Matchbox
Solutions 
eFarm is a
Farm-to-Home supply chain Platform for procuring and delivering farm
based produce in a transparent, economical and efficient manner .
eFarm ties in farmers, intermediaries, logistics providers,
distributors,small time retailers, all the way upto your local road
side vendor into a single chain backed up best of breed information
systems to deliver fresh, clean,low priced farm produce.
eFarm concept grew out of
the near crisis state of agriculture in India today, and a need to
apply technology & supply chain efficiencies to a rural setting
- from the village to the city, in a reverse flow.
We are currently delivering
vegetables and fruits in Chennai area using the techniques which has
been evolved from our efforts and discussions with key players in this
trade.
The 'Real' Agrarian crisis
The following video clip shot on locations surrounding Theni, Maduraiand Chennai show the typical long and archaic route the vegetables take in their journey from farm to home.
The irony is that most people don't know the full range of issues which impact this industry and often caught in media hype around farmer suicides and stone throwing incidents .The Indian farmer today is far more aware and enterprising than his prior generations.
Contrary to popular opinion, the real crisis in Indian agriculture is not because of poor farming practices, but more because of lack of organized marketing , supply chain & distribution .
The actual demand and supply data is not known, which leads to over production or lack of availability leading to constant price fluctuations. Most transactions are on paper and cash and hence have no traceability. Current data available is at best a thumb rule guesswork.
As the agri-produce changes hands at least 3 times before it reaches the city, it not only accumulates about 40% wastage but also the middlemen hike up the price by over 300%.
In spite of all the hype around big-brand retailers entering the vegetable retailing business, reality is that they too purchase from the wholesale commission agents and are slowly shutting down their independent supply channels owing to the complexity and unpredictability in this trade. They are also moving more towards finished/processed segment which are less perishable and have higher returns.
The neighborhood kirana store bhaiyaas and 'annachees' (as they are known in south) dominate over 95% of this business and would continue to do so. But even they aren't the ones to blame for the high fluctuations. It is the unseen,unheard commission agents who pull the real strings in this business.
The local commision agent near the village often acts as a one stop shop for the farmer - a money lender, a direct purchaser, a seeds/fertilisers supplier and even rent farm equipments. Hence his hold on the produce when it comes for harvest is very strong.
The auctions which happen in most markets is pretty much an eye-wash with most prices pre-determined and fixed ahead. In each market , there are only a hand full of produce specific agents, limiting the choice of buyers.
Once bought, the vegetable laden trucks follow different routes, based on the market fluctuations and demands.Some items , like potatoes and onions , which have all year demand and are less perishable, may never leave the godowns, till the prices shoot up.
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Attempts to resolve the crisis
...and why they haven't made any impact yet
There have been several attempts to fix this crisis. By government, private sector, institutions and farmers directly. Though each have achieved modest success, this is too big a problem to be solved by a single individual or entity. They have failed owing to either a lack of application, scale, or just poor end user acceptance. A brief status of such initiatives .
Educational
institutions & Research foundations :
Their approach has been to improve the yield through better crop
varieties ,practices and science. Though there have been successes in
some crop varieties, the key question remains unanswered - who will buy
this extra produce ? at what price ? . Also, side effects of some
recommendations have had serious impact to soil quality &
production, with farmers switching back to familiar territory.
Secondly, some of the attempts at setting up ICTs (computer kiosks) have also not been well received as the business model, usage patterns are not easily understood.
Thirdly, the desperate push towards foreign varieties, stringent quality specifications and genetically modified plants has lead to suspicions on the real intentions behind the recommendations, as most research is funded from foreign money. Stories of India being used as dumping ground for GM breeds and trials abound in press.
Government
: Has established 'farmers
markets' at leading cities where farmers can directly sell to
retailers. The farmers also get free public 
transportation
to and from these centres to promote the concept. The prices for each
item is determined by agricultural officers to ensure a mutually
beneficial rate. Some markets also publish these rates in web sites
& local media.
But the key flaw is that farmers don't have time to sit all day in a market as they have to tend to their farm. So they invariably silently give in to traders who substitute for them at the stalls. Also, most farmers like to deal in bulks of 1 tonnes or more and are not interested in retail trading.
National commodities exchanges which were established, are more focused only on cereals and pulses. Also, the concept of futures trading hasn't been well understood and has lead to severe resistance from all quarters. As most of these exchanges acts as hedging mechanisms for traders, rather than real settlement avenues, they haven't made any dent in the farmers segment.
Corporates
: Initiatives such as e-chaupal,
Safal, SNX hoped to bring in an organized supply chain approach and
best practices to the industry. But as most of them are focused only on
specific varieties and quality of produce, the farmer again is left
with splitting his stock to one which is of 'acceptable' by such
agencies and rest which is for 'local consumption'. Also, technologies
such as computers and web sites are yet to get popular in a rural
setting where even basic electricity and illiteracy is rampant.
Branded retailers : With entry of big names like Reliance, Aditya Birla, Subhiksha it was thought that things would improve. Some of them did invest in setting up corporate farms, direct purchase arrangements from farmers, end-to-end supply chains & cold storage. But the unpredictable nature of Indian farming, anti-corporate sentiments have forced them to back out. Also, most are still focused only in urban,top 5% market share and cant penetrate the bottom of the pyramid. To keep losses down, they too have switched to safer areas and purchase from local wholesale markets only just to keep the 'fresh' tag line still flying. But street view is that things are becoming stale in these 'fresh' stores !