Mung Advisor

ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR) was established by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as a premier national research institute for basic, strategic and applied research on major pulse crops. The Institute is involved in the generation of basic information, development of high yielding varieties, efficient pulse-based cropping systems and appropriate production and protection technologies, post-harvest management, production of breeder seeds, demonstration and transfer of technologies, and strategic coordination of pulses research through a wide network of testing centres across the country. IIPR works with a mission of ensuring self-sufficiency in pulse production and improving competitiveness through knowledge-based technological interventions for improving nutritional security and sustainability of the production base. The Institute conducts research in 12 pulse crops including mungbean as one of the major crops.

In line with the mission and mandate of the Institute, ‘Mung Advisor’ has been developed as an Android app which provides a comprehensive package of information about mungbean cultivation to the general public and the farmers. This is a bilingual app in English and Hindi and provides state and season-specific information on improved varieties, cultural practices, crop management, insect-pests and diseases, post-harvest technology, marketing, etc. Besides it also provides information on plant architecture, latest statistics and nutritional profile of mungbean. While weather advisory is also an integral part of the app, the ‘recipes’ section describes mouth-watering dishes which can be prepared from mungbean. This is an interactive app where farmers can also ask questions related to the problems faced by them in mungbean cultivation and the farmers can also use it as a diagnostic tool and upload their concerns in the form of text and pictures which will be answered by experts on the real-time basis. In future, we will include more information to make this app more robust and adequate based upon the feedback besides making it multilingual to cater to the needs of all mungbean farmers across different states of the country. It is expected that this app will provide a one-stop solution to all issues related to mungbean cultivation in the country.