Bayer has partnered with AgroStar, a Pune-based e-commerce firm in the farm input space, to deliver seeds and crop protection products directly to the farmer’s doorsteps.

Farmers in North, West and Central India can now order Bayer’s seeds and crop protection products for their entire crop lifecycle and receive agronomic advisory through AgroStar’s digital agri-tech platform, the company said. Bayer plans to extend the home delivery option to other parts of the country in the future.

With agri-input shops remaining partly shut, AgroStar is fulfilling farmers’ orders through its over 500 strong network of last-mile delivery partners, who are doing doorstep delivery of agri-inputs. More than 15,000 farmers have benefitted from this service and have avoided stepping out to buy agri-inputs ahead of the kharif season, Bayer said.

“We are happy to partner with AgroStar and serve farmers during the current difficult situation and even beyond. The Go-to-Market approaches in the Indian agri-input industry have been static over the last five decades. With the rise of digitalisation, the industry will witness very dynamic shifts over the next few years,” said Simon Wiebusch, Chief Operating Officer for Bayer India’s Crop Science Division.

“With increasing incidence of online e-commerce platforms, the trend is fast catching up in the agricultural space and is here to stay. We want to provide farmers diverse choices beyond the traditional services they rely on and create a more customer-centric experience,” Weibusch added.

Shardul Sheth, CEO and Co-Founder of AgroStar, said the good quality agri-inputs, coupled with our digital agronomy solutions, have the potential to significantly increase farm productivity and farmer incomes.

Source- hindubusinessline.com