The Hindu Business Line : Infosys develops solution to improve agro supply chain efficiencies

Bangalore, Feb. 27 Infosys Technologies Ltd said it has partnered with ACDI/VOCA, a non-profit international development organisation that promotes broad-based economic growth, to develop information and communication technology- enabled application to improve efficiencies in the agro supply chain in India.

The application tackles supply chain management from profiling of farmer clusters to crop planning, scheduling, tracking and forecasting, the company said. It allows farmers to access technical information including database searches, region-specific weather updates and market information like daily sales volumes and average prices. It minimises inventory requirements, reduces waste and allows retailers and farmers to be better integrated, the company added.

Mr Binod H.R., Senior Vice-President & Head – India Business Unit, Infosys, said: “Maintaining on-time, programmed delivery of fresh produce from a large and scattered production base is a complex and critical operation. This solution gives the organised retail sector access to a reliable small holder production base. It thereby decreases farm-to-market losses, currently estimated at 30 to 40 per cent on certain products.”

The application comprises wireless software applications that are accessible on handheld devices, enabling agents to address information gaps constraining vegetable and fruit farmers and enabling other supply chain participants to monitor and control the back-end and front-end supply chain functions. It also enables wholesaler/retailer or other intermediaries to optimise cost by allowing large procurement, efficient transportation management and enabling intelligent crop production management.

The application can handle several thousand concurrent users and yet ensure that data is secure through data-encryption mechanisms. There are 1,700 small holder farmers currently integrated into organised retail supply chains through this application, thereby bridging the urban-rural agricultural divide. Over the next five to eight years, the usage is expected to increase to a million farmers.

This application falls under ACDI/VOCA’s Growth-Oriented Microenterprise Development Programme (GMED), which is a $6.3 million, USAID-funded initiative. GMED is an innovative programme that develops sustainable and scalable approaches to job creation by fostering the growth of micro and small enterprises.

Benefits

Speaking on the benefits of the solution, ACDI/VOCA’s GMED Chief of Party, Mr Don Taylor, said: “The system is accessible across GPRS and CDMA devices, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the field force. It ensures that there is no loss of data if connectivity or power is lost. The application also gives farmers real-time access to agricultural experts, thereby improving farming technology at an overall level. This technology intervention in the agricultural sector in India will reduce rural poverty in the long run.”

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