Bayer CropScience Ltd is partnering with ITC Ltd’s Agri Business Division to extend the reach of its crop protection products through the ITC’s e-Choupal 4.0 platform. The partnership has commenced as a pilot project in Mysuru, where tobacco is one of the major cash crops.

The partnership will be gradually expanded to other geographies across India, Bayer said in a statement. As Covid-19 disrupts farming operations and on-farm advisory, this initiative will help farmers avail agri-inputs and digital advisory on a timely basis.

Over 42,000 ITC farmers, covering 60,000 hectares across 1,100 villages in Mysuru region will benefit from the partnership with Bayer. Farmers can place their order for Bayer products through the e-Choupal 4.0 platform and track their orders. Farmers without access to smartphones can place their orders online with assistance from Bayer & ITC’s field staff or even place offline orders.

“Bayer’s partnership with ITC aims to offer tailored solutions, enabling farmers to achieve better harvests and progress to sustainable agriculture. We also plan to leverage ITC’s extensive rural reach to create capacity building for adoption of greater product stewardship and traceability of produce,” D Narain, CEO & MD of Bayer CropScience, said.

Sanjiv Rangrass of ITC said the e-Choupal 4.0 platform aims at providing on-demand crop advisory linked to products & services across the value chain. “ITC’s collaboration with Bayer will enable access to quality inputs by digitalising the local marketplace eco-system for farmers. This will leverage Bayer’s expertise in agri-inputs and ITC’s deep-rooted linkages with farmers through the e-Choupal 4.0 platform, thereby creating value and a brand of trust for the farmers,” he added.

Published on June 15, 2020