Kisan Sabha Portal
In the present situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in light of the announcement by the Government of a Rs. 1.6 Lakh Crore package to empower the farmer and take initiatives like providing adequate choices to farmers to sell produce at attractive prices, better framework for e-trading of produce, agriculture marketing reforms, an associated target of opening 10,000 FPO’s and many such measures that will enable farm income enhancement, CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) has launched the Supply Chain Web Portal and Android Application “Kisan Sabha” (www.kisansabha.in)
Aiming to issue core farmer issues such as low price realization at the farm gate, availability issues related to timely transportation and access to quality seeds and fertilizers at affordable prices, Kisan Sabha has been conceptualized, designed and implemented after researching the ground realities of farmers, their immediate concerns and identified opportunities within the existing operating systems for improvement and empowerment. Hundreds of farmers and mandi dealers were interviewed and surveys were conducted to understand the demand and supply system and pain points. India’s largest mandi, Azadpur at Delhi, was also covered.
Features
Kisan Sabha has 6 major modules, one each dedicated for farmers, mandi dealers, transporters, mandi board members, service providers and consumers, respectively. It is intended to be farmer-centric while ensuring stakeholders across the value chain are benefited:
- It connects the farmers directly to transporters, service providers (like pesticides / fertilizer/ dealers, cold storage and warehouse owners), mandi dealers, customers (like big retail outlets, online stores, institutional buyers and potentially even large communities like Cantonment Boards and Resident Welfare Associations.
- It gives the farmer an option to choose the best rated mandi out of 4 nearby mandis. This will improve the income of farmers.
- Since farmers can directly connect, interference of and exploitation by middlemen is reduced. Those margins can be added to farmers’ income itself. .
- Small and medium farmers can hire logistics as per their demand.
- A freight calculator, creating options to choose the cheapest transport facility
- Farm equipment suppliers and other service providers can also be directly accessed
- Kisan Sabha also provides a platform for people who want to buy directly from farmers in bulk.
- Refrigerated trucks, cold storage facilities and warehouses are also part of Kisan Sabha.
Launch
This app was launched by Dr. T Mohapatra, DG, ICAR & Secretary, DARE in presence of DG, CSIR Dr Shekhar Mande on May 01, 2020. The satisfying post-launch acceptance in its initial phase by the farmers and evident contribution to the overall agriculture eco-system is helping the Government in its goal of making the farmers more self-reliant as envisioned by our PM as part of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.”
Success Stories
In the three months since its launch, the Kisan Sabha app and portal has been downloaded over 1 lakh times and is available in 12 regional languages to ensure effective connect at the grassroots. 11,000-plus farmers, 29000-plus transporters, 1100-plus Mandi Dealers, 5000-plus Service Providers and 3700-plus consumers are already using Kisan Sabha and realizing benefits from it
More than 35 renowned Agri-Youtubers promoting the app and around 40 Web News pages have covered the performance of Kisan Sabha. Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan has joined hands with Kisan Sabha, 11 Institutions has expressed interest in partnerships. A few Major Success Stories are as under:
- Connected to one FPO – Mukulishi Sparsha Producer in Balasore, in Odisha, as an initial pilot
- 20 women Self Help Groups (SHG’s) being created using Kisan Sabha, where wives of farmers are doing local agricultural cultivation. Kisan Sabha is helping them access seeds/ fertilizers/ services and above all a cost-effective local transport system to deliver their crops to the best rated mandis.
- Currently operational in 6 districts of Odisha out of 30 (Puri, Khurda, Balasore, Kendrapara, Nayagarh and Gajapati, the last being an Aspirational District, covering 13 Blocks with outreach to 200 Panchayats.
- 2 rating on Google Play Store.
- Hundreds of positive reviews on the Kisan Sabha Facebook Page. And continuous calls being received from farmers wherein they are happily reporting their increased income because of features provided in Kisan Sabha.
- Link on web: kisansabha.in and on Mobile: Please go to Google Play and Type: KisanSabha
-KisanSabha Team
