National Institute of Rural Development software to track farming in state

Laxmi Ajai Prasanna, TNN May 13, 2013, 04.10AM IST

Tags:

• Parliament Local Area Development|
• National Institute of Rural Development|
• Kerala State Horticulture Mission

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development has offered Kerala a customized software for spatial analysis to ascertain facts on farming, production rates and demand.
"If the demand for capsicum is high in Thiruvananthapuram, its production may be high in Thrissur. A farmer in one district may not be aware of the demand and production in other districts. From sowing of seeds to harvest, the entire cropping pattern, yield, market demand, supply and availability can be tracked using the software," Kerala State Horticulture Mission (KSHM) director K Prathapan said.

He said the software, expected to be made available in Kerala by August, would be helpful even in tracking plant diseases. A technical team can make an on-the-spot evaluation based on the uploaded pictures and suggest pest-control measures.
It will be utilised to look into the polyhouse or green house farming status in each panchayat initially and then extended to other farmlands. There are 420 polyhouses in Kerala now, which is expected to go up to 500 by May 31.Agriculture department officials said vegetable production in one lakh hectares could be raised by 100 lakh tonnes if the area is brought under p
A similar NIRD software was earlier utilized to assess the local area development and fund utilization under the MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme.