Digital Mandis – The Future of Indian Agritech
An efficient farm-to-fork value chain is vital to realize India’s potential as a “global agricultural powerhouse”. With the increased professionalization of agriculture, diversifying consumption patterns and accelerated per capita incomes, a seamless flow is essential to integrate consumers with producers at distant geographies. This is the rationale of the ambitious 'One Nation, One Market' vision. The government aims to build efficient value chains that move products from one place to another without unnecessary intermediation.
The futuristic and unified policy framework will need advanced technology for the idea to evolve into reality. Together, these factors will foster a productive shift in Indian agriculture and create equitable market access for every stakeholder. These will:
empower farmers with the freedom to sell to markets that afford the best price realization for their harvests
equip consumers with the liberty to buy goods without barriers of borders at competitive prices.
enable indigenous agriculturists to compete with import and export push
The evolution of agriculture marketing in India
Mandis or physical agricultural markets are ubiquitous economic institutions. However, until the recent introduction of the Farm Laws, the first sale of agricultural produce would occur only at government-regulated, and Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) designated mandis. According to government data, there are around 7,000 mandis in India.
As a part of its strategy to digitalize the agriculture sector, the government launched the e-NAM scheme in 2016. This was a pan-India electronic trade portal linking APMCs across the states and facilitating smooth online trading of agriculture and horticulture commodities. The idea was to regulate the functioning of wholesale mandis through an integrated virtual platform. By extension, these mandis provide impetus to the government's 'One Nation, One Market' vision.
The growth of the e-NAM Model of agri-trading
Since its introduction five years ago, e-NAM has begun making visible inroads. Today, 1,000 mandis (~14%) across 18 States and 3 Union Territories are integrated into the e-NAM platform. However, given its sheer vastness and magnitude, the private sector's contribution will be vital to the vision of an integrated agriculture value chain.
Tech-intervention and innovations by agri-tech companies can solve the problem of yield and procurement while accelerating the entire agri-supply chain. In addition, the pandemic has helped demonstrate the resilience and dependability of agritech businesses. These factors have helped in establishing trust in agritech companies among members of the whole agriculture stakeholder ecosystem:
They handheld producers through vulnerable times while ensuring the latter’s safety and health by following social distancing measures and avoiding overcrowding in the physical mandis
The innovation and quick scalability demonstrated by agritech organizations enabled efficient last-mile linkages even during lockdown periods.
By collaborating with other service providers, agritech companies provide customers with the convenience and comfort of accessing end-to-end solutions from a single platform.
Startups transforming physical mandi process into digital
Innovative agritech players like Agribazaar are committed to the government's efforts to procure the last available grain from farmers. They have replicated the physical mandi online and married it with trading features. It enables farmers to register and list their produce online, which in turn allows buyers to place orders and get products delivered at their doorstep.
Even during the COVID-19 period, agritech players have successfully managed high volumes with no disruptions and additional workforce. Thanks to advanced technologies that empowered these companies to cater to the needs of both farmers and consumers more seamlessly than ever before.
The government-private sector partnership
It is heartening to note that the government acknowledges the role of private-sector-led entrepreneurship to enable a paradigm shift in the performance of the agriculture sector. The government’s willingness to work in tandem with the private sector demonstrates its intent to uplift marginalized members of the agriculture community.
Agritech players are at the forefront of several such partnerships with the government to build and promote Digital Agricultural Platforms (DAPs) among Indian farmers. These platforms will enable and empower the Indian farmer to approach farming in an integrated manner, with a single source allowing agri-tech platform.
Such collaborations have helped agritech players to world-class technological capabilities to create standardized, verified data for Agristack, profile agricultural land, develop a generalized advisory platform, enable access to an integrated farmer marketplace for the broader stakeholder ecosystem & facilitate better access to financial services for farmers. Similarly, by leveraging these partnerships, companies are providing e-auction and sales facilitation services for the agri-commodities stored at the latter's warehouses across the country.
The technological advancements introduced by startups on the back of strong government collaborations will certainly change the face of Indian agricultural sector and steer the nation towards a better and self-reliant tomorrow.
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