We are currently developing India’s first public agri-blockchain ledger to provide complete visibility and traceability of the farm commodity
In an exclusive chat, Mr. Chandra, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Arya.ag spoke to CXOToday discussing the existing complexities of the agriculture sector, Arya’s innovative solutions, future roadmap, and the use cases of new technologies for moving towards precision farming.
- How can we bridge the connectivity gap among the farming community by creating a network of multiple storage points?
A one-size-fits-all response cannot work for a country as diverse as ours. However, storage is crucial and must be made closer to the farmgate to ensure connectivity of smallholders with more extensive markets and make it more inclusive. At Arya.ag, we solve this by offering a bouquet of solutions at the farmgate, making sure the farmer has access to storage nearby. The availability of brick-and-mortar warehouses is not there at all locations and in our endeavour to make available storage spaces near to farm gate we have evolved hermetic storage solutions which are an air-tight and moisture-tight environment that doesn’t let insects thrive and inhibits mold growth. This on-farm warehousing solution significantly reduces the logistical challenges for farmers to store their goods and it provides an opportunity for farmers to sell the product when the prices appreciate. These IoT-enabled hermetic storages facilitate monitoring grain environment parameters like temperature, oxygen content, humidity, and carbon dioxide content. They may be utilised on-farm for as long as warehousing is necessary and then quickly dismantled and relocated.
Additionally, Arya. ag’s digital marketplace bridges the connectivity gap among the farming community by giving agri stakeholders easier access to storage, crop pricing and trading solutions. More than 8,000 agricultural enterprises use our digital platform, and currently, commodities worth about Rs 15,000 crore flow through Arya.ag.
- What is the significance of crop consultation, fumigation, and quality testing to reach global export standards?
The kind of practices involved in growing crops is a major deciding factor for the quality of the final produce. Globally, many countries have stringent rules in importing good quality crop produce. Hence, crop consultation holds tremendous significance in creating stock that parallels international standards. To avoid pesticide challenges known to bring great damage to farm produce, practices like Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are critical on the pre-harvest side for producing premium quality crops.
A combination of crop consultation, IPM, and quality testing will help keep up with global export standards. When farmers follow good farming practices and are aware of the ill effects of chemical fertilisers, and pesticides on the quality of their farm produce which in turn increases export rejections.
- What is the importance of deploying advanced storage facilities in order to foster crop life longevity?
The supply chain throughout the agri-value chain is evolving and significantly improving with technological intervention. Agricultural disruption will necessitate the elimination of bottlenecks in the supply chain, facilitating loans and crop insurance for farmers, using predictive analytics to boost farm output, and establishing a clear path for precision farming. However, traditional standards of storage are leading to significant crop wastage.
Scientific storage involves:
- Ensuring proper packaging and quality certification of inward materials.
- Maintaining consistent surveillance.
- Maintaining the required temperature and humidity in the warehouses helps a longer lifespan of the stored goods.
Even though there are advanced storage facilities that are scientifically sound, it is inaccessible for farmers in remote areas. Our model at Arya.ag ensures flexible, mobile, tech-powered, scientific storage for farmers is an answer to all these challenges.
- How can Block Chain help us overcome the challenges of complex logistics and supply chain?
India loses 20% of its agricultural production due to improper logistics. Due to a lack of reefer tracks and manual loading and unloading of agri produce, this large chunk goes waste. The blockchain has the potential to provide an effective and dependable answer to the pressing demand for product traceability and supply chain transparency. By recording information about goods at every stage of the agricultural supply chain, a blockchain can assist to minimise redundant processes, increase quality control, and monitor storage conditions. Agricultural enterprises use intelligent IoT sensors to monitor crops, and distributed ledger technology will strengthen sensing technologies. Arya.ag is currently developing India’s first public agri blockchain ledger to provide complete visibility and traceability of the commodity right from the producers’ field and build complete assurance for all stakeholders in the agri-value chain.
- How to deal with challenges related to digital security of end users (farmers) to ensure safe operations?
A greater rise in new tech adoption has always brought concerns about the digital security of its users. Tech-driven agriculture is no exception. With the advent of emerging technologies like blockchain and password less authentication systems, these tech solutions can be considered to protect farm data.
Blockchain is a distributed database and immutable ledger which ensures secure transactions and transfer of ownership, facilitating transparency and trust among stakeholders. The password less authentication mechanism effectively validates the user’s identity and allows secure access to the farm’s computing infrastructure.
