Digital platforms come to the rescue of farmers during pandemic

Visakhapatnam "The timely help on how to improve our agriculture practices and better market access using digital technologies during lockdown helped us a lot," says S. Ramakrishna, a farmer from Nagulapalem village in Munagapaka mandal of Visakhapatnam district.

"Reliance Foundation (RF) people not only facilitated video-conferencing with experts but also arranged YouTube live interaction on Jio," points out Govind, another beneficiary.

Several farmers across Andhra Pradesh heaved a sigh of relief as they could get timely information during the pandemic when they encountered a challenging situation mainly during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic when there was no access to transport due to imposition of lockdown..

The lockdown had made markets inaccessible to the farmers and it was also difficult for them to sell their produce at fair prices. RF addressed these critical issues related to market access, to farmers, through digital platform-based linkages along with the multiple other interventions. On one hand, it facilitated marketing of agricultural commodities and by-products by linking individual farmers, livestock owners and fisherfolk to market avenues such as government procurement, make-shift markets etc. Also, by bridging information gaps, it seamlessly provided innovative and customised financial and non-financial solutions.

RF program manager for Visakhapatnam G. Tirumala Rao told Bizz Buzz on Saturday that there was lack of information among the farmers on understanding the problems faced by the farmers. "We could use digital technologies to bring the farmers, officials concerned and the stakeholders to a common platform. Rao, who looks after the programme in North Andhra, said that they also involved the knowledge providers from Krushi Vikas Kendras through over 60 virtual interactive programmes across Andhra Pradesh.

The sessions facilitated around 2,000 participants to convey the critical challenges in the primary sector supply chain to the right authorities, raised awareness on the availability of various marketing avenues and clarifications related to all the farming practices, various government regulations and relaxations and animal health management.

RF also initiated an awareness programme on how to avoid the virus under Mission Anna Seva and Mission COVID Suraksha. Under Mission Anna Seva, they provided around 12 lakh meals in Andhra Pradesh and under Mission COVID Suraksha distributed around 10 lakh masks, 20,000 gloves, 15,000 sanitisers to frontline workers.