Coffee board launches digital initiatives to benefit coffee stakeholders

"Technology, when used for good, has a distinctive characteristic of bringing positive and disruptive change. It is always evolving and it is up to us to harness the power of technology to bring in efficiency and ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods to the lakhs of farmers involved in the coffee industry across the country. These applications and solutions are only the beginning. There is a long road ahead and we have much to do in very little time," Mr. Srivatsa Krishna IAS, CEO & Secretary, Coffee Board, said.

"The applications that have been launched on 4th September 2018 are some of the first in the country to use technologies like blockchain across the value chain as well as IVR based back-end operations to ensure resolution of queries quickly and efficiently," Mr. Krishna further added.

The utility of drone technology in agriculture was demonstrated on the occasion wherein the Hon'ble Commerce Minister launched spraying operation Coffee Board in collaboration with Quidich innovation labs and Stark Drones are working on an end to end workflow for precision agriculture.

The launch of Coffee Connect App-The first mobile app, aptly titled 'Coffee Connect' aims to enhance the effectiveness of delivery of extension services by the Coffee Board's extension personnel while also enabling the tracking of outcomes. Developed by Coffee Board in association with National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) developed by WINIT.

The launch of Coffee Board EKA Analytics Pest Identification mobile App

The launch of Coffee Krishi Taranga, IVRS-based mobile extension service, is aimed at maximizing the reach of the Board's services in the limited time available.

After identifying technological solutions for some of the perennial coffee production or farming issues and challenges such as rainfall, pests and diseases, Coffee Board in collaboration with EKA Analytics has developed few applications for Pilot testing. These include-Hyper Local Weather Forecast, Pest (White Stem Borer) Identification Application, Leaf Rust Disease Forecast and Block Chain Based Market Place App.