Patna based agritech startup, Ergos has launched GrainBank post-harvest solutions for farmers to digitise their grains which is directly accessible to lenders and processors, and can buy online directly from them in one click; or if farmers choose to delay its sales, they can digitally take a loan at minimal interest rates directly from bank. While doing so, GrainBank is able to analyse farmers’ profiles and their crop-related data, which helps analyse most suitable services in the most cost-effective manner.
Kishor Jha, CEO and Director, Ergos says, “We are tech-enabled GrainBank that digitises grains, connects through fintech and gives farmers access to digital payments, predicts price through ‘price intelligence’ and AI-based tools. The tech-enabled warehouses are synced with cloud and data is pushed to the server. The warehouses have Kiosks like GrainBank ATM, loyalty cards and farmers use smartphones to access their deposits. Ergos uses a smart tab to inward the stock and quality is checked on IoT-based instruments. It has ‘weather sensing tools’ that enable GrainBank operation in the most efficient manner and trillions of data points get generated.”
“Almost 86 per cent of farmers in India are small and marginal who lack the resources as well as knowledge to adequately store their produce, leading to post-harvest grain loss as well as deterioration of grain quality. Ergos GrainBank model offers farmers the flexibility to store and withdraw a single bag of grains. Uniform grain quality and digitisation of the grains stored makes it fungible and helps aggregate demand and supply,” he added.
Proper storage eliminates the risk of grain loss arising from improper storage by the farmers. Ergos also facilitates credit and market linkage for the farmers storing their grains with it. Using the credit facility, farmers can avail immediate liquidity; where they don’t have to sell their produce during the harvest season when prices are at the lowest. They can use the Ergos platform to sell their produce during the off-season, fetching them a better income. All of this, right at the farm-gate.
Ergos is a homegrown startup from Bihar and operates with a goal to serve over two million farmers across the country by 2025 and create a sustainable income for them. Over the coming years, it aims to offer the farmers access to best in class services at the farm-gate and deliver a significant impact by improving their livelihoods.
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