How Agriculture ERP Can Optimize for Future Growth Opportunities
What is Agriculture ERP?
Agriculture ERP helps run agribusiness in an organized manner. It does so by streamlining various agriculture procedures such as seed procurement, equipment maintenance, the use of fertilizers, and the production and distribution of agricultural produce. It acts as a centralized and unified platform to manage every piece of information.
ERP software makes land management incredibly easy. Farmers can track information about various livestock, simplify communications, order and manage fertilizers, and get crucial information in one place in personalized dashboards.
Overview of Indian Agriculture Industry
India’s agricultural exports touched $50.2 Billion during the period 2022–23. India has emerged as the world’s largest sugar producer and second-largest sugar exporter. According to the Invest India report, India is the second-largest producer and exporter of fruits and vegetables in the world. In 2023, India’s food grain production rose to 3235.54 Lakh metric tons, an increase of 79.38 LMT from 2021–22.
Challenges Faced by the Agriculture Sector in India
The small and fragmented land holdings diminish the economic opportunities of poor farmers. The ever-shrinking land holdings are economically unviable for agricultural produce. The issue is especially rampant in densely populated states in India.
Indian farmers are often at the mercy of the rain. Unanticipated rainfalls, droughts, and other extreme weather conditions affect irrigated agricultural production. They damage crops and reduce grain and forage quality.
India is one of the most water-stressed countries. The agriculture sector in India is often disrupted by an uncertain climate. A majority of farmers are highly dependent on Government subsidies and incentives. Extreme water scarcity poses a complex challenge not only to farmers but also to the economy.
Soil degradation affects crop growth and yield. It makes the land less productive for agriculture, creates new deserts, and pollutes waterways.
In India, pests and insects are also a major nuisance. Pests can pose direct injury to leaves, fruits, and plants. Some insect species are so small that they are not easily noticeable to farmers. If left untreated, they can damage crops by transmitting bacteria and fungal infections and endanger food safety. They can also damage the finished products as they are getting ready for sale.
A major challenge faced by Indian farmers is the involvement of intermediaries. These intermediaries often purchase produce at a lower bargaining rate and sell it in retail outlets at a higher rate. The overdependency on intermediaries has resulted in exploitative practices, poor bargaining power, financial losses, and lost opportunities for farmers.
In many rural regions of India, there is a lack of post-harvest infrastructure. When farm produce is not stored properly, it can be eaten or damaged by pests and diseases. Ultimately, it results in reduced quality and monetary losses for farmers. According to research, post-harvest losses in India are estimated to be from 10% to 25% in durable and semi-perishable products.
Indian farmers, especially those in remote villages, have limited access to banks and other formal credit institutions. As a result, they rely on informal sources such as moneylenders and brokers, who charge them higher interest rates and trap them in a cycle of debt.
Roads in the rural regions of India are often poorly maintained. Farmers in these regions face critical transportation and supply chain management challenges and suffer post-harvest losses. Delays in the transportation of produce to markets add up to the loss of new opportunities.
Benefits of Agriculture ERP
The sales management system in ERP helps agricultural companies smartly access every detail pertaining to sales, market the agricultural produce efficiently, and minimize errors and confusion throughout the entire process.
ERP systems bring more efficiency to various agricultural operations such as harvesting, warehousing, and distribution. This helps ensure adequate usage of resources, which in turn improves crop quality, reduces damage, and saves costs.
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Food safety is another important benefit of business management software. The system makes it easier to track the seeds and fertilizers in the crop fields and ensure they don’t get contaminated throughout the process. This ensures that the food is free from harmful chemicals and pests and brings efficiency to farm management.
Agriculture ERP software helps farmers track the temperature and humidity of storage facilities, the milk production of each cow, and the weight and size of fruits and vegetables. This data can be used to address those specific problems. For example: Provide health treatment to cows that are not producing the right amount of milk.
ERP software brings visibility into all parts of agricultural activities. Farmers can track problem areas (such as soil quality, crop growth, and maturity) and take appropriate measures to address them.
ERP software helps with the expansion and diversification of agribusiness. It can adapt to changing business needs and handle increased workloads during seasonal spikes without compromising on reliability or performance.
ERP implementation enables automation in various agricultural operations such as irrigation, harvesting, spraying, field mapping, and crop planning.
The Financial Management module in ERP helps farmers track costs, analyze profitability, and automatically generate accurate financial reports.
The inventory management system in the ERP enables multi-location inventory management. It helps keep track of vegetables, fruits, crops, and other inventories across different sites and locations. The optimum use of inventory helps mitigate excessive storage costs.
The sales management system provides detailed analytical reports on the sales of agricultural commodities. Farmers can monitor the market prices in real-time and get automated SMS and email alerts whenever the prices of the commodities fluctuate.
Trends for Agricultural ERP
One of the latest trends in the agriculture industry is the use of analytical information using data-backed, customized dashboards and reports. Farmers gain valuable insights into large volumes of data that help them in the early detection of plant diseases, irrigation scheduling, optimizing resources, identifying inefficiencies, reducing waste, and saving costs.
With the growth of pan-India electronic trading portals and marketplaces, Indian farmers are able to sell farm produce directly to customers. This method of marketing is far more effective as it cuts out middlemen, and farmers receive a higher margin of profit. These e-commerce marketplaces are integrated with the ERP application to manage online sales, order processing, and order fulfillment.
Indian farmers are increasingly focusing on using natural technology to grow crops. Organic farming maintains ecological balance, prevents soil degradation, and reduces the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers. The use of agriculture ERP systems in organic farming enables farmers to adhere to strict compliance regulations, make informed decisions regarding resource allocation and planting, track expenses, and analyze profitability.
Many farmers are also using smart devices such as Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and drones to automate various farming tasks. The use of modern technology and business intelligence tools helps them eliminate labor and hardship and focus on core activities.
Conclusion
Agriculture ERP software helps with different agricultural operations, from extracting data from IoT devices to generating customized reports to planning yield production. Tracking animals, collating food safety data, and analyzing satellite imagery have become easier than before.
Sage X3 for the Agricultural Industry is a feature-rich solution that helps you respond to critical business needs, adopt best industry practices, and drive the digital transformation of your agribusiness. They enhance your capabilities, provide cost-effective solutions, and facilitate modern technology and experience to achieve sustainable farming.