Hortinet is an integrated
traceability system developed by APEDA for providing Internet based electronic
services to the stakeholders for facilitating farm registration, testing and
certification of Grape, Pomegranate and Vegetables for export from India to the
European Union in compliance with standards. To harness the potential of mobile
technology, APEDA has developed a mobile app to allow farmers to apply on-line
to facilitate their farm registration, tracking the status of application &
approvals by State Government and Lab sampling by authorized Laboratories. This
mobile app initiative is expected to increase the accessibility and reach of
the Traceability software system among the farmers and other stakeholders.
This new Mobile app will
also assist State Horticulture/ Agriculture Department to capture real time
details of farmers, farm location, products and details of inspections like
date of inspection, name of inspecting directly from field. After registration
and approval of farm, farmer gets approval information.
The key features of the app are :
·
Online
Farm registration application and status tracking
·
Processing
and approval on on-line farmer applications by State Horticulture /Agriculture
department.
·
Registration
of farmers, farms and products by State Horticulture/Agriculture department
·
Capture
geo location of the farms registered through the app
·
Sample
collection by APEDA authorized Laboratories along with geo location of the
sample.
Dr Tarun Bajaj, GM APEDA
initiated the proceedings by outlining the new mobile app concept and its
evolution . Chairman, APEDA, Shri DK Singh welcomed the dignitaries and then
addressed the gathering . He mentioned the various initiatives taken by APEDAin
the past like introduction of TraceNet for organics, AnarNet , GrapeNet
traceability softwares . He cited the importance of the new mobile App Farmer
Connect which is a giant leap in connecting the farmers through mobile network
for registration procedure at his comfort from any location. He also mentioned
that through this App not only the process of farmer and farm registration will
be convenience but laboratory testing of product samples will also be easier.
The three dots in the App logo signify the farmers, state government and the
laboratory which is the essence of this Farmer Connect App. He also mentioned
that this app is being launched in Hindi and Marathi apart from English so that
it becomes user friendly.
Shri Sumanta Chaudhary, MD,
SFAC appreciated the new mobile app and highlighted the areas of mutual
cooperation between SFAC and APEDA through networking of clusters of FPOs and
APEDA clusters .
Commerce Secretary ,
Government of India, Smt Rita Teaotia launched the app. The occasion was
followed by display of a film depicting all the facets of the utility of the
new app.
Addressing the gathering,
the Commerce Secretary expressed her happiness at meeting the APEDA family. She
mentioned that Indian agriculture exports are worth 34 bn USD in the total
merchandize exports of 435 bn USD. The level of agricultural exports is low
considering that we have enormous population and most of what is produced is
consumed domestically. Though we have only 2.2% share ,yet we are amongst the
top 10 players in global agricultural trade. The efforts made by APEDA in
promoting exports especially the use of traceability softwares has benefitted
Indian agricultural trade and ensuring that importing countries get the product
of quality and standards that they desire. It is true that there could always be
stray cases of failure of samples which could have repercussions on the
farmers . It is important for us to make best use of technology so that any
problems areas are tracked and solutions found . The use of mobile app
technology and traceability systems is a great tool in identifying the farmers
and laboratories from where the produce was sourced and tested . She advised
that APEDA make all out efforts in enrolling larger number of farmers and
exporters through the new technology tool . Commerce Secretary mentioned that
there is need to move towards adoption of similar standards for domestic market
and export market since the Indian consumer is also expecting and entitled to
the best quality product. She suggested that the Mobile App be also be made available
on IOS system apart from Android and that the app and other traceability
systems should be made in vernacular languages for better understanding by
users.
Mrs Rekha Mehta, AGM, APEDA then
tendered the Vote of Thanks.
Please visit http://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/Grapenet/Hortinet.htm
to download “APEDA Farmer Connect” app.
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MJPS