Making use of available technology is a great solution to increasing farmer benefits in India while limiting middlemen in the system
Growing consumer interest in obtaining fresh products, especially produce directly from the farm have in recent years led to direct marketing and sale of vegetables and fruits through farmer markets, have been able to successfully establish their popularity. These farmer markets have enabled a unique urban-rural relationship as people seek to consume produce directly from the farm as they are fresh produce.
The value chains in traditional agriculture also consist of multiple layers whose existence between farmers and consumers often delays the process of a product reaching the end-consumer. And these multiple layers often leave the freshness of the products affected.
The farmers’ markets on the other hand allow consumers to have access to locally grown, farm-fresh produce. These markets offer farmers the chance to develop personal relationships with their customers, and a bond of loyalty is cultivated between the two. As users, we have come to realise the joy and benefits of consuming fresh farm products, have also come to make sense of awareness, acceptance, accessibility, and affordability that a farm-to-fork model reflects. Farmers markets have been able to successfully demonstrate the benefits of direct-from-farm platforms in comparison to traditional trading models that have been in existence. Such enterprises have created a positive impact on the lives of small-scale farmers besides enabling them a higher income.
Direct supply channel
Direct procurement from the farmers ensures an increase in their income and thus strengthens the agriculture economy of the country. Making use of available technology is a great solution to increasing farmer benefits in India while limiting middlemen in the system. Agriculture as an economic activity is subjected to serious risk of natural conditions and price risk. Therefore, the need to strengthen the marketing of agricultural produce, by having a supportive supply chain, is real. Since independence, Indian agriculture has generally been only about subsistence farming where the farmers sold only a small part of their produce to pay off rents, debts and to meet their other requirements at prices considerably lower than the market prices. Things are quite different today, as the lack of owned storage and substandard transportation facilities prove to be challenging to the supply chain when it comes to the farmer taking the freshest produce to the consumer using a direct supply channel backed with modern age technology.
Delivering value
Experiments with several farmers markets have been successful in linking the farmers and end-consumers. But with the technological support available to enable this digital upliftment, there is an urgent necessity to create more such long-term platforms. There is a need for the creation of permanent platforms that use a direct-from-farm mechanism making available products to consumers in the least possible time. While offering the best in benefits through a regular high income to the farmers, these platforms bring dynamism to the system offering product value to the consumer. Direct-from-farm services have enabled farmers to realise maximum farm-gate prices in the long supply chain along with helping farmers reduce wastages post-harvesting of crops. Hence, the more such platforms, the more farmers and a larger number of people consuming these products benefit. We have already seen instances of how digital upliftment has brought about a revolutionary change in this space through its technology-driven integrated supply chain. By connecting the farmers directly to the markets, these platforms have proven to be an enabler in managing the end-to-end supply chain including all logistics.
—Narendra Firodia, Co-founder, YouCare Lifestyle
