Agartala, Jan 29 (Reporter) The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has unveiled plans for the development of a groundbreaking mobile application aiming to empower the farming community as well as consumers by sharing real-time inputs and price information on produce in the markets across Tripura. NABARD has sanctioned the fund to Bagma Agri Producer Company Limited (BAPCL) to implement the innovative project, which will serve as a one-stop solution for farmers. BAPCL officials said the apps will be launched soon to enable farmers and end buyers to know about the weather forecast, agromet advisory, support facilities, training, and rate of the products in all major markets of the state. BAPCL Managing Director Sudip Majumder said, "The Tripura vegetable trade has no comprehensive regulation of market and price. As a result, both the producer and the consumer are not getting desirable prices, while the middlemen mainly catering to the retail markets eat away at the maximum profit without involvement in the farming process.” He explained that the actual farmers have been selling agricultural products at a nominal price to the middlemen at the source, and the price of the same products has doubled at the retail market, even within 10 kilometers. As a result, the actual producers are getting low prices, and the consumers are buying them from the retail markets at high rates because of insufficient authentic information on the markets on both ends. “We have market correspondents in every revenue block across all eight districts of Tripura, and they will upload the prices of the vegetables in the local markets where producers bring them for sale in bulk and also in retail markets in the morning on the apps. Before proceeding to market, the consumer can get access to the market information of his locality, and the administration would also get ready input to regulate the prices,” Majumder attributed. Apart from that, the mobile application will provide farmers with real-time updates on weather conditions, essential precautions to protect their crops from natural calamities, and suggestions from scientists, as well as information on various agricultural schemes and benefits. The primary goal of the apps is to equip farmers with crucial information for informed decision-making, he added. Biswajit Das, a vegetable vendor in the city, welcomed the move and said, “We bought the vegetables in small quantities for door-to-door vending from Maharajganj Bazar or Battala and earned Rs 5-10 from each kilogram of sell, but we know a few businessmen bought the produce from nearby farmers at very low cost and earned at least double from each kilogram of sell only because neither we nor the consumers are aware of the wholesale price...////...