E-Choupal

GUIDED BY PRESENTED BY Dr.D K VYAS BHARATI AHIR (ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR) 06-0169-2015 3rd SEM

College of Agricultural Information Technology , AAU,Anand.

Introduction• E-Choupal is a hindi word which means a village meeting

place, and “E” here stands for electronic so it is a village meeting place on electronic platform.

• It is a virtual market place where vendors and customers come together to do transactions.

• E-Choupal is an initiative of ITC Ltd.(Indian Tobacco Company Limited) , to link directly with rural  farmers  via the Internet for agricultural and aquaculture products like soybeans, wheat, coffee.

Organizer• ITC— a 94-year-old Indian Agribusiness Company with

annual revenues of US $ 2.6 billion—has taken on the role of a network orchestrator in this meta-market by stitching together an end-to-end solution.

• International Business Division (IBD), a division of ITC started in 1990, is engaged in exports of a range of agricultural commodities.

• It is also now sourcing domestic markets in products such as wheat, maize , and pearl millet for its own use as well as for niche customers .

Reason For EstablishmentCurrent Unsustainable Situation

• Small farmer livelihoods.• Government subsidies.• Inefficient use of inputs.

What will make it sustainable?

• Not subsidies, but efficient services. • Market linkages for output .• Non farm employment opportunities .

Effects of e-Choupal• ITC Limited has provided computers and Internet access

in rural areas across several agricultural regions of the country.

• Online access enables farmers to obtain information on mandi and to place orders for agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers.

• Each ITC Limited kiosk having Internet access is run by a sanchalak — a trained farmer.

• Farmers can real-time information despite their physical distance from the  mandis.

• There are 6,500 e-Choupals in operation. ITC Limited plans to scale up to 20,000 e-Choupals by 2012 covering 100000 villages in 15 states, servicing 15 million farmers.

e-choupal processITC

Products and Services • The service provides access to the following types of

content through the e-Choupal website.

• Weather - forecasts from Government Meteorological Departments.

• Scientific farming practices - provided by Agri-universities.

• Market prices at the village - collected from mandis (regional markets).

Other Products and Services

• Farm Inputs such as fertilizers and seeds (screened for quality).

• Marketing of Outputs (convenience, lower transaction costs).

• FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) and services of daily use.

• FAQs –Frequently asked questions on cropping issues and e-mail facility to link up with scientists for specific solutions.

Advantage• ITC's e-Choupal project is a winner—for farmers who get

better remuneration and for the company that's assured quality inputs for its business.

• IT for the Masses.

• Multiple Benefits.

• Better Payment.

Feature Description and Operational GoalsWeather User can select their district of interest by clicking on the

appropriate region of a map. Localized Weather information is presented on regions within a 25 km range and 24- to 72-hour weather forecasts are available. it is a directly related to the farmer information.

Pricing The e-Choupal web site displays both the ITC procurement rate and the local mandi rates. ITC's next day rates are published every evening.

News For the soyachoupal web site, relevant news is presented from various sources.

Best practices Best farming practices are documented by crop. here again, the information presented is action-based. For instance, this section not only highlights what kind of fertilizer to use but also how and when to use them.

Q & A This feature enables two-way communication. Here a farmer can post any agriculture related question he needs answered.

Features of the E-Choupal Web Site

Scope of E-choupal• ITC now plans to leverage its e-Choupal infrastructure to

sell third-party products, provide rural market research services, and in the social sector, to provide services like health advisories and enable e-governance.

• Under the brand ‘Choupal Sagar,’ these shopping complexes house a procurement centre, retail store, food court, farmer facility centre and healthcare clinic.

• ITC eChoupal is currently piloting delivery of quality education services to the rural areas leveraging the physical and digital infrastructure developed for commodities sourcing and consumer retail services

Challenges• Process : appropriate systems for quality testing and

pricing, logistics, complex transactions.

• Physical : bulk storage and handling hubs.

• Technology : IT equipment suitable for rural environment, reliable power source, adequate connectivity, user support.

• Social : selection of appropriate villages, selection of the appropriate sanchalak, building trust in the community, training, securing stakeholder involvement (by Public Oath).

Conclusion• An innovative strategy which is eloborative & extensive

in rural market so far.

• Rural wealth creation in agriculture through securing empowerment, collaboration and competition.

• A transformational initiative for sustainable development of society.

• Commitment to transparency & the respect & fairness with which both farmers & local partners are treated.

Thank You….