Mangaluru: App to help farmers get better price for crops

Mangaluru: The handy mobile phone, could now change farmers' lives. Seeing  farmers worried about their crops and the price for their produce,  a mobile app 'farmsurge,' has been developed to provide them the guidance they need.

An on-demand digital platform that directly connects farmers and buyers and gets them the right price for their produce, is now available to farmers thanks to the Arunya Foundation that works for empowerment of the rural population. 

It can be easily downloaded from Google playstore and the person interested  only needs to fill in details like his address and crop grown ,whether he is a farmer or  researcher, works for a government agency, is a student and so on. 

"This app helps to form a community of farmers based on their crop and  area,  to discuss various issues. Based on key words the members will get an alert and  experts will give them suggestions,"  explains Arunya Foundation secretary, Srinivasa Pejathaya.

"For example, if a farmer has a problem, he can start a discussion on it in the group. Other farmers, who have a similar problem or who have found a solution to it, can share their experience  and our experts will give their advice," he adds. 

The grower can post the details of his produce and the purchaser can post his demand, leaving the choice to the former to either go with him or his home market based on the price on offer.