India: Tobacco Farmers to Get Better Price in AP

Source from:  The Hindu 08/02/2012

Tobacco farmers in the State can forthwith expect more transparency in the auction of their produce. Farmers hitherto were facing problems in participating in the auction on traditional platforms that were denying them their due. While challenges posed by "dubious interests" was one major hassle facing the ryots, their inability to catch up with the pace at which the auction would be conducted made it difficult for them to comprehend the prices offered by traders. In view of this, the Tobacco Board has decide to leverage technology that will enable them overcome the irritants and participate in the auction process more actively. The 'e-auction' will be introduced in 31 auction platforms, 20 in Andhra Pradesh and 11 in Karnataka, incorporating several features including bar coding of the farmers' produce. The Board had entrusted the task of providing the required technological support, front end, middleware and backend, to IT solutions provider NIIT Technologies. Rs. 35 crore project Announcing the award of Rs. 35 crore project, board chairman G. Kamala Vardhana Rao said NIIT Technologies will implement the system in 100 days and 'e-auction' is likely to begin in November first week in Karnataka. Pilot projects on 'e-auction' were conducted at two places that were proved successful. NIIT was shortlisted after the due process and the project was a key initiative in the commodity marketing segment. The Spice and Tea Boards have similar platforms. NIIT Technologies Asia Pacific vice-president Arvind Mehrotra said the system involved use of handheld devices by bidders for conducting the auction on real time basis. 'The process will ensure inventory reduction and transparency through real-time collaboration between buyers and suppliers" he said. Approximately 1,000 bales were expected to be auctioned daily at each location and the platform would ensure fair pricing for farmers eliminating market intermediaries, Mr. Mehrotra said. NIIT Technologies would be responsible for infrastructure and application support for all enterprise applications. The project support team including field support, data centre support and helpdesk would also be made available after implementation for six years, he said. Enditem