A blockchain-based agtech startup Agri10x has inked a partnership with the Indian government to help farmers sell their produce directly to buyers.
According to a report published by local news outlet Business Standard, Agri10x will gain access to half a million government-affiliated common service centers that will help farmers in rural areas register on the Agri10x platform.
Indian agriculture industry has huge room for disruption
A report on sale of food produced by Indian farmers suggest that between 69 to 73% of produce left with farmers is sold below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Due to the failure of government agencies to reach farmers, they are forced to sell the leftovers to middlemen at nearly zero profit.
Agri10x CEO Pankajj Ghode said in a statement that their platform will remove middlemen and engage farmers directly with buyers:
“Our aim is to ‘Connect Local Farmers with Global Buyers’ that would not only increase their income levels but will also massively boost employment in the agriculture industry.”
Considering the present condition of Indian farmers, if Agri10x is able to deliver to its promise of connecting farmers across India to both local and global buyers, it can significantly improve farmer’s income.
Agri10x COO Abhijith Naraparaju stated that Agri10x will be expanding its services from the state level to a national level. They are aiming to onboard more than 3 million farmers on their platform by the end of this year.
Government’s rising interest in blockchain for agriculture
Both the Indian state and central governments have been actively looking into ways to advance agriculture with the help of blockchain technology.
In August 2019, Cryptox reported that the second largest Indian state Maharashtra was planning to use blockchain in supply chain and agricultural marketing. In March, the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry had announced that the Coffee Board of India launched a pilot blockchain-based e-marketplace in order to integrate coffee farmers with the markets.
