Bayer partners govt's CSC, Gram Unnati for last-mile agri inputs delivery

Bayer CropScience on Wednesday said it has tied up with the government's Common Service Center (CSC) and agri-tech firm Gram Unnati to facilitate last-mile delivery of agri-inputs to smallholder farmers in India.

As part of the memorandum of agreement, smallholder farmers will be able to access timely crop advisory, transfer of good agricultural practices and access to premium Bayer products through CSC's online portal.

Gram Unnati will facilitate farmer mobilization and ensure market linkages.

In the first phase, the partnership will support farmers in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it said in a statement.

The CSC scheme, a collaborative e-governance platform, is part of the Digital India programme.

The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) aims to facilitate the delivery of government, private and social sector services to Indian citizens through the CSC network. It supports linkages, connecting villages in India through high-speed internet and scaling the delivery of products and services to reach the last mile.

"Our association with the government of India's CSC and Gram Unnati will help bring us closer to our shared goal of empowering farmers as we bridge the gap to remote farming communities, promote financial literacy and foster an entrepreneurial spirit leading to optimized resource utilization, and maximizing farm potential to enhance their livelihoods sustainably," said Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, President, Bayer South Asia.
 

"Together, Bayer and CSC-SPV aim to empower over 500,000 (0.5 million) smallholder farmers over the next two years," Bayer said.

To facilitate easy access to quality inputs, agronomic support, and encourage agri-technology knowledge transfer based on the latest practices, Bayer will also nurture agri-entrepreneurs by leveraging village-level entrepreneurs of CSCs from within the local communities, it said.

"By leveraging our synergies with Bayer CropScience, we envision sustained enhancements in rural agriculture within the identified centres. This partnership will enable last mile access to tailored solutions, to better support the rural community and agri-entrepreneurs," said

CSC-SPV Managing Director and CEO Sanjay Rakesh said.

Aneesh Jain, Founder & CEO, Gram Unnati said: "We are already developing a system with CSC e-Governance to enable farmers to sell their end produce through the VLE network. This collaboration will enable farmers to get timely access to high quality agri inputs, thus further improving their crop quality and yields too.