New app to connect farmers with buyers

Imagine every time you buy a vegetable or a fruit, on your smartphone you can get details of who produced it, at what cost and the quality certificates passed, and

Imagine every time you buy a vegetable or a fruit, on your smartphone you can get details of who produced it, at what cost and the quality certificates passed, and at the same time the farmer also gets to know how much of his produce has been sold and at what price.

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To ensure fair compensation to the farmers, a start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has built a mobile application that will enable them to connect with the consumer and vice versa. The application will provide information about fruits, vegetables, grains and other farm produce sold in retail stores.

The application, AgroTrust, a blockchain technology product from EmerTech Innovations, was built in collaboration with Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company Limited in Nashik. It is aimed at bringing in transparency in pricing and eliminating exploitation of farmers by middlemen. Blockchain technology is a transparent and secure cloud-based ledger that stores a growing list of information.

On February 14, EmerTech introduced the application to representatives of around 50 farmer collectives from across Maharashtra, at an event in Mumbai. On this platform, farmers can view how much of their crop has been sold and at what rate.

Vilas Shinde, director of Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company Limited, said, “In the traditional agriculture ecosystem, there are many layers between the farmer and the retail consumer.” When asked if farmers possess the skills to use this technology, Shinde said: “Farmers will adapt to the technology as they have adapted to smartphones.”

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