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eKutir Global, a Bengaluru-based, for-profit social enterprise, has developed a website and an Android app called Agri Suite that lifts marginal farmers from poverty by connecting them with stakeholders such as suppliers of seeds and fertilisers, banks, exporters and branded retailers.
The app has caught the attention of a global panel of 70 judges, garnering eKutir Global, the only Indian company, a place among the top five finalists in the New Models category of the MIT IDE Inclusive Innovation Competition 2016, with an award of $25,000.
The finalists will compete for the Grand Challenge Prize of $100,000 to be announced later this month.
Developed by a team of 16 engineers in Bengaluru over five months, Agri Suite comprises five modules that connects farmers with stakeholders such as soil-testing labs, suppliers of farm inputs, insurance providers, micro-finance institutions and food-processing units.
Kuldeep Singh, co-founder and CTO, eKutir Global, told BusinessLine : “The challenge was to create a simple, intuitive farmer-friendly user experience that would work online and offline, given the poor internet connectivity in rural India.
“Our trained field partners (micro-entrepreneurs) at the gram and panchayat levels assist farmers through the entire app, right from creating a risk profile of a farmer to soil testing, crop planning, selection of quality and quantity of seeds and fertilisers, to finally selling the produce.
“These micro-entrepreneurs also earn upwards of ₹10,000 for their efforts.”
Pointing out that keeping the farmer as the focal point of the app was what clinched eKutir a place in the MIT finalists’ list, KC Mishra, co-founder and Chairman, said: “Over 50 per cent of marginal farmers globally earn ₹3,800 a month, when a minimum of ₹7,000 a month is required to live a dignified life.”
He said Agri Suite has impacted 60,000 farmers in India, 12,000 in Cambodia and 3,000 in Bangladesh, created 270 micro-entrepreneurs and has increased incomes of farmers by 60 per cent, effected savings in cultivation costs by 20 per cent and increased crop yields by 120 per cent.
Chandra Mohanty, a 35-year-old farmer from Agarpada village in Bhadrak district of Odisha, who was landless nine years ago, started using Agri Suite app on his smartphone with the help of eKutir trained field partners and earns ₹15,000 a month, cultivating seven acres of land that he owns today.
Another firsteKutir also has the distinction of being the only Indian company to receive the B Corp certification, which is awarded to companies that use the power of business as a force for good, meeting the highest standards in performance, transparency and accountability to solve social and environmental problems.
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