Battered by man made fertilizer crisis due to the stupid policy of shifting to organic farming overnight by banning chemical fertilizer imports, Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector gets a sigh of relief following the government’s efforts to modernize agriculture after reversing all previous policies.
These previous ill advised measures have devastated and hammered by losses as diminishing purchasing power of the people eats into agriculture-linked companies.
In order to develop the battered sector President Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken prompt initiative of agricultural modernization in 2023 to feed Sri Lanka’s growing population and become a net exporter of food, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said
Taking a cue from this initiative Agro World (AW), a game-changing agri-fin-tech start-up based out of Sri Lanka is set to address and solve some of the key pain-points faced by the agribusiness sector stakeholders.
The solution provided by Agro World addresses almost all the issues and challenges faced by the farmers of any scale, may it be a small-holder farmer, or a mid-sized commercial farmer, or even a plantation with over hundreds and thousands of workforce.
However, despite its significance, the sector has remained largely traditional and outdated, lacking access to financial and technological resources that could help the farmers and producers maximize their yield/output which in turn reflects in higher profitability.
The industry has long struggled with inefficiencies, wastages, post-harvest losses, and reduced profitability due to several reasons, but most importantly the lack of systematic coordination and collaboration among the farmers, suppliers, buyers, and government organisations related to the agribusiness sector.
The new IT solution of Agro World is aimed at connecting all the agribusiness stakeholders to communicate, and collaborate in real-time, unlocking the full potential of the industry and driving growth and mutually beneficial progression for all.
Agro World is a platform that connects farmers with investors and lenders, providing them with the most needed financial support.
Therfater it provides the farmers with the knowledge on scientific growing and best cultivation practices where the platform also connects the resources (quality agro input) required for cultivating, so that the farmer is facilitated with everything necessary for a thriving farmland.
The platform leverages on advanced algorithms such as; computer vision technology, machine learning to provide farmers with personalized recommendations, use of spectral technology for early identification of pest and disease detection.
It creates awareness on the use of blockchain for smart contracts, cost effective traceability and identification, satellite monitoring to capture heuristic data and insights of the farmland, which helps to make better decisions and increase their profits.
It also provides near-real-time data and analytics, allowing farmers to track their performance and make informed decisions based on those users friendly and easy to understand dashboard reports.
Agro World takes a proactive approach by pre-identifying the market conditions with various crops, supply and demand, and recommendations, ‘when’ and ‘what’ to grow, to get the maximum yield and benefit, in turn enabling to secure the best price for the produce.
Introducing and setting up the ‘Farm-gate to Buyer’ concept where the producer sells the produce directly to the buyer, which is done with an intent to shorten the travel time and distance which in-turn reduces the non-value adding costs and post-harvest losses.
