Ecommerce In Agriculture: IFFCO Partners With CSC SPV To Enter Rural Villages

In a bid to push ecommerce in rural villages in the country the Indian Farmer Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) has signed an agreement with CSC e-Governance Services India (CSC SPV) to provide ecommerce services for agriculture in villages.

IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasthi said, “This will further simplify the process of providing agriculture inputs to farmers. This platform will encourage the farmers to effectively use digital technology.”

The CSC SPV is responsible for managing and monitoring the implementation of the Common Services Centers Scheme. It provides a centralised collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systemic viability and sustainability of the scheme.

The CSC SPV will align with the IFFCO digital initiative, called Indian Cooperative Digital Platform (ICDP).

A recent study by FICCI and IIFT states that the B2C ecommerce market in India is expected to store a potential of $26 Bn. The study also estimates that $2 Bn in revenues can be achieved by 2020 if the repository of B2C ecommerce is realised and explored. As per Inc42 Datalabs agriculture, along with fisheries and forestry, is one of the largest contributors to the Indian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP of agriculture and allied sectors in India was recorded at $244.74 Bn in FY16. At 157.35 Mn hectares, India holds the second-largest agricultural land in the world.

As part of the agreement, all the products and service offerings of IFFCO and group companies will be displayed on CSC ecommerce website. The Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) will accept the orders from farmers for agri-inputs and other services.

Once a certain specified quantity (truckload or certain minimum amount) of orders is aggregated, VLEs will place an order on CSC Portal and remit payment.

The absence of organised markets for the sector is a major hurdle to the growth of the sector. Now with this collaboration with CSC SPV, the farmers in rural villages will get access to good quality IFFCO products at an affordable, fair price.

(The development was reported by ET)

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