riceXpert

The ICAR - National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Cuttack is a premier rice research institute in India with a vision to ensure sustainable food and nutritional security and equitable prosperity through rice research. Since its inception, this institute is working for the benefit of rice farmers in India and abroad and ensures development and disseminates echo-friendly technologies to enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability of rice cultivation. In last 75 years, the institute has developed several rice varieties for different ecologies and many production, protection technologies including patented product (Alternate Energy Light Trap; Patent No 357993) for the farmers. Following to our mission and goal, to give maximum help to rice growers, the current mobile App riceXpert is developed for the farmers to provide information to farmers in real time on insect pests, nutrients, weeds, nematodes and disease-related problems, rice varieties for different ecologies, farm implements for different field and post harvest operations. Other components such as information about news, announcement and advisory services, frequently asked questions on the related subject, team involved etc. are also included. The app has web-based application systems which facilitates flow of information from the farmer to the farm scientist and get their instant solution. Farmers can use this App as a diagnostic tool in their rice fields and make customize queries for quick solution of their problems through text, picture and voice that would

be addressed by NRRI experts on real time basis. In the present form of this app ricexpert, we have taken all care to cover most of the concerns faced by the farmers in their rice field with solutions in a static form and also personal queries in a dynamic mode. In future we will include more information and other components to make this App more robust and adequate with the help of valuable comments and feedback received from the farmers and rice experts. This APP may also be a very useful tool for the researchers, students and village level workers (VLWs) working on

rice crop in different states as well as in the country.