Block Chain, drones, harvesting robots, artificial intelligence, remote farm operations, etc are some of the new weight bearing words that are…

Block Chain, drones, harvesting robots, artificial intelligence, remote farm operations, etc are some of the new weight bearing words that are usually thrown around when the word “Innovation” in context to agriculture is used. However, if we try to relate these new keywords in context to a marginal farmer in India who owns less than 1acre of land – we hit ground reality. We then realize what Innovation when used in its real terms of its applicability to farmers really stands for.

Innovation simply means “that which works” or “that which is sustainable in the current scenario of things.”For example, we see innovation in the way farm produce is sold from June-2016 onwards from an APMC centric system to a more open one where the farmer now reaches consumers directly. No doubt there still are challenges in this new model but why was this model tweaked ? Simply because the old one had become redundant and there was a desperate need for a new or rather “innovative” / “usable” model to come forward and it has. This innovation has erupted multitude of startups who now connect Farm-2-Fork in almost every city and more will come with time. The new model accepted by one and all has helped farmers to fetch better market prices, establish a direct rapport with consumers, has helped to better understand the end consumer, make changes in sowing program based on market need and finally has led to more transparency in relationship between Farmers & Consumers.

The consumer is now more aware of the product that he /she buys, its origin, who is the farmer, where is the farm and a chance to give a product feedback – which till date was not possible and never imagined.This is Innovation in Agriculture led to sustainability of not just the farmers by opening up an array of possibilities but also a win/win for the consumers.If we take a step back and think about what is a farmer’s #1 problem ? What’s the media in TV, Newspapers, Blogs and social media keep debating and discussing about ? It has always been – fetching the highest price for their produce.

The focus on this single word “price” or “market” has been so maddening that farmers and the government both have stopped thinking beyond higher prices, MSP, subsidies eventually getting brain-dead to think about new ideas or Innovation in the agriculture sector per se.Its time the Agriculture Dept. of the country took a serious look at the archaic & now flawed Fertilizer Act & Pesticides Act. As an agrochemical company if you want to sell fertilizers, you need to be registered to sell in every state, have a local office address, a local warehouse, local VAT number, and finally hiring extra manpower. So imagine if you have a production unit in Maharashtra and want to expand your business by reaching out to farmers in another state – you will need – 10 offices, 10 warehouses,10 VAT registrations, 10 excise registrations – thats 10 times the manpower. The worst is tax returns, excise returns, PT, ESIC, Service Tax, various audits and inspections by various agencies increase 10 fold. Question is – how will the cost of an agro input like a fertilizer you produce or a Pesticide you make be affordable ?? This ultimately increases the cost of cultivation for the farmers and they in turn expect a fair and sustainable price for their produce.The second hindrance, our country certainly lacks infrastructure. Hence, neither an individual farmer reach the consumers neither an individual consumer reach the farmers.

As a company the fertilizer has to reach the farmer – for this a company uses a rather long supply chain model which goes :Company – C&F – Distributor – Retailer – FarmerAt every step there is a cost, a margin that is added by every intermediary to the price of the product which otherwise, if it was sold directly by the Company-to- Farmer would have saved the farmer anywhere between 25 to 50%. This is possible today with the last mile delivery made possible by the flood of courier companies erupted in the last 2 years.So if a farmers saves even 10% in cost of agri inputs – if the company can sell directly to him and get the last mile delivery correct – his cost of cultivation goes down. Then even if he fetches the same price that he present day does, his farm income has still increased and he has more money in his hands. More money in the hands of farmers is more money in 140 million hands to spend. This could change the face of our country forever.This Innovation in Agriculture if brought about by our government, this sector is opened up, if companies are freed from the license raj which till date exists, this ‘Direct Marketing to Farmers’ if allowed, could change the life of every farmer, making agriculture sustainable for him and his generations to come. The Youth will certainly wont quit farming.This one change if done, this innovation if brought about, old model if tweaked, can go long way in doubling a farmer’s income.- Purvish DiwanjiA Passionate Agriculture Enthusiast and also Director @ D2F