The commodity industry is one of the oldest trades of Human Society and such legacy systems have very deep roots into the socio-economic structures. When it comes to the agriculture industry, it is a well-established fact that our country is an agrarian economy where almost 58 percent of the population is engaged in the agriculture sector in some form or the other. Despite its structural inefficiencies and vulnerabilities, agricultural industry is a vast market. However, these inefficiencies are the stepping stones for today’s Agritech companies to play a huge role and overcome the vulnerabilities and convert these inefficiencies into economic value additions across the system.
From 2017-2020, agro-industry has witnessed funding to the tunes of $1 billion. The investment into the AgriTech segment is growing with each passing day and it is anticipated that by 2025, this sector, will enjoy further investments to the tune of $30-35 billion. Some of the key factors contributing to this growth include technological intervention to drive efficiencies across the value chain, right from farm inputs, better productivity solutions, better post-harvest technologies, efficient market linkages, better price discovery processes, efficient storage, logistics and distribution of these commodities being the major areas of innovation through technology application.
In one hand we have a steadily growing demand due to increased population and enhanced economic activity, on the other hand we have supply side constraints in the form of shrinking land under cultivation, fractionalization of landholdings and decreasing land productivity. Under such circumstances, the immediate intervention space emerges in the value space of agro product distribution and marketing. This also looks forward to address a major problem of this industry, which is that it entertains a significantly large intermediation which does not add proportionate value to the ends of the value chain.
As a result, the farmers suffer poor realization while the consumers suffer a high cost of consumables. To add to this, the processing industry also suffers wafer thin margins due to limitations in capacity building in backward linkages. Today, the farmer is looking for a better realization for his produce while the processing industry is looking for a consistent supply of assured quality of inputs at a better price and the end consumer is expecting the necessities at a reasonable price. To meet these requirements, the industry is expecting a process which takes care of the non-value adding intermediation, thereby making the system more cost efficient.
Set up with the vision to empower farmers by connecting to a broader market with a transparent price discovery, Mumbai Based Agribid is leaving no stone unturned to reduce the inefficiency with efficient information dissemination in the entire value chain. In order to bridge the gaps in the industry, the firm ensures support with assessment of quality of produce involved in the exchange, providing logistical and intermediation support to mobilise commodity stockpiles at difficult nodes, driving the economic value chain with achieving both ends of better realization for the producer and a reasonable price for the consumer so as to engage the participants with enhanced cost efficiencies and confidence.
“We are positioning ourselves as a market place for the agriculture sector. With Agribid, we provide market linkages to farmers for selling their produce and also connecting them with a larger market across India as well as Globally. While we have started with Market Linkages for output sale, very soon we will focus on inputs as well and will be a one stop solution for the agriculture sector where an input manufacturing company can list its products for sale and can be purchased by farmers and in turn farmers can list their crops produced with the help of these inputs on our platform”, says Manoj Suvarna, Co-Founder, Agribid.
Empowering The Farmers Of India
Today, the small farmers do not have any control on the price of the produce and it is not because of not having option of traders but on the economies of scale of harvest. The plight of small farmers across India is fragmented land holding with an average land holding of 1-1.5 acres each, a small farmer can produce a crop of 1-2 MT. Such low quantity will never interest a big trader who is looking for one truck load (10 MT) as a minimum size of procurement in order to optimize logistical costs. The solution to this is Aggregation, which Agribid has very well addressed in its model and it is trying to empower our farmers by aggregating them and fetching them best price from buyers across India and the world.
“What we have observed is that today, every other player in this segment is focusing on increasing their trade value. Hence, major focus is on bringing traders to their fold or gaining more retail customers. At Agribid, our focus is on the farmer community and making a difference in their life by providing them a platform to sell their produce by aggregating. We also have a unique auction style platform where any listing stands a chance to fetch a higher price when buyers bid against each other. Hence, amidst the crowd in agritech segment, we take pride in calling ourselves an agritouch company.
Our approach has always been very simple, go the path less travelled. We feel getting to the grass root level is important for us, hence we are partnering with a lot of FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations) for connecting us with the farmers. Along with that, we have also made 2500 village level entrepreneurs PAN India for connecting with maximum number of farmers. The reach we are trying to create is going to be our USP and will give us an edge in the market”, elaborates Ashutosh Mishra, Co-Founder, Agribid.
A. K. Garg, Former MD, AFC & Investor
Marching Ahead To Leave An Impact
A registered Startup, Agribid is brainchild of Manoj Suvarna, Ashutosh Mishra and Chetan Suvarna who come from families with farming background. Every member at Agribid has almost two decades of commodity experience and a dream to make a difference in the lives of small and marginal farmers. Each of the founding members left their respective jobs and partnered to create an aggregator model to benefit the farming community of India. “Being a digital marketplace, at Agribid, our aim is to make a social impact through simple, fast and transparent agricultural transaction. To keep up with this objective, we work for farmers and offer a comprehensive procurement service for our members. We strive to achieve competitive pricing of agricultural produce for the farmers through our unique aggregation model.
Our partner FPOs act as aggregators and we share our revenue with them with a larger objective to give back to the community and make a social impact. Our team is well versed to assist the farmers in their requirements of Finance and inputs such as fertilizer, chemicals, seeds and irrigation and other farm machinery. This helps the farmers in saving time and money, as well as provides them higher value for their crops without any extra cost. At Agribid, we strive to not only get the best pricing but favourable terms, advance payments, and other allied service for our farming community”, shares Chetan Suvarna, Co-Founder, Agribid.
Set up with the vision to empower farmers by connecting to a broader market with a transparent price discovery, Mumbai Based Agribid is leaving no stone unturned to reduce the inefficiency with technology enabled transparent information dissemination in the entire value chain
"Our vision is to create a 'Huge' yet 'Simplified' and 'Efficient' B2B marketplace for the Farmers to sell their produce to traders and Corporates in a hassle free and transparent manner at best prices. My belief in Agribid also comes with the fact that now I am one of the angel investors in the idea of Agribid that aims to be an 'Agri-Touch' platform”. Comments A. K. Garg, veteran professional who had served as a Former MD, AFC; Former CGM NABARD, and is now an Advisor and Investor in Agribid – enthusiastically bringing on board with his wide and rich experience in the Agri value chain along with the young entrepreneurial zeal of the young co-founders.
In the years to come, Agribid aspires to create India’s largest agri-commodity marketplace thereby empowering farmers and making a social impact in the agri value chain The firm is set to have more presence on the ground for enrolling more and more farmers and facilitating their trades on their platform. “We have raised funding for increasing our team size and will be on a hiring spree in rural locations. We are also looking to create centre points for collection at strategic locations in areas where farmer concentration is high. Our vision is to make a social impact in the agri value chain by partnering with our annadaatas. We will not only give them (farmers) free access but also share our revenues. This makes us not just an agritech company but agritouch company as our mission is to touch upon the lives of farmers and people involved in the agri industry”, signs off Manoj.
.jpg "Overcoming the Hurdles of Scaling a Startup")
We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Read more...
