For about a decade, two brothers from Maharashtra, Satyajit and Ajinkya Hange, honed the skills of exactitude, transparency and traceability in a corporate banking environment. They are now transplanting these abilities at their farm in Bodhini village, 150 km from Pune. Known for its organic produce since it was founded in 2012, their venture, Two Brothers Organic Farms (TBOF), is now using blockchain technology to tell the story of every product it sells — whether on retail shelves or through ecommerce and quick commerce services.
The story here does not begin at the farm and end at the fork. It begins with the health of the soil, the indigenous seed, the sowing, the watering, the nutrients, the harvesting, testing, and, of course, the packaging. The product, be it sugar cane, peanuts, groundnut oil, pulses, ragi or bajra flour, is traced in batches with information on its history relayed to the consumer. “We chose Polygon’s public tamper-proof blockchain technology to safeguard against data manipulation from the seed to the harvest stage,” says Satyajit.
He explains that the backend process for traceability begins with product registration, with each product added to the system with a unique ID — QR code, barcode, or radio frequency identification (RFID) — and key metadata like manufacturer’s name and batch number. As each product moves through its lifecycle, key events such as sowing, cultivation, and manufacturing (for products that are further processed) are logged with details like timestamp, location, operator, and status.
To make sure that the product has an unbroken history, a methodical chain of custody is maintained. All data is then stored in databases like blockchain for tamper-proof records. The system, according to him, maintains an audit trail to ensure full transparency and immutability. The application programming interface (API) allows consumers to check the history of the product, and verify its authenticity and status. In short, the buyer can trace the product from when it was sown to what it went through before it reached the retail shelf.
Dynamic record
As TBOF handholds other organic farmers as well and buys their produce, it has farmer relationship managers working with them to ensure that traceability is maintained at every step. This is a contribution they hope to make to public health and climate change.
“Besides that, the product comes with the name and details of the farmer, his/her photograph, and a Google map of the farm. Details are provided from the sowing stage till the harvest stage. The pest management, irrigation, fertigation methods he’s used…. So that’s why we call it dynamic traceability, and not just an eyewash, as happens in cases where you scan and see the same farmer’s face and same details for years together,” explains Satyajit.
With a turnover of ₹200 crore, TBOF currently works with around 100 farmers. Nearly 20 per cent of its business comes from international sales. About 70 per cent buy from its website, 15 per cent through Amazon and 15 per sent through quick commerce, says Satyajit.
But to get here has been quite a journey for the brothers as they had to first convince their parents about leaving their corporate jobs and heading to the fields. They then had to rejuvenate the soil at the 21-acre farm their father was tilling, to develop it into a certified organic farm. Bringing traceability and transparency to their operations is their latest step — hoping that it becomes an even bigger stride in the years to come.