Agribazaar – Transforming the Indian Agriculture value chain with Technology
Agribazaar started with the idea that a technology-driven platform could help the agri value chain operate with significantly fewer overheads and hidden inefficiencies. They digitized the agri value chain with proof of origin and authenticity, enabling traceability whilst bringing down agri-trade commissions from 2-3% to 0.5%.
Believing that new models of trading are required to meet the opportunities and challenges of modern agriculture, Agribazaar’s platform leverages cutting-edge AI for agri value chain optimization, resulting in increased yields and greater profit for small farm owners. Agribazaar has set an aggressive timeline to demonstrate its commitment to this pursuit. AI, ML, and big data aren’t just buzzwords at agribazaar. It’s how they’re defining technology and agriculture should work together. Mr. Amith Agarwal, Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Agribazaar, shares more insights on the same.
- Brand’s journey since inception
AgriBazaar was established in 2016 with the goal of revolutionizing the post-harvest management services industry by providing farmers with tech-enabled, future-ready solutions in a frictionless manner. It is a new-age digital (electronic) e-mandi that connects farmers to marketplaces, allows small-farm owners (farmers), merchants, and customers to buy and sell agri-produce directly at the best price method without the use of middlemen/intermediaries. Promoted by the Staragri group, it has Temasek Singapore and Investcorp as initial investors due to the Staragri lineage; today, it is an independent entity. It is the only firm that provides end-to-end pre & post harvesting solutions through its integrated network of professionals, businesses and FPOs. Agribazaar eases the process of pricing and information asymmetry for small and marginal farmers. It helps farmers get remunerative prices for their agri-produce through its online trading facility and owned wallet app AgriPay. Over 2-3 lac farmers, traders, and FPOs get personalized crop advisory information through the Agri Bhumi app; it has district/tehsil wise data for the past 3-5 years.
Agribazaar strives to simplify the overall agri-buying process for its stakeholders and give them easy access to commodity deals, auctions, transparent pricing, secure payments and assured quality. It is this vision that empowered AgriBazaar to facilitate INR 9000 crore (GMV) worth of transactions since its inception, making it one of India’s largest end to end online agri-trading marketplace.
Our few of notable projects are Agristack – Farmer database management project with the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer Welfare, Government of India where the government has partnered with organizations like Microsoft & Patanjali & Private e-mandi operations – Setting up private e-mandis operations in Madhya Pradesh, with seven procurement centers
- What technologies are used by Agribazaar to address issues in Indian agriculture?
Agribazaar’s full-stack technology engine is digitizing the entire agri-value chain – from the farm to the fork, not limiting to either pre-harvest, input & yields, post-harvest or agri-financing sections. We are using technology to transform the agricultural value chain. We provide small farm owners with digital access to a larger market. We ensure quality while mitigating counterparty risk and enabling secure payments for buyers. Through direct linkages, we increase efficiency, transparency, and traceability along the whole value chain.
Agribazaar platform has collected data and built an intelligent back engine with 3-5 years of records of farmers from various local government offices/portals which also provides geo-tagging of farms through satellite imagery.
Through sophisticated Machine Learning (ML), the crop advisory services issued to the farmer ensure that the harvesting crop has optimum / the best resources for the highest yield. The platform generates valuable insights on how good or bad the harvest is on a regular basis via the crop management system, using remote sensing. The farmer and buyer are notified in a personalized manner of the need for post-harvest services. For example, a buyer can be notified of a specific quality of wheat available for purchase in a nearby area and linked to a farmer whose produce matches the need, saving high logistics costs.
- Future plans for the technological developments
Agribazaar plans to triple its engineering and product development team from 60 to 150 by 2022-23. Engineering graduates from both premium and Tier 2/3 cities who have worked in solid product-based companies, particularly agritech startups, would be hired.
The firm, led by Anup Singh, Chief Product & Technology Officer at agribazaar.com, is looking for motivated and committed young professionals. Anup is an IIT graduate who has held senior positions in companies such as Meddo Health and Adobe Systems.
- How technologies like remote crop sensing model, crop yield estimation are helping the farmer community?
Remote sensing to assess crop health is on the rise. Remote sensing crop model will help farmers in implementing precision farming methods naturally and without much fuss. Sensors can be used as early warning systems to combat climatic or biological anomalies before they have a negative influence on crop yield. Remote sensing applications have been used extensively in agriculture to assess plant health, yield, and crop loss estimation.
Before a farmer decides to sow a crop, a crop advisory on the crop type, yield estimate and input costs are prepared based on the land and crop history. The entire land, crop and farmer’s sowing history of the past – 3-10 years is fed into the agribazaar technology platform.
Through sophisticated Machine Learning (ML), the crop advisory services issued to the farmers ensure that the harvesting crop has optimum / the best resources for the highest yield. Such custom land reports for individual Indian farmers are helping them to implement ‘predictive farm’ techniques scientifically and effectively.
