CTRI - FCV TOBACCO

ICAR-Central Tobacco Research Institute established in 1947 has done yeomen service to farming community through technology backstopping on myriad aspects of tobacco cultivation. In the present context of utilizing ICT tools for timely and effective communication of needful agricultural information, ICAR-CTRI developed Mobile App for providing technological support to stake holders for improving the yield and quality of FCV tobacco. The app consists of four main modules viz., ‘TOBACCO’, ‘SHARE’ ‘CONTACT’, AND ‘ABOUT’. The first module ‘Tobacco’ provides technical information about ‘Good Agricultural Practices of FCV Tobacco’ which in turn consists of three main modules viz., Nursery, Field Crop and Post-Harvest Management. ‘Nursery’ module consists of two sub modules viz., Conventional method and Tray Nursery. In ‘Conventional and Tray nursery method’, information on ‘managerial practices, Insect pest and disease management’ was provided with good photographs. In ‘Feld crop’ module, information on ‘Planting, Cultural operations, Irrigation and Fertilization’ was provided based on soil type viz., Northern Light Soils (NLS), Southern Light Soils (SLS), Black soils and Karnataka Light Soils (SLS). In addition to this, information on ‘Insect pest management, Disease management, Nutrient Management, Weed Management, Topping and sucker control, Harvesting and Orobanche Management Measures’ in field crop was also provided. ‘Nutrient Management’ module is developed as a decision support system which allows the user to view the visual deficiency symptoms along with Functions, Predisposing factors and Corrective Measures. ‘Weed Management’ module is a knowledge-based system which provides the information on Scientific Name, Family, Weed Description and Control of tobacco weeds with good photographs. ‘Post-Harvest Management’ module provides the information on “Green leaf management, Curing, Bulking, Grading and Baling’ of FCV tobacco with good photographs. The second module ‘SHARE’ provides hyperlink to CTRI website for accessing. ‘CONTACT’ module provides contact details for receiving suggestions given by the user, if any. The module ‘ABOUT’ provides the general information like vision, mission, mandate, and Research programmes of CTRI. In addition to this, the communication bar on top left corner provides the information ‘about FCV tobacco’ and ‘Weed management’ The Mobile App will be free to download for all the tobacco growers, trade and tobacco based officials through google play store. The key features of the Mobile App are 1. It is a icon based user-friendly menu driven application for easy and instant accessing of the FCV tobacco information. 2. It is very easy to understand as the information displayed is ‘image based’. 3. ‘Share’ option in the mobile app provides access to ICAR-CTRI website.