Sowing app helped in achieving higher crop yield, says ICRISAT

A sowing app developed as part of a collaborative effort between software giant Microsoft, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) here and the Andhra Pradesh government helped in achieving a higher crop yield, ICRISAT and Microsoft said here today.
"Following the launch of the pilot in June 2016, that tested a new sowing application for farmers combined with a Personalized Village Advisory Dashboard for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the results show a 30 per cent higher average in yield per hectare," a release from ICRISAT and Microsoft said.
The sowing app was developed to help farmers achieve optimal harvests by advising on the best time to sow depending on weather conditions, soil and other indicators, it said.

The pilot was implemented in Devanakonda Mandal in Kurnool district and the Advisory applied only to the groundnut crop, it said.
The initiative was made possible through a partnership between ICRISAT, Microsoft, and the Andhra Pradesh government, the release added.
"The pioneering digital tools were released as part of the Andhra Pradesh Primary Sector Mission (APPSM) also known as 'Rythu Kosam'," it said.
The results of the pilot were announced today at a panel discussion at the 20th National Conference on e-Governance taking place in Visakhapatnam, said the release.