ITC Ltd’s crop-agnostic full stack agritech platform Metamarket for Advanced Agriculture and Rural Services (MAARS) has expanded its reach to cover more than 21 lakh farmers across 11 States.

“Your company continues to drive agricultural transformation at scale through ITCMAARS, a pioneering ‘Phygital’ platform that integrates digital capabilities with on-ground engagement,” the diversified conglomerate said in its annual report for financial year 2024-25.

The super app, which farmers can download on their phones, acts as a single-point resource for farmers, providing personalised agricultural services through a plug-and-play model. This digital platform provides AI/ML-driven personalised climate-smart crop advisories, intelligent nudges, customised soil nutrition, vernacular and voice-enabled Generative AI, satellite sensing and real-time image recognition tools for the farming community.

“This initiative now spans over 2,050 FPOs (farmer producer organisations) encompassing over 2.1 million connected farmers across 11 States. Operating across more than 10 crop value chains, the platform partners with over 100 leading institutions, including banks, agri-input companies, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and agri-tech startups,” ITC informed in the report.

Global standards

As India’s regulatory and consumer landscape increasingly demands traceability and sustainability, ITCMAARS is laying the foundation for ‘trust systems at scale’, enabling the farming community to meet evolving standards such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and sustainably produced certification requirements, the company said.

It also highlighted its vision to empower millions of farmers and unlock new value pools across agri-inputs, outputs, and services domains, and stated that it remains committed to leveraging ITCMAARS to deliver enhanced productivity, improved market access, and resilient incomes for India’s farming communities.

The company said the scope and scale of its agri business has grown manifold over the years and currently encompasses over 3.5 million tonnes of annual throughput in 22 States and over 20 agri-value chains.

“The strategic focus of the business continues to be on accelerating growth by rapidly scaling up its value-added agri products (VAAP) portfolio, straddling multiple value chains comprising spices, coffee, frozen marine products and processed fruits, amongst others,” it said.

Foreign presence

According to the annual report, the company further consolidated its position as a preferred supply chain partner to buyers in spices such as chilli, cumin, turmeric, and coriander. The business enhanced its presence in ‘food safe’ markets, viz., the USA, EU, and UK, by leveraging its institutional strengths, such as identity-preserved sourcing expertise, strong backward integration, supply chain control, and customer-centric strategies.

“Your company continues to view foreign exchange earnings as a priority. All businesses in your company’s portfolio are mandated to engage with overseas markets with a view to testing and demonstrating international competitiveness and seeking profitable opportunities for growth,” the Kolkata-headquartered conglomerate said.

Foreign exchange earnings of the ITC Group over the last ten years aggregated nearly $9.5 billion, of which agri exports constituted approximately 60 per cent. Earnings from agri exports, which effectively link small farmers with international markets, are an indicator of the company’s contribution to the rural economy, it added.

Published on June 27, 2025