Agri machines a click away

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 22

Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) has launched an Android-based mobile application, named I-Khet Machine, which will help farmers to hire equipment/machinery for their use.

Stubble-burning has been a major cause of concern not only for Punjab but also the entire country. The government has been time and again asking farmers not to burn stubble and farmers, on the other hand, say they are unable to buy expensive machinery for stubble cutting.

Putting to rest the farmers’ complaints, the PRSC has launched this mobile application which will help the farmers to rent the machinery from individuals or cooperatives at nominal rates.

The Director, PRSC, Dr Brijendra Pateriya, said cooperative societies had nearly 10,000 machines and more would be procured.

After signing in, a farmer will be required to select his district, block and the machinery he needs to hire. After that the app will access his current location and it will show the possible options available to him in his vicinity, and after clicking on the marker, he will get the details of the equipment.

The farmer can click to either cooperative societies or individual farmer from whom he wants to rent the machinery. A list of nearby cooperative societies and farmers will appear after which the list of machines will appear, and he can select the machine he needs.

“The farmer can then either make a call or send an SMS for hiring the machine. A user will register himself with valid Aadhaar and mobile number,” said Dr Pateriya.

Farmers can now rent the machinery of their choice with the click of a button, added Dr Pateriya.