The Rubber Board has introduced a new mobile app-based online manurial recommendation technology, the first of its kind for rubber anywhere in the world and the first for any crop in India.
Introducing the new app here on Monday, board chairman and executive director A. Ajith Kumar said the technology would play a big role in bringing down operational costs and boost productivity in natural rubber sector. The introduction of the new app was part of the board’s endeavour in bringing digital technology to the fingertips of the farmer, he added.
The app, developed by the Rubber Research Institute (RRII), named RubSiS, acronym for Rubber Soil Information System, will tell the farmer the present nutrient status, as well as the optimum quantity of fertilizer to be applied in his holding irrespective of his location through a satellite-based system.
The RRII has roped in the services of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala; National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning; ICAR; and National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO; to develop RubSiS. Speaking on the occasion, RRII director James Jacob said they could successfully apply satellite-based remote sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS), and fertility mapping of rubber growing soils to develop this online Web-based fertilizer recommendation for growers. RubSiS combines principles of geospatial technology with soil science, agronomy, and ICT, he said.
In south India
At present, RubSiS is available for the entire rubber growing areas in the south, from Kanyakumari to Maharashtra. RubSiS for the north eastern States would be ready by December 2018, he added.
The android version of another app which would act as the digital link between the farmer and the board will be launched soon. Its features will provide the farmer with information on announcements of programmes, schemes, campaigns, labour-welfare measures, disease identification, prevention, Indian and international price situation, monthly agricultural operations for specific areas, and so on, he said.
