to the IT Centre for giving their inputs. This will save their time.The Sarpanch of Navli,Pankaj Patel said If the project works well it will benefit nearly 3,500 farmers.