Shillong: The launch of a technology-based solution, 1917iTEAMS, to connect farmers with the market is likely to alleviate the problems of Meghalaya's farmers.

The launch of the 1917 Integrated Technology Enabled Agri Management System (1917iTEAMS) by chief minister Mukul Sangma on Friday coincided with the centenary year of the famous Champaran Satyagraha, the first pro-farmer agitation launched by Mahatma Gandhi in the country, which sparked the non-violent movement.

It is a farmer-centric and market-oriented technology service that will offer affordable transportation, evacuation and logistical services to farmers and facilitate them to access markets, buyers and sellers of their choice through a technology driven centre called the Agri Response Centre (ARC) set up by the agriculture department and linked to a fleet of dedicated agri response vehicles (ARV) across the state.

Through, the ARC, which is a customised 31-seater call centre, farmers who will call on the 1917 toll-free number, would be given information on the demand for their produce and connect them with buyers. In the same way, buyers would also be provided with information on the supply.

Agriculture department commission and secretary P. Sampath Kumar said distressed farmers, who face problems with their crops, would be provided with services where experts would visit their farms.

Kumar also said farmers who face difficulties in transporting their produce to the markets would be given assistance by the agri-response vehicles to ensure that their products reach the market.

The ARC will also have a content dissemination section and knowledge management system that will push out expert advisories on crop, weather, animal health, market price, plant protection and others based upon content generated by the 1917iTEAMS ecosystem and through the app-driven interface.

Unlike other online trading platforms, the 1917iTEAMS platform is not a place where trade or buying and selling will happen. It is simply a platform where buyer and sellers are made aware of each other's needs and prices. Once the deal is done, the farmer/buyer places the call to the ARC on the toll-free number to pick up and transport the produce.

Inaugurating the system, Mukul said the 1917iTEAMS would ease and enable access to markets. "The programme is concept designed and conceptualised to empower our farmers and farming will no longer be the same again."