Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy, and for the economy to scale to new heights, the economic condition of farmers must be improved. Doubling farmers’ income is only possible once the issues farmers face are resolved. Maharashtra AgroIndustries Development Corporation Ltd. (MAIDC), through years of experience, has identified three main challenges before the farmers.
First, farmers need access to quality inputs at the right time and price. Second, they need access to the market to sell whatever they have produced at the right price without the chain of intermediaries pocketing most of the profit, leaving barely any margin for the actual farmers. Lastly, they need the correct information and advice about weather conditions, market prices, availability of finance, government schemes, etc., to make informed decisions. The government has tried to resolve these problems, but certain lacunas exist. First, multiple organisations are providing various solutions. There is no end-to-end solution for all their needs. Two, these organisations are marred with inefficiencies of human interference, personal biases, costs, and corruption. Lastly, solutions provided so far make little use of technology.
MAIDC has always played the role of facilitator for developing Maharashtra’s agricultural scenario. It has developed a unique project named ‘Maha Agro Mart,’ which provides end-to-end solutions for all farming needs on a single electronic e-commerce platform. MAIDC is a fully-owned government entity, and this is the only government e-commerce platform dedicated to farmers. No other government platform in the country can provide farmers with various solutions. Though there are some private platforms, the range of services they provide is limited to specific segments. It does not cover the entire farm value chain from production to distribution or essential services.
What are the unique features of the e-commerce services Maha Agro Mart provides? This platform caters to two distinct categories of consumers. First, some farmers require seeds, fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides, micronutrients and growth stimulants, agricultural equipment and implements, animal feed, and a whole range of inputs. Second is the consumers of the final product. Farmers are also consumers, but the actual consumers of farm produce are urban consumers who require raw and processed farm products.
Being socially responsible, the platform explicitly promotes all small-time entrepreneurs from FPOs, FPCs, SHGs, and women entrepreneurs who lack technical acumen and marketing skills. Maha Agro Mart showcases products from these categories and guides them in their packaging, branding, pricing, and marketing. They have complete freedom in pricing, promotional schemes, and quantity to maintain for online transactions. Keeping in mind the objective of low cost to vendors, the listing fee on the platform is waived for all these categories, and user charges and convenience fees range between 5% to 10% compared to 25% to 40% on some private e-commerce portals. Fortnightly payouts without human intervention are helping the vendors who work with limited capital.
MAIDC has extended the platform facilities to all government departments like the Coir Board, Handicraft Board, and Tribal Department free of cost. In addition, products of prison inmates, NGOs, and organisations Of differently-abled persons who lack marketing avenues are taken on board so that their products reach a wider audience. This is the USP and a unique feature compared to other e-commerce platforms. MAIDC has also received proposals from the Goa government (Swayampurna Goa) and North East Regional Council (North Cacher Hills Autonomous Council, Assam) for utilising this platform, and the integration process has started.
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This initiative is just eight months old, but over 400 vendors and 2000 products have been listed on the platform during this short span, of which more than 1000 products are live. Over 5 lakh visitors have visited the site, and 5000+ apps have been downloaded. The e-com portal is available in-app and web-based platforms in English and Marathi. Transactions worth a million rupees have already been completed. The journey so far has faced many challenges like digital literacy barriers among the targeted categories, lack of network connectivity and appropriate devices, ensuring standardisation of products and maintaining consistency in quality, logistic challenges due to the remote locations of farmers and vendors, competition from traditional markets as well as other e-com platforms, trust building through quality, reliability, and efficient grievance redressal mechanisms, etc. These challenges can, however, be eventually overcome with time and through proper promotional activities. Resistance to change will wither with broader adoption and when benefits are visible to stakeholders. This is a new division of MAIDC, and the organisation is also in a learning phase. Challenges of data security, threats in online trading and cyber-attacks, regulatory challenges, and compliance also need to be tackled efficiently. There is a need to acquire new skills like social media marketing and how to promote search engine optimisation. Maintaining a constant flow of visitors and business requires habit creation through continuous marketing efforts.
The future is undoubtedly bright. Being a government platform, trust and acceptance are more important. Scaling up the basket to add more goods, services, and sectors, scaling up to other regions beyond Maharashtra, new segments like B2B transactions, and backward and forward linkages of farmers with manufacturers and modern retail chains are planned. Technological solutions to a problem are always transparent and efficient. Maha Agro Mart not only eliminates the chain of intermediaries, which is predominant in the agricultural sector, but it also provides freedom and flexibility to the stakeholders. The whole objective of this platform is empowering farmers.
Interestingly, farmers are now checking availability and prices online on Maha Agro Mart before buying their inputs in the physical market and bargaining for the right price from the vendor who used to exploit them due to a lack of knowledge or viable alternatives. The objective of empowering farmers is on track.
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