Quick Response Code (QR Code) Labeled Quality Planting Materials of Perennial Crops

Quick Response (QR Code) Code Labeled Quality Planting Materials of Perennial Crops

The non-availability of genuine planting material of improved varieties, especially in plantation crops is considered as a major bottleneck in improving productivity. Very often, private nurseries take advantage of such a situation and they sell spurious planting materials without any quality assurance through proper labeling.

Considering the importance and need to provide quality planting materials, especially, in the perennial horticultural crops, the Government of India is implementing the programme of accreditation of nurseries through the National Horticulture Mission. However, there is no mechanism for ensuring the genuineness and quality of planting materials supplied even from such accredited nurseries. Many farmers suffer huge financial losses due to the purchase of low quality planting material sold by the private nurseries. The importance of Quick Response (QR) Coded planting materials helps in overcoming such drawbacks.

The QR Codes are one of the easiest ways of providing the information to the customers and other individuals, allowing them to extract the valuable data with just scanning the code with the help of an optical reader. In order to ensure the security or to avoid fraudulent labeling, the password protected QR Code allows sharing the relevant information with only authorized people.

The ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod has been distributing the QR coded coconut seedlings for the past three years. The labels having a size of 4.0cm x 2.5 cm with an emblem of ICAR-CPCRI are waterproof laminated. The variety’s name is imprinted on one side and the QR code imprinted on the other side. The label has a Unique Identification Number (UID). Read more…