Getting Farmers into Mobile Apps Industry

Looking at the pace at which the mobile technology has dominated various businesses, apps for agricultural sector have not really taken off in a big way. The reasons are not far to seek; it’s basically a demand driven industry. Companies will make use of all the latest technology and try reaching out to their potential customers if they find they can make substantial increase in their customer base by using that technology. The same principle applies to mobile apps as well.

There is a general perception that the Indian farmer is not tech-savvy in general and this is not completely a false impression. The literacy rate of Indian farmers is at best very marginal and it requires significant individual effort to get to the level of being proficient in using modern gadgets and appliances. However, this landscape is changing rapidly with the immense popularity of smart phones as well as their reach in every rural household in recent times. Farmers, literate or illiterate are now spending big amount on purchasing mobile phones, and this segment of the population is huge enough to be ignored by businesses that deal with them.

But it’s a great challenge capturing this market of non-English speaking population which is comfortable in only the vernacular language, has a general low level of literacy and which is not tech savvy as the educated urban younger generation. Anant Computing Platform has precisely this focus in its features to deal with this challenge. The vernacular app development platform and AppWallet that update automatically are huge plus points when it comes to reaching out to this so far ignored customer segment from the digital revolution.

Manufacturing companies that communicate with farmers for selling their products, such as fertilizers or pesticides, warehousing and marketing companies that come to the aid of storage and marketing of the farmers’produce, the trading companies that are involved in buying or selling the farm produce, or the insurance companies that are involved in crop insurance – they can all benefit by suitably designing apps specifically targeted to this customer segment and bundling their products in proper design using Anant AppWallet.

Make in India: Roadmap for Mobile App Companies

India is an emerging market in the mobile phone manufacturing, but is a great driving force behind the growth of mobile app industry. India is the third largest country in the world in Google play downloads. Combined with the number of mobile phone users in India, this is a clear indication that the mobile app industry is set for an exponential take off.

India also has an active app developer community which may further boost the market. Indian mobile app development companies are finding new ways to get into the market. A number of entrepreneurs are coming up with new app ideas with the target to capture the local market. With the launch of the “Make in India” initiative by the government, there are many small to medium entrepreneurs, who have entered the mobile software industry with the passion to capturing the local market through mobile technology. Though the growth of this sector would be primarily driven by the demand in the e-commerce in the retail segment, gaming, entertainment and such areas so as to have maximum inclusion of target customers, yet in order to give the desired push to this segment of economy, the government also needs to provide favourable environment.

At localized levels, many State Governments have taken the initiative of using mobile phone technology to provide transparent and accountable governance and for making available various kinds of public service to people. Such kinds of steps are required to be taken across all regions by both Central Government and different State Governments. There are many verticals, such as agriculture, healthcare, education and financial inclusion where apps can be designed at the local level, preferably in vernacular languages so as to increase the impact and reach of these initiatives. The government support in these sectors will certainly invigorate the mobile app development industry.

In order to bring about a dynamic growth in this sector, it is important that local players or the small and medium entrepreneurs are given sufficient encouragement and support in various forms, such as funding through banks, tax holiday, etc as well as encouragement to local companies for apps being developed on behalf of the government, which can play a significant role in invigorating the demand side of the industry. Anant Computing Platform – which develops the next generation of mobile apps for digitally inclusive India is addressing a number of local issues with its vernacular language apps. It is made for people who do not understand the language of the Apps – English, and government must push companies through various initiatives under “Make in India” plan.