HYDERABAD: At a time when engineering graduates in the country are opting for lucrative jobs in multi-national corporations, M Srinivas, a B.Tech graduate from the remote village of Dandepalli in Warangal urban district is helping the State’s vegetable farmers get remunerative prices. Srinivas launched HamaraFarmers.com, with an aim to provide a platform for vegetable farmers to decide their prices, and facilitate delivery of the produce for them as well.
For this, Srinivas tied up with farmers’ organisations to educate ryots about how they can get remunerative prices for their produce. His team even joined forces with a few transport providers to deliver vegetables to customers at their doorstep. “Coming from a rural background, I realised that vegetable farmers struggle to get the right price for their produces. Often they end up selling their produce at much lower prices,” said Srinivas.
It is mainly the marginal farmers who have small land holdings, that depend on intermediaries to sell their produce. This is because most of them have an incomplete information of the markets because the information is scattered across a variety of agencies, government departments and private sector organisations. This is where HamaraFarmers.com comes into picture by not only providing information to farmers about potential customers, but also a freedom to decide prices for their produce, Srinivas explained.
To maximise reach, the website is built to be mobile responsive so it is easily accessible on a mobile phone as well. The use of native language further helps the farmers interact with the founders, added Srinivas.
When finding potential customers who can pay them a good price as well, the website acts as a guide for the farmers. “This way even the customers are benefited as they get fresh vegetables at their doorstep and at best prices. It is a win-win situation,” Srinivas stated.
Explaining the challenges faced, Srinivas said, “Many villages have the same name which could lead to a lot of confusion. In order to avoid this, we have decided to add the village zip code as well.” Currently, the startup delilvers vegetables within 30 km radius of the village from where they are procured. “We are using the famous Dabbawala system to avoid misplacement of orders,” Srinivas said.