Farmers in Tamil Nadu are set to experience the benefits of country’s first blockchain technology-based financial services initiative.

A pilot that is being led by the University of Hyderabad will bring all the stakeholders together to make it easier for the farmers to get access to finance.

Farmers associated with SEEDS NGO and their primary lender Sammunati Financial Services will be partners in the blockchain project.

Synchrony, a consumer financial services company, and the University of Hyderabad have signed an agreement to help fund India’s first blockchain project for providing financial services to farmers in the country.

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“This blockchain project can bring all the parties together — from farmers to financing experts in the supply chain together to simplify the exchange of information and payments,” a Synchrony executive has said.

The project will be headed by Professor Vijaya Bhaskar Marisetty, Professor of Finance at the university. The three-year partnership, which includes a grant from Synchrony to the university, will leverage blockchain technology to help lenders provide financial assistance to farmers with no collateral and fixed assets.

“The main objective of the project is to find ways on how technology can reduce the costs for marginal farmers who cannot access loans from formal channels of lending,” he said.

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“The project also aims to provide artificial intelligence-based tools to project future cash flows of farmers. With better monitoring and more accurate cash flow predictions, the project hopes to improve the lenders’ trust and reduce the cost of borrowing to marginal farmers,” he said.

Varsha Mamidi, Faculty member, Machine Learning, University of Hyderabad, is a co-investigator in developing the blockchain.

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