Agritech charts a different course for the primary tiller of the land

From warehousing, water credit to farmland management, these start-ups are helping farmers thrive

A few years ago Prasanna Rao and Anand Chandra were working for a top private bank. As bankers, they had worked across agriculture markets and knew that banks primarily serviced tertiary markets. They had, at first hand, seen the gap that exists in the primary and secondary markets.  

“Once we were trying to help an FPO (farmer producer organisation) get a loan of Rs 10 lakh and the bank they reached out to took three months to respond to their request on a fully-secured loan. On the other hand, a trader requesting a loan could get a Rs 2 crore