Why Agri-Stack would be the ultimate game changer for Indian farmer?

As per the last Agriculture Census, India is estimated to have a farming population of over 14 crore – as big as the entire Russia’s population. While the country has achieved significant self-sufficiency and global leadership in many staples, fruits and vegetables, it has the potential to be the source of essential food supplies to the world at large. At the same time, such an ambitious growth trajectory would also alleviate many of our rural and farming distresses, giving our economy a broader growth base.

In this context, one announcement in the recent Union Budget has caught my attention for its farsightedness, high relevance and meticulous planning. Following the resounding success of the #India Stack – broadly a set of open APIs and digital public goods that not only unlocked the potential of identity, data, and payments, but also promoted financial and social inclusion on an unprecedented level, the Govt is setting up an Agri Stack or simply the digital foundation to bring various stakeholders together to improve agriculture and farmers’ prospects, using data and digital services.

From the lending and banking point of view, the Agri Stack would be undertaking an enormous exercise; examples are nation-wide farmer and farmland plot registries, Unified Farmer Service Interface (UFSI) and crop sown registry and so on. Look at the phenomenal benefits; for financial institutions, the entire country’s topography would be on their single screen and they would know who owned which land and for how long. What more, they would also be aware someone’s cropping pattern, how much money they made and how far they can progress with some financial support. That would certainly help lower the risks of funding a farmer to a bare minimum, reducing the costs of funding farmers significantly.

By taking into account the MSP that a crop gets, income diversification prospects and the government benefits during the lifecycle of a farmer, the lenders could actually calculate the potential progress of the entire credit servicing schedule. Then comes the opportunity to introduce farmers and rural folks to the world of banking and investment. Affordable housing, for example, would be an ideal product to offer.

For the governments, with due convergence, it would accurately pinpoint the beneficiary of various schemes, removing the need for frequent authentication of farmers by another entity while for agri-tech companies, it would open up an avenue for profitable innovations in products and services as the quality and availability of data would make a big difference in the final outcomes.

Imagine, if we could remove the traditional perils like droughts and floods through early warning systems or provide timely support through new agri practices, Indian farmers can raise to the challenge of feeding a billion plus without any food imports. That’s just few years away from now. Surely, the Sun is all set to shine bright on the rural mural, perpetually.

#gamechanger #indianfarmers #agriculture