In Shimla,keeping a tab on the apple in Delhi markets

Most importantly,with apple alone generating an economy of Rs 1,500 crore and foreign apples entering the Indian market,the IT-enabled applications are likely to help the hill farmers keep a track of the fruits economics. More than 70 per cent of the states population is dependent on agriculture.

States principal secretary Finance amp; IT Ajay Tyagi says: The portal,having two inter-linked modules,proposes to create an interactive interface for Government to Citizen G2C for farmers; and Government to Government G2G services for the Department of Agriculture,Horticulture,Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. The idea is to maintain a database of information about all activities of the departments and provide requisite information and services to the farmers at the time of their need.

Although the work at the project,funded at Rs 7.03 crore by the Ministry of Agriculture,started way back in 2006-07,it moved at a snails pace even as the farmers and fruit growers continued to struggle their way to get remunerative prices for their produce.

With AGRISNET in place,states most backward areas like Tissa and the Churah valley in Chamba district,for instance,have found a spot on the international floriculture map where more than 1,000 farmers have come together and formed a cooperative to grow flowers and supply it to the national capital to the tune of Rs 2 crore per annum.

Developed in Hindi,the G2C module contains farm equipment details,new schemes,guidelines on the crops and publications,latest market information and trends,frequently asked questions knowledge bank,policies,trainings,and diseases related information.

An officer will be designated for daily monitoring of the queries and sending answers. Since all departments like agriculture,horticulture,animal husbandry and fish have been brought on the portal,the farmers will not be required to log to different portals. We will also provide online linkage to the states universities and marketing board,said Ram Subhag Singh,Secretary Agriculture.

The IT department has also drawn up a plan to train officials up to the block level to use the technology. There is a hardware support to the tune of Rs 2.30 crore and more than 500 people have already been trained to handle farmers queries.

Prakash Thakur,a progressive apple grower,who was part of a recent official delegation to Italy to study horticulture development,says there is a need for regular updates and expanding its outreach. Some years ago,he recalls,a Bangalore-based company started a portal for online marketing of apples but it failed for want of regular updates.

I believe the government will take care of this important aspect and make the portal more farmer-friendly, says Thakur.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal,who also holds the agriculture portfolio,says,I have asked the department to constantly update the portal and make efforts to convert the entire data into Hindi so that computer-friendly farmers could benefit from the same. Efforts are needed to create a strong manpower to handle the communication network. There is also a need to compile the data district-wise,even to block levels,so that area-specific and subject specific information is made available to the farmers.