There has been a number of initiatives in Kerala in agricultural
sector led by bodies like Rubber/Coconut/Arecanut/Spices/Horticulture
boards and department of Agriculture. There are also several
movements driven by initiatives of progressive farmers contributing
to value addition methodologies like organic and biodynamic
agriculture which have the potential to develop in Kerala. The reach
of the schemes and programs can be greatly improved by bringing in
all the Stakeholders together. Promotion of Good Agricultural
Practices has to be pursued rigorously than ever before in the
context of emerging global market situations. This would include
efficient use of water resources through micro irrigation, IPM
(Integrated Pest Management), INM (Integrated nutrient management),
extensive documentation for the purpose of certification and
labeling along with stringent laboratory backed monitoring of
Chemical and Microbial residues in plant and animal products.
The proposed project, Market driven Agricultural Initiative through
IT enabled Agri Business Centres in Kerala State addresses the
existing gap in agriculture information flow and transaction
management. The project envisages facilitating and enabling farmers
and other Stakeholders through Agri Business Centres to interact
with Agricultural Service Providers in the Private, Government and
Non Government sectors. The project will provide a web based
solution enabling the small and medium farmers as well as owners of
large landholdings. Piloting shall be done in Malappuram with the
participation of the existing Akshaya e-Kendra Entrepreneurs. The
facilities and resources of Akshaya e-Kendras in terms of computers,
printers, scanners, cameras etc. and intranet/internet connectivity,
already established throughout Malappuram District (About 550 e-Kendras),
can be leveraged to reach the masses of farming community and other
stakeholders in Agriculture sector.
The network of Agri Business Centres shall be driven by a state
level resource cell and district level implementation cell. Web
based platforms will be used in creating a virtual services gateway
for all the participating members. This platform shall cater to all
the needs of Information, Communication, Transaction, Payment and
potential Integration with related services.
Vision and Mission of Project:
The vision of the project is to establish a connected farmers
community throughout Kerala who have access to information on Market
Demand, Prices, Good Agricultural practices, Quality Agricultural
Inputs supported by a technology enabled robust transaction platform
that facilitates all their offline activities. Such a platform is of
atmost significance when in global parlance, Agriculture comprises
of Farming, Forestry, Fisheries and Livestock. The need to integrate
activities from policy making to grass root implementation requires
a platform incorporating various Government departments and other
stakeholders.
The key output from the initiative shall be the facilitation and
integration of economic activities of all member stakeholders
involved in Agriculture thus enabling conversion of under-
performing and non- performing agricultural farms into high yielding
farms of quality products in demand.
Goals and Objectives of Project:
Objectives of the initiative include (i) aggregation of responsive
farmer community of about 100,000 with a cumulative farm land of
100,000 hectares cultivating priority crops as determined by the
market demand (ii) enrollment of buyers in key markets including
manufacturers (iii) enrollment of agricultural input providers :
seeds, plantlets, fertilizers, pesticides, technology/methodology
providers/consultants, test laboratories and so on. (iv) Warehousing
facility providers (v) enrollment of Logistics services support
providers (vi) enrollment of Banks & Insurers (vii) Legal,
accounting, documentation support (vii) enrollment of establishment
of a robust IT enabled platform where the members can seek
information, transact and make or receive electronic payments
Put in place a web based support system with over significant
transactions taking place in the first year.
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