The document discusses eFarm, an ICT-enabled agri supply chain network that aims to empower small farmers and connect them directly to consumers. It outlines the current issues with the fragmented agricultural supply chain in India, including a lack of demand/supply data, inefficient logistics and high wastage. eFarm uses various ICT tools across the supply chain to collect data, manage customer relationships and operations, provide market insights to farmers, and enable an efficient distribution network connecting farmers directly to consumers. The founder's vision is to organize the large unorganized agri sector in India through a sustainable, entrepreneurial social enterprise model.

1. eFarm : A Farmer To Consumer Agri Supply Chain Network
ICT tools to empower the Agri supply chain
eFarm – an Introduction
Vegetable and Fruit Supply Chain in India – Current Issues and Status
Supply Chain Management – What is it ? Why is it important ?
Technology in SCM : Key segments
•Data collection / communication – Voice and Mobile
•Customer Relationship Management tools – Order Management
•Supplier Relationship Management tools – Resource Planning
•Demand forecasting & aggregation
•Pricing analysis using indg/tnau data
•Data analysis / MIS
•Logistics Management tools – Supply chain management &
simulation
•Social networking tools - Forums, Blogs (text / video)
•Data exchange : XML
Venkata Subramanian
Founder/ Managing Director , eFarm
M.S (Comp. Science) , SUNY Albany, Newyork (2003)
B.Arch , IIT Kharagpur (1995)

2. Our Vision
•Bring people together through creative use of technology platforms ('connecting the dots' ) to form socio-
economic-webs
•Create successful entrepreneurial, social enterprises which are profitable and sustainable
•Make corporate social responsibility our core business model and differentiator
•Measure success not just in financial growth , but also in the social growth in the areas we serve
• Venkata Subramanian
• Founder & Managing Director: (venky@matchboxsolutions.in )
MS (Computer Science), University at Albany, NY , B.Arch , IIT
Kharagpur (1995) , India
12 years of experience in IT industry in leading Global Software
development and consulting firms
Very strong expertise in analysis & design of complex systems ,
portal development , back office operations in BFSI segment
Responsible for overall strategy , technology and public
relations
Combination of different background ,skills and experience to provide creative perspectives to solving key
problems in the supply chain area

3. IT enabled
Annachee !!!
HiTech
Sabjeewallah
;-)

4. Harvesting of
Vegetables
• Unorganized, unregulated, unprofessional & Terminal markets to
unprofitable - A Middlemen’ dominated market neighborhood wholesalers
• Lack of demand/supply data
1 • No reliable sales, distribution, marketing
channels
• Poor logistics and storage management
5
• No IT/ERP usage – decisions are adhoc and
arbitrary
Regional mandi to Wholesalers to Retailers
4 Terminal markets near
A local mandi large cities
auctioning 2
Local to Regional mandis
for Auction
6
Loss in transit
40%
Price hike Retailers to Dining Table
3 End to end
> 400%
7

5. 42/kg
Eg: Ooty Carrots (As of 29th 32/kg
28/kg
June 2009) 24/kg
22/kg
20/kg End
customer
5/kg 12/kg price
Farmer’s Regional Metro Terminal Neighbourhood Kirana Branded Premium
market mandi Market market stores, Retailers Grade
(In Ooty/ (Mettupala (Chennai) (Thiruvanmiyur Push (Export)
Kothagiri) yam) Chennai) carts
500 % Price hike
Source : Ooty market traders, Chennai traders, indg.in
 Over 500% Price hike on average to customer , but no value addition
 Changes hands several times: 40-50% is wasted – which adds to the costs
 Prices set at each intermediate point arbitrarily by brokers/agents without
any planned demand/supply data
 Farmer typically operates at 25% loss , End retailer less than 5% net margin

6. High cumulative wastages across the supply chain varied from
24% (for potato) to 40% (for tomato)
Description Cumulative Wastage
Potato 24%
Cauliflower 24%
Banana 30%
Cabbage 36%
Tomato 40%

7. Market Scenario
Data Value Notes ITC, Nilgiris,
Fruits & Vegetables (Total market) 668800 Cr Organised + Unorganised Reliance, More, Big
bazaar etc all put
Organised segment 8216 Cr < 1.2% of total market together !!!
Total Volume of fruits & vegetables 100 Million
produced Tonnes
India is a World leader in
PRODUCTION but still
Amount processed 1% World avg ~ 40%
IMPORTING our food to
Amount exported 1% Not in top 25 in world exporters meet local demand
Wastage in transit & handling 40% ~ Rs 40000 Crores lost revenue
Even a 1% reduction
in wastage will
Average per person monthly 68 Rs 11% of monthly expenses on food generate additional
expenditure in F&V (Urban) 5 crores in profit to
Avg. per person monthly 8 kgs farmers !!!
consumption of F&V
Over 60% involved in agriculture & related Typical scenario for a metro city in India with 5 Million
activities, but contributes less than 20% to population :
GDP. Growth rate Y-O-Y is just 2% owing to Daily demand : 1250 tonnes
lack of professional management & focus Daily sales : Rs 1.2 Crores
Source : IMAGES F&R Research Study , Govt of India , Dept. of Agriculture

8.  The Farmer :
 Mandi system does not offer stable , sustainable price realization
 Organised retailers don’t pick lower grades , have long credit periods
 The Lorry drivers :
 Lorry booking agents/brokers take 40% of cut. Fluctuating rates and
high stress work
 The Sellers :
 Organized retail : High investment , Poor supply chain, Low volumes
 Unorganised retailers : Sabjeewallah/push cart vendors :
▪ Missing link and unsung heroes of the supply chain. (Over 90% of volume
retailed here)
▪ No proper benefits / finance / support
 The Buyers :
 Housewife : Fluctuating costs, Poor quality
 Hotels / Food processors : High costs, Unreliable suppliers
 Exporters : Poor standards / quality , High logistics cost

9. Supply Chain Management
What is it ? Why is it important ?
Value added resellers
Sorting , Grading , Processing, Packing
Storage
Warehouses
Bulk buyers
Exporters
Farmers eFarm
Cooperatives
Collection centers
Kiranas
Self Help
Groups
Hawkers
Village ICT kiosks
Phone booths Logistics Fleet Small Independent transporters
Mobile operators operators Intra-city small tempos

10. •IT Systems usage : NIL
•Management team : Illiterate and average age of 55
•Age of company : Over 150 years
•Customer Segment : From slumdwellers to crorepathis
•Operational efficiency : Six sigma !!!
The Mumbai Dubbawallahs !!!
•Key success factors :
•Highly decentralized operations – agile, flexible , scalable
•Use of low cost transport medium – trains
•Use of human power for last mile delivery – No Fuel related hikes
•Strong customer relationship – personal , localised
•Simple coding, routing, labelling system – operates even without electricity !
•Delivery excellance – fixed time , professionalism

11. Fix the process
first
And THEN
Implement
technology
Otherwise will be
a failure …..

12. Cleaning / Packing
Financial Success Social Progress
Quality Routing
Inspection/ Grading
An untapped , niche Organizing the large
market with very few Long haul unorganized agri sector of
organized, entities
Transportation
India – bottom of pyramid
Revenue generation More income to farmers ,
through better truck operators and small
optimization, value Rural Produce Local vendors
vendors owing to profit
addition across the chain
Collection Centres Small retailers sharing across the
network
Reduced wastage in
transit = more revenue Farmers Support to traditional , eco
Urban area
Distribution centre
friendly farm practices ,
Has potential to jumpstart
Local
Distribution organic farming through
other agri-dependent better marketing
ventures
Convert waste to compost
A professional ly Compost/Manure Food Processing
, providing low cost
managed supply chain is from waste units manure back to farmers.
vital for tapping
international markets Bulk buyers Revival of agriculture
(Hotels / Caterers /
Retailers)
Exports dependent livelihoods ,
Potential to scale across empowering villagers
eFarm Common Services
India as core problem is Planning & Call centre / Training &
wide spread Coordination
Research
Communication
Technology
Support Under privileged/Disabled
and urban poor get
‘Pull factor’ from rural employment opportunities
India for other services
and products

13. Open source
Tools &
technologies
AgriXML
As a dataXchange
format

14. Collaboration and B2B trading
platform
•Content : Daily pricelists,
Schedules, Trends , Buyers
guides
•Order management
•Search / Track items
•Delivery tracking
•Agri specific social networking
Backoffice Systems
•Customer relationship
management
•Supply chain management
•Mobile/SMS gateway interface
•Voice based interface
•MIS & Data mart

15. eFarm Registers the farmers,
1
transporters and other intermediaries
with basic details such as produce
type, volume, expected price range
etc., Advance amounts are collected from buyers
4 .Payments are made to farmers and
-
2 eFarm Retail co-coordinators (ie.,NGO intermediaries upon delivery.
/small retailers) consolidate the Orders
from buyers received through phone,
email and walk-in to make one
consolidated demand list 5 The vegetables are sorted and graded at the
eFarm Distribution centers across the city by
members of women’s self help groups of the
area..
-
3 eFarm sourcing managers track prices
across different areas and feed in the
data. The central order matching
system determines best source,
location and logistics channel for The orders are delivered immediately through
6 delivery vans,push carts etc to end
fulfillment.
customers
Lessons learnt, feed back and data analysis conducted on the order received is shared with
7 the members in the chain. This helps to optimize the operation continuously and increase the
value creation across the chain.

16. Cooperatives Hub and Spoke Model For Catering/Hotels
Producer Scalability and Organic Growth
Corporations
Exporters
Rural Urban
SHGs
Collection Forward Logistics ( Fresh Produce) Distribution
Centres Centers
Food Processors
Reverse Logistics ( Manure , Farmer supplies)
Bulk buyers
Small & mid sized farmers
Retailers /
Mom & Pop stores
… organic growth and
expansion

17. ICT Technology and the BOP segment :
Challenges
• High illiteracy
• Even amongst educated – Mostly local language
skills only
• Low computer skills , Low internet penetration
Technology Adoption amongst BOP
segment
• Highest and fastest penetration : The mobile
phone
eFarm Interface points • Self taught the phone interfaces , usage
• Pay full price for new models , talk time
• Voice call centres / BPOs (local language )
• Natural language IVRS ( 2 way –
automated messages)
• SMS

18. Production data
• Produce name, variety
• Grade
• Typical yield at harvest
• Harvest cycles
• Cost price at farm gate
Farmer information
• Name
• Address
• Contact number
• Preferred mode of payment
• Bank / Post office details
• Photo
• Attestation

19. Tools and calculators
to assist farmers in
determining their
Sale price
Click to open ->

20. Koyambedu
nadu tomato
(data courtesy : TNAU-INDG market
information portal)
Where to sell ?
At what price ?
Head to head comparisons
across
Markets
Ottanchatram
Insight - Support level prices and nadu tomato
inflection points
High / Low variations
Identifying ‘hoarding’ and
‘cartelisation’

21. (data courtesy : TNAU-INDG market
Koyambedu : Sambar onion
information portal)
What is the demand for a
particular product variety in Koyambedu : Nagar Onion
specific market?
What variety to produce ?
When to harvest ? How much
?
Koyambedu : Tamilnadu Onion
Example using onion in Koyambedu

22. NENDRUM IN COIMBATORE MARKET NENDRUM IN CHENNAI MARKET
60 60
50 50
40 40
30
30 20
20 10
10 0
30/06/2…
26/06/2…
29/06/2…
27/06/2…
28/06/2…
01/07/2…
03/07/2…
02/07/2…
0
Nendram in Bangalore market
60
Customer : A major chips manufacturer In 50
40
chennai 30
20
Problem : Nendran variety availability & 10
quality was poor and price was very high 0
Identified alternate markets for viable bulk
sourcing from alternate markets

23.  Screen cam video
 Technology_Videoscustomer.avi
 Technology_VideosFarmer.avi.avi
 Technology_VideosInventory Check.avi

24.  Screen cam video
 Technology_VideosMS_CRM_whole.avi

25. Demand / Supply Forecasting and aggregation
Strategic
Forecast Stocking Sales &
Plan marketing
COLLABORATION
FOR PLANNING
COLLABORATION
Farmer FOR OPERATIONS
Purchase Order Sourcing
Confirmations Purchase manager
Orders

26. Retail outlets
End customer
: material flows Distribution
locations
: information flows Center (DC)
Farmer / Supplier Retailer regional HQ –
supply chain functions
across stores are
managed here
Collection
centre/
Rural hub
Distribution
Center (DC) Retail outlets
Tier 1 Suppliers Tier 2 : Distribution Tier 3 : End customer
centresCollection and drop locations

27.  Simulation
 Technology_Videossc_1.avi
 Technology_Videossc_2.avi

28. Drill down to
details
Highlight
Dashboard summary potential
For senior management problems
and issues
for
immediate
action

29. Agri India – LinkedIn Group ( > Link )
•Operational since Jan 2009
•connecting farmers, buyers , social agencies, agri professionals
, academicians , press reporters & students
•Leads on key demands , info about agri expos/conferences , trade
news , job announcements , new ideas , discussions …
•Articles on key topics :
•Agri business & entrepreneurship
•Organic farming
•Video clippings on key technologies & processes
•Buyer’s guide to various fresh produce (for e.g. detecting carbide
mangoes, health benefits of keerai , selecting brinjal without
insects etc)

31. May’08- Jun’08 : Website launched, Initial prototype system
June 07 – May 08 : Information gathering , discussions, solution proposals to focus groups
development
Aug’08- Oct’08 : Concept pitching to pilot customer base/SHGs. Pilot launched with weekly deliveries. Different retailing options such as push carts, stores, mobile trucks
tried out. User feedback has been positive from all strata. Avg. weekly delivery = 2 tonnes
Oct’08 – till date : Distribution centre and retail outlets. established . Daily operations launched to cater to wider customer base . Promotional events, publicity drive. Core
Concept and processes constantly being upgraded and evolved based on trial run results.

32. •TATA NEN Hottest startup 2009
nominee
•IIM Kozhikode Whiteknight 2009
Business Plan contest winner
•IIM Ahmedabad Leverage 2009
Showcase shortlisted startup
•In the press
•The Hindu magazine’s Ergo tabloid
(Mar 2009)
•Times of India , May 2009
•NDTV News , June 2009
•Featured in leading e-zines –
yourstory.in, startups.in
•Featured in Tamil press- Kumudham
, Dinakaran
•Outlook Money , June 2009
•JADE , June 2009
•Academic
•Faculty for Food SCM course, MOP
Vaishnava college
•Key note speaker – TNAU conferences

33. Venkata Subramanian , MD eFarm
Ph : 044-43577236
M : 98847 61354
Email : venky@matchboxsolutions.in
Web : www.efarm.in
11 Loganathan colony , Mylapore, Chennai PIN 600004