Entrepreneurs from the city are providing information technology-based solutions to make farmers' lives easier. These technocrats have brought in IT solutions to agriculture, leading to better farming practices. In fact, some of the solutions have been displayed at the ongoing Kisan Agri Expo.
AgroStar, a city-based m-commerce venture that raised $4 million from IDG Ventures and Aavishkar in August this year, allows farmers to procure products they need simply by giving a missed call on a particular phone number. The system works in such a manner that the farmer receives a call from an expert offering advice, consultation and tips. Shardul Sheth, chief executive officer and co-founder of Agrostar, explains, "Farmers can call on the 1-800 number provided to them and someone will return their call and talk to them to understand their need in detail. The farmer can just place his order of the things he needs and we will get it delivered. We have a wide range of products, from national as well as international brands, on offer."
AgroStar has tied up with IndiaPost for last mile delivery and the venture is in the process of setting up a delivery system by roping in local entrepreneurs in both Gujarat and Maharashtra where it operates. "We have returned 10 lakh calls in the last two and half years and have served over three lakh farmers," said Sheth.
Another IT entrepreneur, Umeed Kothavala, strives to minimise losses in sugarcane farming through the app 'Dhrishticane', which has been developed by his firm Extensia. The platform can be installed on an Android tablet and can aid farm supervisors in maintaining and transmitting data, soft copies of agreements, map the farm area, calculate the final production of sugarcane as well as estimate sugar prices. The platform helps supervisors minimise losses and farmers reduce water usage. Supervisors can track sugarcane growth across the various farms that they have tied up with. The system is being used by Renuka Sugars as of now.
"Currently, most data collection, agreements, and data transmission is done manually. The data also gets lost over time and discrepancies arise due to language differences between farmlands in Karnataka and Maharashtra. The app would also help farmers take better and timely decisions related to cutting their crop and marketing it," said Kothavala.
Sanjay Borkar and Bhanudas Shedge from Shivrai Technologies have developed Farm ERP. "There are a lot of challenges on today's farmlands. This solution addresses operational efficiency and is used for labour and input optimization. From the date related to sowing and harvesting, all processes can be monitored through this app which saves time and money. It also has a GIS capability, which enables us to see the map of a particular farm. Even a 5-acre farm can use this technology. In fact, a grape farm is using Farm ERP currently," said Borkar. One of the biggest corporate farms that is using the app is a 40,000 acre area where rubber, sugarcane and paddy is grown, he added.
"For smaller farms and small farmers, it can keep track of their expenses and budget. It also keeps a database of pests and diseases," added Borkar. Farm ERP is offered through a mobile app in offline mode, which gets synchronized with the cloud server and through an ownership model.
The Kisan Agri expo is currently going on at Moshi near Pune and will be on till December 20.
AgroStar, a city-based m-commerce venture that raised $4 million from IDG Ventures and Aavishkar in August this year, allows farmers to procure products they need simply by giving a missed call on a particular phone number. The system works in such a manner that the farmer receives a call from an expert offering advice, consultation and tips. Shardul Sheth, chief executive officer and co-founder of Agrostar, explains, "Farmers can call on the 1-800 number provided to them and someone will return their call and talk to them to understand their need in detail. The farmer can just place his order of the things he needs and we will get it delivered. We have a wide range of products, from national as well as international brands, on offer."
AgroStar has tied up with IndiaPost for last mile delivery and the venture is in the process of setting up a delivery system by roping in local entrepreneurs in both Gujarat and Maharashtra where it operates. "We have returned 10 lakh calls in the last two and half years and have served over three lakh farmers," said Sheth.
Another IT entrepreneur, Umeed Kothavala, strives to minimise losses in sugarcane farming through the app 'Dhrishticane', which has been developed by his firm Extensia. The platform can be installed on an Android tablet and can aid farm supervisors in maintaining and transmitting data, soft copies of agreements, map the farm area, calculate the final production of sugarcane as well as estimate sugar prices. The platform helps supervisors minimise losses and farmers reduce water usage. Supervisors can track sugarcane growth across the various farms that they have tied up with. The system is being used by Renuka Sugars as of now.
"Currently, most data collection, agreements, and data transmission is done manually. The data also gets lost over time and discrepancies arise due to language differences between farmlands in Karnataka and Maharashtra. The app would also help farmers take better and timely decisions related to cutting their crop and marketing it," said Kothavala.
Sanjay Borkar and Bhanudas Shedge from Shivrai Technologies have developed Farm ERP. "There are a lot of challenges on today's farmlands. This solution addresses operational efficiency and is used for labour and input optimization. From the date related to sowing and harvesting, all processes can be monitored through this app which saves time and money. It also has a GIS capability, which enables us to see the map of a particular farm. Even a 5-acre farm can use this technology. In fact, a grape farm is using Farm ERP currently," said Borkar. One of the biggest corporate farms that is using the app is a 40,000 acre area where rubber, sugarcane and paddy is grown, he added.
"For smaller farms and small farmers, it can keep track of their expenses and budget. It also keeps a database of pests and diseases," added Borkar. Farm ERP is offered through a mobile app in offline mode, which gets synchronized with the cloud server and through an ownership model.
The Kisan Agri expo is currently going on at Moshi near Pune and will be on till December 20.
Source : Times of India
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