App supports agroforestry in India

A new Agroforestry App provide farmers, extensionists and decision makers with timely information about site-specific agroforestry systems for the Indian state of Odisha, the World Agroforestry centre ICRAF reported on its website in January 2022.

The app has been created by a research-in-development team from CIFOR-ICRAF in partnership with the Government of Odisha’s Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, the Directorate of Soil Conservation and Watershed Development, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Central Agroforestry Research Institute and the National Rice Research Institute. 

The new Agroforestry App, customised for the State of Odisha, was officially launched by Shri Suresh Kumar Vashishth, commissioner and secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha, on 24 December 2021 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Presently, the Agroforestry App is available on Google Play and reached 1000 downloads in a couple of weeks.

The Agroforestry App Odisha not only assists in identifying the right tree for the right place but also provides full information on integrated agroforestry systems, availability of quality planting material, and locations of the nearest nurseries.

The App has six modules: introduction, crops, trees, agroforestry planner, agroforestry system and nursery. To access these modules, users will need to do a one-time registration.

Smartphone applications are one of the most promising options for faster dissemination of information. There are varieties of mobile-based applications used around the world for different components of agroforestry — such as crops, agronomy, farming systems — but few, if any, that are specific to agroforestry and its need to be site-specific, ICRAF writes on its website.

(ICRAF/ile)

Read more at ICRAF website