Mandi Alternatives: How Agri-Tech Startups Beat The Lockdown Blues

Gurgaon: While the farmers’ union protests against the Centre’s agriculture reform ordinances, now bills, the alternative path for farm produce that these legislations seek to open up – outside the mandi chain – has been evident for the past six months. That’s how a Sonipat farmer found a reseller in a Gurgaon condominium. Another in west UP found the tomatoes and brinjals he grew being delivered by food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato in Delhi-NCR. It began with the lockdown, which froze all gears of the mandi machinery, setting off a desperate search for ways to sell millions of tonnes of farm produce. How startups linked farmers and merchantsOn June 5, the Centre passed the ordinance ending the monopoly of APMCs and allowing farmers to opt to sell directly to private players. In the March-August period, when the economy hit rock bottom, startups marketing farm produce all registered significant growth. Farmers who tied up with startups saved on transportation, unlike in the mandi system where they have to carry it themselves.