BHUBANESWAR: The farmers of the State will now have better technological expertise to increase crop output with the launch of e-Agro business initiative. E-Agro is a joint venture of Intel and Grameen Intel Social Business (Bangladesh). This is a model programme where an entrepreneur will be given charge of 2,000 farmers. He will be responsible for keeping database of production of last five years and provide the farmers know-how for better harvest. The database will be made in the local language so that the farmer will be able to access it. Gradually, the number of farmers assigned to each entrepreneur will be increased depending on his capacity. The entrepreneur will be backed by OUAT, Paradeep Phosphates and Intel. “We are trying to find ways to bring technology to people. We had technology but did not have the knowledge about entrepreneurial needs. And Grameen helped us providing a complete solution,” said Frank Martinez, director of Intel’s World Ahead Programme. The e-Agro initiative has been launched in 12 locations of the State as a pilot project. “We are working on this for the last two and a half years and it is a learning process. Now is the time to scale up and expand,” said K C Mishra, CEO, eKutir. De-risking is a crucial part of the programme where farmers are provided with best quality seeds, fertilisers and an advisory to minimise the chances of crop failure. Jobs are being created at the macro level and the farmers are getting quality services for a fixed payment, said Frank. “The e-Agro initiative is a big boon for us as it will help us gain know-how on how to grow crops better,” said Charana Sasmal, a beneficiary of the programme.
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