The government has launched an app called ‘Kisan Rath’ for the benefit of farmers amidst this coronavirus outbreak. The app is designed to function in facilitating conceivable transportation measures for the movement of farm produce around the nation during this lockdown placed because of the virus outbreak.
Kisan Rath is developed by the National Informatics Centre and its aim is to facilitate traders and farmers in searching for an appropriate transport facility for the delivery of agriculture and horticulture produce to the people. Primary transportation includes conveyance from fields to markets, warehouses and food collection centers, on the other hand, movement from markets to intrastate and inter-state mandis, railway stations, processing units, wholesalers and warehouses come under secondary transportation, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The app will allow the successful transportation of farm goods from the fields to the markets (mandis) and from there on to other markets. It will also allow the farmers to connect easily with the intrastate and inter-state customers, Food Processing Industries (FPO’s), and Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC’s).
As for the working mechanism of the app, the Ministry said that the consigners i.e. farmers, traders, horticulturists and FPO’s will place a requirement request for transportation, which will be circulated among the transport aggregates, who will, in turn, contact the truckers and vehicle owners and obtain a competitive quote.
Then the agreed quote will be conveyed to the consigners. Following this, the consigner will directly seal a deal with the truckers through negotiation and mutual understanding. Consigners are also allowed to provide feedback and ratings to the truckers. These ratings will later be used in the selection process of logistics service providers.
This app will also help in ensuring that the wastage of farm produce is reduced in times as tough as this where perishable goods are available in a limited supply by contributing to the appropriate pricing of the product so that they can be accessed by even the underprivileged sections of the society.
