Mahindra to treble agri turnover in 3 years

Bigger products portfolio on cards; to ramp up sourcing locations

Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd (MASL), a 100 per cent agricultural commodities-focused subsidiary of automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), aims to treble its revenue in the next three years. Turnover was Rs 900 crore in 2015-16.

“Our big passion is delivering farm-tech prosperity. Our auto products like tractors, jeeps and Boleros are largely sold in rural India. We have been working with farmers for many years through our tractor business. We want to leverage our relations with customers through full agri solutions, instead of one product like seed or advisory service,” said Ashok Sharma, managing director at MASL.

Mahindra had decided on two verticals, input and output. Apart from assistance to farmers in terms of soil testing, seed selection, use of fertiliser and chemicals, the input vertical takes care of micro irrigation and greenhouses, as well as 250 'Samriddhi' centres, he said.

“Also, we recently launched a digital application called ‘My Agri Guru’, to enable farmers to get the latest information on weather, prices and farm practices. We have launched this app in two districts in Madhya Pradesh, on a pilot basis. We also have some facility where they can ask for advice to solve their cropping problems,” said Sharma.

The agri vertical started five years ago and the company has grown 12-fold in turnover for all businesses under it.

The output vertical was started to address the problem of after-harvest losses and price imperfection. The vertical was meant to connect farmers with wholesale markets. MASL recently announced its entry into the dairy business with the launch of milk under the Saboro brand in Indore. It plans to expand both regions and products -- curd, lassi, chhas (buttermilk), etc. The company will soon widen its horizon beyond Indore; it is also exploring opportunities in Maharashtra for dairy products.

MASL recently launched four products under the processed dal category, under a NuPro brand – urad (black gram), moong (green gram), chana (Bengal gram) and masoor (pink lentil). This was after a good customer response for tur (pigeon pea), which it launched in October last year.

MASL says it is developing new ways of growing pulses, working on an in-house seeds programme , with similar plans for edible oilseeds and besan (gram or chickpea flour).

MASL also says its Saboro brand apple and banana has created a niche, fetching a 30 per cent premium over similar products in the market. For lean season supply, MASL is in talks with agencies in Kenya. MASL also exports grapes and apples to Europe; it is looking at Southeast Asia, China and West Asia. It says it is now sourcing grapes from Egypt and Peru, enabling export for about eight months, from four months earlier.

“So, we expect 25 per cent of our business to come from exports in the next three years from 15-17 per cent now and the balance from the domestic market,” said Sharma.