At a time when many things are just a click-on-the-mobile-away for example cabs, food, healthcare and more, the latest to join the bandwagon, at least as far as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are concerned, are farm equipment.
Thanks to the innovation of three engineering graduates Dashmanth Reddy, Mithil Gandhi and Nitin Razdan, because of them, whether you need a planter, cultivator, rotavator, sprayer or a harvestor — all attached to a tractor, they are now just a call away. Met while doing their Masters in Business Administration from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, while they did their basic degree in different colleges.
As fate willed it, their thoughts focused on the idea of hiring out farm equipment, much on the lines of existing aggregators and together they started ‘Farmringg’.
Mr. Dashmanth Reddy said, “Three out of 10 small and marginal farmers still use traditional farming methods and the average utilization of equipment is less than 30 per cent. We bridge the gap by bringing together farmers and equipment owners, thus creating a win-win situation.”
The company pays out anywhere between ₹ 30,000 and ₹ 40,000 a month for the equipment that Farmringg takes on hire. But when it hires out the same equipment to needy farmers, the rates vary and are per-hour basis. Farmringg is strict on timings and working hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
He also informed, “our hire-out rates are still 20 to 30 per cent less than unorganized players.”
After a pilot project in November last, Farmringg now operates across 2,000 acres in five mandals of Siddipet district. Mr. Reddy said, “our objective is to touch 10,000 acres in 200 villages by the next season and the indicators, as in the interest shown by people, are promising.”
The co-founders said that, the initial introductions on the ground were provided by ICRISAT, following which the pilot was taken up last year and the current season all through June was proof of the pudding.
“Last November on, when we got appreciation along with invitations to attend weddings, we got confidence to carry on the journey and prepare for the June season,” he summed up.
Thus, ‘Farming as a Service (FAAS) from Farming is just a call away. To hire equipment per hour or give out your equipment to the aggregator, then you can call on 96762-66399 or 81428-93959.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/
