“A will and desire of farming is more important than farming expertise”.

Focus Agritech had an opportunity to interact with Mr. Vinay Anand who is the co-founder of Arjate Farms. Mr. Anand is a visionary who could see the scope of transformation in the farming sector and this thought gave birth to ‘Arjate Farms’.

He shared with us his views on organising the farming sector and how his company has come up with an innovative solution like FaaS (Farming as a Service). Mr. Vinay Anand has a MBA degree from University of Wales and is putting to good use the management principles and strategies to reform the Agriculture sector in India.

Focus Agritech:

Arjate Farms aspires to become the most preferred FaaS company (Farming as a Service) in India. Can you share some light on how Arjate Farm came up with this innovative idea?

Mr. Vinay Anand:

Before I begin telling you about FaaS, let me share with you the two main domains where Arjate Farms is operating. Arjate Farms works in Agri Consulting and Agri Asset Management, two areas where we saw good use cases of farming as a service. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population and is one of the biggest sectors of Indian economy but it is not organised.There are inherent challenges in Indian Agriculture system and I can broadly highlight two of them.

First, anyone in the country who is interested in farming but does not have the expertise of farming and cannot purchase land will not be able to contribute to the sector’s growth. Second problem that we saw was, agricultural practices have advanced with new age technology interventions and research but this knowledge has not reached the grass root levels. Farmers are still unaware about modern farming techniques. We saw a huge gap and a scope for improvement in these two areas. 

Hence our offerings in Agri Consulting and Agri Asset Management, helps anyone interested in farming with expertise or without the expertise to manage the entire journey from seed selection to selling in an identified market with Arjate Farms in just a few clicks. 

Thus began our journey of offering FaaS(Farming as a Service) to the indian market.

Focus Agritech:

Your primary offering is Agri Consulting and Agri Asset Management that is about designing, developing and managing customized farm projects for farmland owners and investors interested in farming. What is the value proposition for your potential customer segment and what is the innovation that you are bringing to conventional models of agriculture?

Mr. Vinay Anand:

Like I said, in the previous part our Agri Asset Management delivers a complete package from seed selection to focussed market. Any farm land owner and investors interested in farming just needs to reach out to us through Arjate Farms portal and we will take care of every part of the process for them.

We will help in selection of seeds, allocation of farm products, finding out the best farmers for their land, selection of machinery and equipment, digital readiness to monitor every step of the process and then taking the farm produce to a focused market for best profitability. 

For farmers, who already have the expertise along with the farm lands we have ‘Farmer Experience Centres’ to educate them about modern farming practices which will help them with a better yield, a place to buy any agri input product like biofertilizers, machinery, equipments) and a place to sell their produce with ease. 

Our motto is to make farming convenient for anyone and everyone. We believe that a will and desire of farming is more important than farming expertise.

Focus Agritech:

Sustainable, technology driven and controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) that follows best of farm management practices is the future in agriculture. What is the role you think a government regulator should play in building that institutional framework in India?

Mr. Vinay Anand:

Government can play the role of a motivator as well as a regulator. Two regions where the government should focus on are, affordability and accessibility. Government should understand the fact that farmers have never been able to get the traction, respect and better lifestyle that they deserve. We talk about urbanisation and smart cities but I believe that the first step to a developed India is a developed agriculture industry.

We have the potential to become world leaders in agriculture by harnessing the hidden potential of the sector. Many new companies want to do so by bringing digital transformation into agriculture but are unable to get the on-ground penetration required. We believe that the government can play a big role here.

Focus Agritech:

During this pandemic we saw Agriculture was the only sector that showed signs of resilience and growth. What is the future that you see for India with so many Agritech companies & Agripreneurs coming up on the horizon in the recent 3 to 5 years?

Mr. Vinay Anand:

We as a company see tremendous scope for growth in the Agriculture sector in India. We believe that the agriculture industry is unstoppable. Because agriculture focuses on the basic need of hunger and since the population is ever increasing we believe that this sector will always flourish. We have ourselves witnessed a growth of 100-120% YoY as a company. 

We see a bright future ahead of us and we hope to bring enough visibility to the segment so that it helps in the growth of farmers and anyone who wants to get associated with agriculture.

Focus Agritech:

There is a definite need for Driving Digital Readiness in Agriculture for flow of information, adoption of best farming practices, sustainable agriculture and promotion of new research and breakthroughs. How do you think programs like Digital India can help and what is the role of technology in helping achieve this objective?

Mr. Vinay Anand:

I am very positive about Programs like ‘Digital India’ and I think there is massive scope for adoption and penetration because a majority of farmers are still not technology savvy and need to be on boarded on the new age apps and platforms. We need to increase the reach and awareness about these technologies and how they have the power to transform the lives of the farmers.

The entire ecosystem comprising government bodies, associations, enterprise and private players need to focus at the micro-level and launch massive awareness programmes. These drives cannot be led by just one company or a startup engaged in agriculture, but with the collective strength of all the players in the value chain. 

Also, instead of developing innovative technology products and asking farmers and landowners to adapt to it we should look more closely to the needs and problems of the farmers and build solutions around them.

Focus Agritech: 

What is your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative and how is Arjate Farms giving back to the community?

Mr. Vinay Anand:

Our business is based on the ‘Hub and Spoke model’ where we have penetrated 60-70 villages and our focus is on Agri Skill development and Mechanisation of farms. More than charity or CSR activities,we want to build a sustainable model where everyone grows together and 100% of our work benefits the farmers, landowners and women. We believe in women empowerment hence a good part of food processing work is given to women.

Vote of Thanks !

Focus Agritech would like to thank Mr. Vinay Anand for sharing his diverse thoughts on the state of Indian Agriculture, Immense possibilities for the future and Arjate’s vision to build a sustainable future for the farmers. We wish him the very best for his future endeavours and would continue to collaborate with the firm to bring ‘Digital Transformation in India’.

Also read our next interview in the leadership ‘How Ms. Garima Jain, CEO AgroCorp India is leading the India business most ably‘