Presented in ACIAR-IFPRI two days Regional Dialogue on Machine Reforms’ for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture in South Asia on July 21-22, 2017 in New Delhi, India

1. ITC e-Choupal 4.0:
Aggregation of farm mechanization and other
agricultural services to boost farm incomes
Mr. C Sashidhar
Manager - Agriservices
ITC Limited – Agri Business Division
20th July 2017

2. Farm Mechanization: Decision factors
*Farmers may not actually be considering these costs in practice
Labor is not
available
Labor is
available
Mechanized
Net
benefits
of
Mechan
-ization
Manual
Output
quality
Wage cost
Access to
capital
Other
operational
costs
Labor
opportunity
cost*
Output
quality
Variable
Costs
Fixed Costs
Opportunity
Cost*
Farmer
Adopt
Do Not
Adopt
Practices or
beliefs run
counter to
mechanization
No
Yes
Labor
Availability
Practices &
Beliefs
Perceived Benefits of Mechanization
Shortage of Skilled
Labour – Increasing
Labour Cost
Lewis Turning Point
Madhya Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Bihar
Tamil Nadu
Haryana
Punjab
Andhra Pradesh
Perceived Benefits &
Beliefs of Mechanization
Local conditions – Crop, Soil,
Water, or other variation within a
locality can impact the benefits
and beliefs
SOURCE: From Reddy, Amarender A., Trends in Rural Wage Rates: Whether India Reached Lewis Turning Point (September 5, 2013)

3. Challenges in farm mechanization
• Service delivery Inefficiencies and broken links in the ecosystem limit farmer access to rental services
• Farmers experience lower benefit of farm mechanization and stakeholders don’t realize full potential value
• A new ecosystem is required to deliver maximum mechanization benefits to farmers & realize full value potential for each
stakeholder.
Legend:
+++ = Maximum benefit; ++ = Medium benefit; + = Low benefit; - = No benefit
+
Farmers
Financial
Institutions
Equipment Mfg.
(National or Local Branch)
Parts & Servicing
Government
+
++
-Micro-Entrepreneur
Farmer-to-Farmer Custom
Hiring
+
+
Current Service Providers
have limited inventory and
informally trained
operators.
-
- Extension Services
Trained Operators
External Stakeholders:
Extension Service
participation has been
shown to increase
adoption.
Farmers have limited
access to affordable,
timely, high-quality
rentals.
Existing ecosystem:
Window of operation |Timely Availability | Affordability | Demand Aggregation & Scheduling | Farm Sizes
Trained operators | Location / context specific advisory

4. e-Choupal 4.0: Mobility platform
Digital hub to bring in various stakeholders on to the single platform aggregating various services
for effective transfer and adoption of technologies by rural communities
Modes of Engagement:
• Physical connect: Meetings, crop/ field inspections, etc.
• Mobile App/ Web based: Various users to feed and access information
• Assisted Data entry: to enter/ retrieve info on-behalf of farmers in need
• Call centers: for additional support to farmers
Prototypes of Physical Models initiated on
Farmers’ Own Seed Production and Farm
Mechanization

5. ITC-ABD’s Model
Farmers
ITC e-Choupal 4.0
++
Financial
Institution
Parts & Servicing:
Level I & II
Government
+++
+++
Equipment Mfg.
(National or Local Branch)
Quality, stable
supply
+++
Custom Hiring Centres
Farmer-to-Farmer Hiring
+++
++
++
Extension Services
Trained
Operators
++
+++
Input Providers
++
1. eChoupal network – aggregation of farm services: context specific advises, demand aggregation and scheduling
2. Trained operators an integral part of ecosystem to address issues of operator availability and expertise in specialized equipment
3. Leverage/ build parts & servicing network to ensure maximum uptime of equipment during peak season, hence, viable investment
4. Leverage existing underutilized micro-entrepreneur or farmers rental service to lower capital risk for investor
Legend:
+++ = Maximum benefit; ++ = Medium benefit; + = Low benefit; - = No benefit
Collaborative | Bringing all stakeholders together | Cost optimization | Context based Advisory
An End to End 360O Approach from Land preparation to Post Harvest

6. Prototypes
Custom Hiring Center Farmer to Farmer Hiring
Location: MP (Itarsi & Ujjain)
Initiated during Rabi 2015
Partner: EM3 Agri Services Pvt. Ltd.
Implements:
Harvestors, MB Plough, Laser Leveller, Straw
reaper, Cultivator, Rotovator, Seed Drills, Paddy
Transplanter, Power harrow
Major services:
Harvestors: 68%; MB Plough, Rotovator/
Cultivator: 7%; Seed Drill 4%; Laser Leveller: 3%
Location: Bihar, WB, Easter UP, MP
Initiated during 2014
Farmer to farmer and ITC CSR programmes
Implements:
Zero Till (ZT) Sowing of Wheat
Broad Bed Furrow (BBF) Sowing of Soybean
Acres Serviced:
ZT = 76,000 acres
BBF = 7,000 acres
Return on Investment – Machine utilization Additional Income source - mostly basic services

7. Value Capture to All Stakeholders
Farmers Custom Hiring Centres Farmer Owners’ Operators
Value
Proposition
• Timely operations
• Cost optimization
• Improved productivity
• Context specific Asset
mix - asset utilization
• Demand aggregation
• Location specific
advisories
• Asset utilization
• Skill improvement
• Assured income
Value Capture • Increased farm returns • Improved ROI • Additional Income source
• Employment
opportunities
Suppliers
Local Repairers / Operators
• Co-creation of products & services – local modifications, Improved income source
• Assured income source & Skill upgradation

8. Thank you

9. Using Adoption Rate to Inform Action
Time0%
Adoption
Rate
Wheat
SOURCE: Gosh, Anirban and Mehrotra, Shruti. Increasing Agricultural Productivity for a 2nd Green Revolution. (2011) Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra Group
45%
Seeding & Planting
Mechanized
Operations
95%
Land Preparation
5%
Plant Protection
40%
Harvesting
Rice
Time
Adoption
Rate
1%
Seeding &
Planting
75%
Land Preparation
2%
Plant Protection
25%
Harvesting
Mechanized
Operations
• High net benefit
• Few behavioral/belief barriers
• Growing acceptance of net benefit
• Face potential behavioral/belief
barriers
• High perceived risk
• High behavioral/belief barriers
• Little understanding of net benefit
• Not suited to local context
Inferred Benefits & Beliefs

10. Key Learning
Product Classification Key Characteristics Example
1
2
3
4
Basic services
Local leverage
Responsive
Rationalize
Cultivators
Harvester
Laser leveler
Paddy transplanter
Adoption Price Perceived benefit
Commodity
Popular but beyond small
farmers financial ability
Yet to be popular
Not yet in practice
Modified Seed Drills  BBFs
Improved availability and adoption at same cost
Demand Scheduling can be a constraint for CHC
Highly Adopted – except for some small farmers
High investment – need for improved uptime
Yet to catch up! Mostly needed in certain areas
Needs concept selling
New model to be evolved
Holistic service – seedlings production & transplanting