The Hindu Business Line : DCM Shriram Hariyali market adopts extension route to drive sales

For this 35-acre farmer from Kuadanda village – 18 km from DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd’s (DSCL) Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar (HKB) centre here – the standard nutrient combination for raising an acre of wheat was three 50-kg bags of urea (costing Rs 753), two bags of SSP (Rs 380) and half a bag of MoP (Rs 111).

Today, he applies a more diversified ration – two bags urea (Rs 502), five kg sulphur (Rs 320) and 60 kg of 12:36:16 NPK complex fertiliser (Rs 500) to substitute for SSP and MoP. Further, he adds one kg of water-soluble 20:20:20 NPK fertiliser (that delivers nutrients in a readily available form) and 6-8 kg of ‘Biozyme’ plant growth regulator, costing Rs 130 and Rs 210, respectively.

Fertiliser outlay

In the process, Mr Singh’s fertiliser outlay for an acre has gone up by over Rs 400. But so have his yields. “Previously I got 15-20 quintals an acre, whereas now it is 20-25 quintals. The extra five quintals is worth about Rs 5,000 (at Rs 1,000/quintal)”, he points out.

Extension services provided by the HKB centre has helped change the agronomic practices of many farmers in the 140 villages within 20 km radius of Faridpur town.

“Testing our soil for pH (to determine acidic/alkaline status), organic carbon content and deficiency in phosphorous, potash, sulphur or zinc was an alien concept till the Hariyali people introduced us to it.

“We no longer apply fertilisers blindly as we did earlier,” says Mr Debkant Sharma, a 20-acre potato farmer from Bhagwanpur Kundan, whose yields have risen from 90 to 150 quintals an acre.

Nutrient portfolio

Rebalancing the farmers’ nutrient portfolio apart, the Faridpur centre has also stimulated use of fipronil, clodinafop, imidacloprid, sulfosulfuron and similar ‘new generation’ pesticides manufactured by the likes of Bayer, Syngenta and DuPont (as opposed to the old high-volume generics such as endosulfan, chlorpyrifos and monocrotophos).

“We have also demonstrated new techniques like inter-cropping matar (pea) with sugarcane, generating additional income of up to Rs 10,000 an acre”, claims Mr Paras Chaturvedi, Region Manager (Central UP), HKB.

Hariyali network

The Faridpur centre is part of DSCL’s 302 outlet-strong Hariyali network currently catering to a million rural customers – 80 per cent being farmers – across UP, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. They include 83 “centres” owned by the company and 219 leased-in “stores”.

A centre typically comprises a retail space of 7,000-8,000 sq ft inside a four-acre campus that also includes a Bharat Petroleum fuel station, commodity warehouse, field demonstration plot and an HDFC or ICICI bank branch. The stores are more compact retail-only showrooms of 3,000-4,000 sq ft.

Sales generated

In 2008-09, the HKB outlets generated sales of Rs 419.13 crore, of which fuel accounted for roughly Rs 100 crore. Of the remaining, two-thirds came from agri-inputs (seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, animal feed, tractors and farm implements) and the rest from food & grocery, apparel & footwear, home stationary, appliances and other consumer products. “Although Hariyali aims to be a one-stop rural shop for all products and services, agri-business will remain the core focus that would eventually lead the farmer to buy other things. Once the farmer sees that the diesel from our pump is not adulterated or the seeds and pesticides we sell are not spurious, he is open to trying out DVD players and kitchenware as well,” avers Mr Rajesh Gupta, President, HKB.

Consultancy section

This approach is reflected in the design of the Hariyali outlets, which have the farm inputs-cum-consultancy section at the centre and manned by an agriculture graduate. Around it are the grocery, lifestyle and household sections hawking 1,000-odd SKUs.

The HKB business is, however, yet to make money. Last fiscal, it lost Rs 60 crore. “For break-even, each store needs to do Rs 2.5 crore-3 crore annually. That would take time as we were so far in the roll-out stage, with 140 outlets opened in 2008-09 alone. But now, our focus is on consolidation of existing operations,” adds Mr Gupta.

More Stories on : Agriculture | Strategy | Marketing

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page