How can farmers, who are constantly exploited throughout the food supply chain, get some respite? That's one concern that was the driving force behind establishing Farmpal, an agri supply chain company based in Pune. What they do is connect farmers in rural areas, buy the produce from them and then align customers in the cities, customers who generally demand large quantities.
So, when the whole COVID-19 pandemic began, Farmpal's focus on farmers remained key. Which is why they have come up with collection centres near the farmlands to make it easier for the farmers to retain business.
Puneet Sethi, Founder of Farmpal explains, "The agri sector has definitely taken a hit, given the lockdown and the restrictions imposed by the government. The agri sector is a very hands-on sector. A lot of our farmers travel long distances to sell their produce, but, now, they have all gone back to their villages. There is very little manpower available. The other challenge is that the mandis are either closed or are working limited areas."
He adds, "Also, from their own safety perspective, they are a little reluctant to go to these marketplaces. So, they have produce at home, this being the harvest season in India, but there is hardly any consumption. For instance, in the Nasik belt, there are a lot of grapes. A lot of that is exported to Middle East, Africa and so on. So now, the grape farmers are literally giving it away for prices as low as Rs 20 a kilo. Many months of effort has resulted in nothing for the farmers."
In order to address this, Farmpal has set up collection centres in the villages, not more than three to four kilometres away from the farmlands. So farmers can easily travel there and drop off their produce. Moreover, they can earn at least 25-30 per cent more than what they get at the mandis. For the farmers, this has been very helpful because they don't have to travel much to reach the mandis and they're not exposed to crowded places as well. Puneet adds, "We've been able to set up accounts and transfer their money online as well within one or two days. Also, most importantly, they have a fair insight into the demand. We tell how much we will require for the next one month or so."
Farmpal has three customer segments. One is the big super markets, two, the local retailers who are in every nook and corner of the cities, and three, the hotels and restaurants. Farmpal, which started its operations in 2018 works with about 1,000 farmers out of which around 400 are active on a daily basis. But they're not the only one to benefit from this. Consumers also greatly benefit from this. Puneet explains, "The biggest challenge that customers face from the agri sector is that there is very little automation and transparency. So the consumers don't get professional service. With Farmpal, they can deal directly with the farmers, there is transparency and professional service."
