CropIntel AR wins Rep. Steve Womack’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Arkansas’ Third District
Rep. Steve Womack has named Jaithra Polavarapu, Nirmay Sharma, Havish Kunchanapalli, and Aarman Manna of Bentonville West High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Arkansas’s Third District. Their app CropIntel AR is a mobile-friendly web application designed to help farmers in Arkansas protect their crops by providing instant, AI-powered diagnosis of their fields by analyzing crops and statistical patterns.
When asked what inspired the creation of CropIntel AR, the students said, “Most of our families come from a rural background where agriculture was our family’s main source of income. Agriculture was so prominent in the lives of our grandparents to the point where it became engraved in our culture. Therefore, in times of drought, disaster, or famine, families were left with nothing and had to fend for themselves. As we continue through our high school career, we realize just how critical and important these farmers are to us in our daily lives, and we started this with the mission to give back to the very farmers that provide for us. Through this app, we wanted to make the daily lives of these farmers easier and more efficient, just as they make our lives easier. While thinking about our families across the globe, and thinking about the farmers that work so hard for all of us every day, we began the journey of making this application, for the betterment of everyone.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.