Farmers now can get the fertilizers purchased from their nearest Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) by sending SMSes delivered at their doorsteps as Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with Union Minister for Fertilizers Sadananda Gowda and Agriculture Minister K. Kanna Babu, launched the initiative in virtual mode on Wednesday.
A Point of Sale (POS) 3.1 software and an SMS Gateway were also launched on the occasion.
“Farmer can place orders for seeds, fertilizers by sending SMSes to their nearest RBKs through digital kiosks. The fertilizers will be delivered at the doorsteps of farmers within 24 to 48 hours,” said the Chief Minister after launching the initiatives.
The smart TVs at the RBKs are being used to impart training to farmers. A special call centre with no 155251 has been launched and the call centre has received 46,500 calls till date. I am happy that the RBKs are functioning as market intelligence centres, providing information to the farmers about MSPs among other things, he said.
“Farmers will be the biggest beneficiaries if quality seeds and fertilizers are provided at their doorstep. As many as 10,641 RBKs across the State are functioning as the single point of contact for agriculture and allied activities. Each RBK has a digital kiosk, smart TV, white board, digital library and the equipment necessary for soil testing,” said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
e-cropping
The Chief Minister also said around 6.9 lakh tonnes of seeds of 15 crop varieties have been provided to 13.64 lakh farmers during the pandemic. Under the e-cropping scheme, the details of 49.14 lakh farmers has been uploaded to the database.
“The RBKs have got 2.17 lakh orders pertaining to 69,561 metric tonnes of seeds and fertilizers till date, of which digital payments were done for 38,000 orders, said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Contactless authentication
Keeping in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic condition, contactless OTP-based authentication option has been introduced in the POS 3.1 version. Farmer can purchase fertilizer without touching the finger print sensor.
The SMS Gateway will periodically send SMSes to farmers about the availability of fertilizers at the retail outlet from where they made the last purchase. They can also get information about the availability of fertilizer at any retail outlet by sending retailer ID to 7738299899. Further on purchase of fertilizer, SMSes will be sent to the cellphones of farmers, indicating the quantity purchased and amount paid by him. Mr. Gowda said that the Centre is happy with the new schemes introduced by A.P.