Boxfarming is a social enterprise with the mission to grow farmer’s economic, social and human capital by harnessing digital technology and local entrepreneurship. Through a decentralized network of micro-entrepreneurs, box farming aims to convert an exploitative and fragmented agricultural ecosystem into a path-breaking collaborative, connected, and traceable soil-to-market model.

Digitally trained micro-entrepreneurs, equipped with digital technologies of the current generation and knowledge of agricultural best practices, Modern Technology used in Agriculture, will provide extended agricultural and allied services to the last mile needed by the farmers. These include providing affordable soil analyses; suggesting crop rotation, high-quality inputs; sustainable and safe practice education;  and key market connections.  

Concurrently, these entrepreneurs will connect suppliers, buyers, aggregators, distributors to the network of small-hold farmers using a highly sophisticated digital platform, providing simplified streams of communication,  information, and product between the many stakeholders in the value chain. This highly personalized, holistic approach will generate additional rural employment, sustainable income, and will increase crop productivity while still reducing the input costs, communication challenges, and time associated with each step of the farming process. 

How BoxFarming Technology is solving Farmer Challenges

∙ Inaccessibility of turnkey agricultural solutions by local farmers 

∙ Lack of market access 

∙ Paucity of information on modern agriculture practices. 

Solution

∙ Provision of extended agricultural services including input services to the last mile needed by the farmers through digitally trained micro-entrepreneurs, equipped with knowledge on agricultural best practices and the Boxfarming mobile application. 

∙ Connection of suppliers, buyers, aggregators and distributors to networks of smallholder farmers using  digital platform thereby providing simplified streams of communication, information and product between  the many stakeholders in the agro value chain 

Technology: Designing risk-mitigating infrastructure

The innovation of Box Farming is in designing this decentralized, risk-mitigating, and transparent Infrastructure for entrepreneurs and farmers and utilizing ICT as a tool for scale and replication. As a social enterprise group, the innovation transcends Technology intervention in Agriculture, food & nutrition, WASH, and enterprise development using digital technology.

‘Make to order’ or ‘Make to stock’ we all know the 2 famous manufacturing processes. But what if we do apply the same while producing highly perishable farming items. The end result could be a disaster if too much fall in price. Farmers even won’t see the break-even. Box farming digital intelligent trading platform will guide farmers in taking the right step like whether to go to the market to sell a product or to store them into the nearest cold chain and wait for a suitable time when the price will be good.

The good part is that it not only guide farmers in deciding the right steps but also gives an opportunity to the local community to set up a cold chain in their respective villages. All are driven by the historical data and probability of possible market demand. But setting up a cold chain in the heart of the village will help in additional income generation.

Value Proposition and Key Differentiator of Boxfarming Technologies

∙ Crop Advisory Services: Boxfarming Technologies renders digital crop advisory services to famers on  selecting quality inputs – seeds, fertilizers, tools etc. 

∙ Farming Data: The company offers farm intelligence services on weather information, disease management, market price, supply chain, advanced monitoring using AI, Machine Learning, IoT. ∙ Market Linkage: Boxfarming Technologies offers an advanced trading platform for buyers, sellers, and aggregators. 

∙ Cold Supply Chain: The company provides users of their technology with guidance on post-harvest management and related services. 

∙ Farm details: Boxfarming Technologies lists the cultivation details of each plot with respect to key parameters like variety, sowing area, date, soil details. This helps growers to calculate optimum input usage. 

∙ Digital Traceability: The company’s POP Engine guides growers to track key activities of cultivation for achieving high yield. Growers can see clearly whether best cultivation practices followed or any deviation.  This helps growers to achieve a high yield. 

Looking Ahead: 

Boxfarming Technologies aims to eliminate rural poverty by harnessing digital technologies to improve farm practices and yields. The company hopes to achieve this by expanding its reach to meet the needs of more farmers and players in the agricultural value chain/ecosystem. Learn more at http://www.boxfarming.in

Read more about Crop in Technologies on our portal https://focusagritech.com/mycrop-technologies-changing-the-life-of-marginal-farmers/