The online trade in agro-chemicals in the country is poised to take off with the Centre allowing sales of insecticides through an e-commerce entity. The latest move by the Centre is expected to help agro-chemical manufacturers to set up their online platforms, besides attracting the interests of e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart among others, experts said.
A notification issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on November 24 said, “A licensee, during the currency of license, may undertake the sale of any insecticide through e-commerce entity for supply of insecticides to the doorstep of the farmers and the licensee shall comply with the provisions of the Act and the rules made there under for the time being in force.”
“E-commerce in agro-chemicals will get a boost with this notification, which is going to help both the industry and farmers. This will be the new face of industry interface as it will drastically reduce the distance between the manufacturer and the farmers,” said Kalyan Goswami, Director-General, Agro Chem Federation of India.
Minimising risks
“Farmers can have access to varied options with all the details about the product and hence they can take a balanced decision. The chance of misbranded and counterfeit product sales would also be minimised. For quality manufacturers, who are ready to cut down their operating cost in the form of margin, can have a deep road as farmers would love to buy directly from the companies,” Goswami said.
Currently, online sales of agro-chemicals in the country are insignificant. The ₹86,000-crore agro-chemical industry, which also includes exports, is growing in the range of 11-14 per cent annually, Goswami said.
Hemendra Mathur, an agtech investor, said the development will bring in further investments in the supply chain and can attract the likes of e-commerce players such as Amazon and Flipkart. It could also unleash new product categories and launches by e-commerce players besides helping them fulfil the demand quickly. The market potential is huge as about a third of the 15 crore farmers can place order online, Mathur said.
New beginning
“The industry has been asking for official permission for some time now to carry out e-commerce. Now that they have officially allowed e-commerce, it will be a new beginning for the agro-chemicals sector. It will be a welcome step to reach the consumers directly. There could be new portals that will come up in this space including from the manufacturers themselves and the likes of e-commerce firms such as Amazon and Flipkart,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, Insecticides (India) Ltd.
“This is a big boost for the agritech sector and for the #DigitalBharat initiatives. This notification update essentially recognises that technology is becoming increasingly important and essential for Indian farmers to increase productivity and double their income. This is an important and progressive step towards the right direction of #HelpingFarmersWin,” Shardul Sheth, CEO and Co-founder, AgroStar.
“It is a great move and is in the right direction. It encourages now companies like us,” said Sateesh Nukala of BigHaat.