Fertilizer booking on mobile app in Telangana yielding good results

HYDERABAD

With a view to ensure equitable and timely distribution/supply of urea by preventing hoarding and panic buying, the State government has introduced a Mobile App for fertilizer booking, claimed as the first initiative of its kind in the country.

The panic buying of the soil nutrient by farmers by staying put in serpentine queues for long hours before fertilizer shops during the peak farming operations every crop season has prompted the Agriculture department to find a way out for streamlining the supply and the novel idea of introducing a mobile app was its offshoot.

According to Minister for Agriculture Tummala Nageswara Rao, as of February 14, about 12.73 lakh farmers booked 50.48 lakh bags of urea through the mobile app and of it 46.13 lakh bags were purchased. The high conversion rate (booking to purchase) reflects strong farmer acceptance of it. “This reform is not restriction, but it is about convenience, transparency and scientific allocation — from crowded queues to planned booking”, the Minister said.

Earlier, fertilizer bags were issued after Aadhaar authentication at the dealer points. However, whether a person seeking/booking fertilizer owned farmland and whether he/she is cultivating a crop or not was not verified. Even if the farmer was genuine, the fertilizer being brought at that particular stage of the crop was not always scientifically linked to distribution/supply. The fertilizer being bought at that particular stage of the crop is not always scientifically linked to distribution.

During peak Kharif seasons it often resulted in large crowds at fertilizer dealer shops, uncertainty over stock availability, panic purchases, hoarding and diversion. Farmers frequently visited outlets multiple times, unsure whether stock would be available or not. To address these recurring challenges, the Agriculture department introduced the digital and farmer-friendly solution.

Akin to booking movie ticket

The concept is simple and relatable, according to officials. Just as people book movie tickets online through mobile applications and web platforms, where real-time seat availability is visible and tickets could be reserved from home. On the same lines, farmers in Telangana can now check real-time urea stock availability, book required quantity through their mobile phone, visit the dealer only after confirmation and avoid long queues and uncertainty.

The mobile app transforms fertilizer purchase into a predictable and organised process centred around farmer convenience. Unlike traditional open purchase systems, the App ensures fertilizer reach genuine cultivators as the eligibility is linked to ‘pattadar’ passbook data, cultivated area, crop sown and recommendations of the agricultural university.

The quantity that a farmer could book is scientifically determined based on the crop and acreage. The eligible quantity is released in phases, encouraging split application as recommended under good agronomic practices, the officials said.