In 2016, Pankajj Ghode, a seasoned IT & digital transformation expert, along with a bunch of like-minded individuals Abhiit Naraparaju, Sandeep Bose and Abhishek Charala, decided to build a comprehensive blockchain product that could bring together various stakeholders in a particular industry and optimize the various critical functions of that industry. Question remained – which industry would this solution fit in? Ghode and his friends dabbled between various sectors – healthcare, finance, cybersecurity before finally zeroing on agriculture. After three years of rigorous research, they launched Agri10x – the world’s first AI and blockchain enabled global e-marketplace connecting farmers, agricultural traders and farmer producer organisations (FPOs) – with the goal of retaining the farmer as the biggest beneficiary and ensuring he gets a fair price for his produce.

In the past year, Agri10x has done impressively. The platform has 1 million farmers in India and four million globally, more than 3,000 traders and 75 warehouses in the country. Indian produce of fresh fruits, vegetables and pulses have made their way across India as well as multiple overseas markets like UK, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UAE and Singapore. Recently, Agri10X entered a partnership with CSCs or Common Service Centers – through the network of 5 lakh CSCs, farmers can now sell directly to the market.

Ghode believes this is just the beginning.

In FY19, the exports of agricultural and processed food stood at nearly $40bn. India has been a consistent net exporter of agri products touching Rs. 2.7 lakh crore imports and Rs. 1.37 lakh crore exports in 2018-19. “The Indian farmer is an unsung hero; and one of the most under-served in our country. Being an agrarian society, India enjoys a distinct advantage over the production of several grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables. But there are systemic issues such as the presence of middlemen, who end up taking up substantial profit shares from the farmer and sell products at inflated prices. We wanted to use technology to democratize these transactions and ensure the farmer gets more for his labour.”

Say a farmer sells a kilogram of onions for Rs. 6 in Nashik, Maharashtra. This will be sold for Rs. 60 in an urban market. The markup is usually taken by a middleman, through whom a farmer has to channel his produce. Similarly, the price of a kilogram of onions would not be the same in Karnataka or Haryana. Agri10x’s AI engine analyses data on the differential price of a produce, procured from over 250 APIs, arriving at a set maximum and minimum price for that item on its platform after creating algorithms of multiple factors like quality, transport costs, demand-supply trends, commodity type etc.

But this is just the AI offering. The entire suite of technologies rests on a consensus-driven blockchain network. In addition to allowing farmers to get a fair price for their produce, Agri10x also offers a warehousing facility as well as a forward bidding platform. If a farmer wants to sell his harvest of onions today on the platform, but the trading platform says he will get a better price for his produce three days after, he has a choice of storing his produce in a warehouse that will keep a check on the quality. Ghode explains that the company absorbs the upfront cost of using the warehouse, while the remaining cost is taken up by the trader. These transactions are completely open and transparent through the consensus-driven blockchain network. Additionally, every farmer receives the payment digitally for his produce immediately after the sale is done. Conventionally, there is a 45-60 day wait but the presence of a blockchain system ensures immediate disbursement of funds. Agri10x takes a 6% share from every transaction, adds Ghode, compared to the 30-60% markup that typical middlemen usually end up taking.

Bihar's Litchis Make Their Way To London; Tripura's Pineapples Travel To Dubai

A few days ago, Union Minister for Law & Justice, Electronics & IT and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted about litchis from Muzaffarpur, Bihar being exported to London through a Common Service Center, and how the farmer not only saved on transportation costs but also got a fair price for his produce. Similarly, he pointed out how Tripuri pineapples found a buyer in Dubai.

These two instances were made possible by Agri10x. Ghode recalls the trip to Tripura, where his team met with several pineapple farmers who quoted an average price of around Rs 5-6 per kilogram, whereas traders quoted the price to be around Rs. 15 per kilo. The Agri10x AI engine analysed the price to be Rs. 15, following which 100 tonnes of pineapple was purchased from the farmers for Rs. 15 a kilo and shipped to Dubai. He recalls another example from Maharashtra where they managed to get fair price for pomegranate farmers in the region. Farmers stated they were selling a kilo for around Rs 45 while the AI engine analysed the per kilo price to be Rs. 90 – nearly double of what the farmers were selling. Nearly 30 tonnes of pomegranate were bought from the farmers in the area and shipped to the UK. Today, Agri10x is among the largest buyers of pomegranate from Maharashtra, following the purchase of nearly 500 tonnes.

AI & Blockchain For Betterment at Grassroot Level

While the tech is one of a kind for Indian agriculture, Ghode admits it’s not always easy to convince a farmer to enroll on the platform. “It isn’t easy to convince a farmer using a concept alone. But once a farmer sees another farmer getting a significantly high price for his produce, his interest is piqued. We have a network of VLEs or Village Level Entrepreneurs whose responsibility is to explain the benefits of this system to the farmer and increase enrolments.” The collaboration with the government-run CSCs are a huge boost to their technology offering as well, he adds. “Once the farmer sees that a piece of technology is effortlessly giving him a competent price for his produce, he is happy to work with us.” Ghode understands that it is simply not possible to do away with the concept of a middleman in agriculture – here, the blockchain system dons the role of a fair and balanced middleman that gives the farmer his due. Moreover, there is renewed interest and vigour among the farmers to deliver good quality produce when they hear that their products are reaching international shores.

At a town hall with leading Indian startup founders to commemorate five years of Digital India, Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad specifically emphasized on invoking AI and blockchain to transform healthcare and agriculture. With startups like Agri10x paving the way, there is hope for more ventures to bloom from India in the weeks and months to come.