App makers from India, Pak could unite to bring technological innovation in farming
Hyderabad: Despite strained relation between India and Pakistan, two mobile application developers from both the countries could perhaps unite to bring technological innovation in farming.
The person who is leading the initiative is Raghu Kanchustambham, the developer of Livelihood 360 app, which was awarded the ‘Best app in Asia’ at the Digital Winners Conference, 2014 at Oslo.
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Speaking to media on Wednesday, Raghu said, “After using my app, the chief marketing officer of Uninor Pakistan told me that there is a similar app — with slightly different features — in Pakistan. He suggested collaboration between both of us. However, the idea is still in a nascent stage.”
Both the applications from India and Pakistan are designed to help the farmers in optimising their yield. While Livelihood 360 is transaction based, the Pakistani app is concerned with disseminating information.
Livelihood 360 helps farmers estimate the yield and sell the crop at fair prices by making quick calculations, which otherwise takes a month doing manually.
According to Raghu, “The power of internet can be effectively used at the grass root level to bring about the change. Livelihood 360 works on feature phones and is used by farmers and truck drivers who have only primary or secondary education.”
Currently, the app caters to 12,000 farmers across 658 villages in the Araku Valley region of Andhra Pradesh.
“We have plans to upgrade the app by making it compatible with android devices apart from providing the service in local languages." The app was rewarded with a cash price of NOK 10,000 (Rs 9,79,000).
