TRANSFORM YOUR FOOD EXPORT BUSINESS WITH THE HELP OF A FARM MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

The Indian Food Export Market is slated for steady growth according to the latest statistics. The total agri-food exports grew 6 per cent from $36.18 billion in 2014-15 to $ 38.32 billion in 2020-21 at a compounded annual growth rate of 0.96 per cent, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries said in a statement. Food export businesses in India can reap the benefits of a conducive economy if only they can overcome the challenges that are involved in the agribusiness industry.

Challenges faced by the Food Export Businesses

The Indian Agri-export industry is plagued by many challenges that needs to be looked at from the time of cultivation of the crop. These are:

• Adhering to the residue limits on pesticide molecules, aflatoxin, allergens etc.
• Traceability from farm to fork
• Packing and storage
• Transport
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

All these challenges can be solved only by systematic and effective execution of the processes involved in the agribusiness. A continuous and comprehensive record of activities on the farm and the factory or warehouse is a must to provide complete traceability of the export product. Each and every product administered to the crop should be monitored to determine the potential risk of high chemical residues in the final product. Even if the cultivation process went perfectly, a mishandling of transportation and storage can lead to unforeseen losses. Many foreign countries also require exporters to adhere to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification for exporting.

All these risks can be reduced and in some cases eliminated with the help of a single comprehensive addition to your business strategy-

A FARM MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Here’s how:

RESIDUE LIMITS:

A Farm Management Software uses Precision Farming method to administer precise amounts of water, fertilizer and pesticide to your crops. Appropriate pesticides and fertilizers that leaves less long term residue are identified by the farm software for use in the cultivation. It also helps you identify localized and organic ways of fighting pests and adding manure to your crop based on previous experiences, topography, climate, soil etc.

A Farm Management Software can also help you categorize produce from different farms into lots based on quality and other requirements. This eliminates wastage of produce by rejection.

TRACEABILITY:

A Farm Management Software (FMS) is fully equipped to record all the information concerning an agricultural produce with its wide variety of technological tools. It gives you field level information from the beginning of the farming activity, like,

• Seeds and sowing particulars
• Chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers used and its frequency
• Irrigation
• Pictures of different stages of growth
• Weather during farming
• Time of harvest
• Details about the farm where the produce was harvested
• Details on sustainable agricultural practices followed during cultivation
• Type of Labor that was employed
• Information on the Lot category

PACKAGING, STORAGE AND TRANSPORT

The harvested yield is classified into lots and QR coded and RFID tagged with all the necessary data like,

• Farm plot
• Farmer particulars
• Seasonal details
• Quality certifications
• Transport and storage details from farm to final destination

The most appropriate, economic and scientific method is deduced by the farm management software to determine the transportation method.

GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES (GAP)

GAP The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) uses good agricultural practice as a collection of principles to apply for on-farm production and post-production processes, resulting in safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products, while taking into account economic, social and environmental sustainability. A Farm Management Software can suggest the correct practices to be followed based on the required certification details and experience from different scenarios to help you arrive at the optimal cultivation practice for your agribusiness.

Trace Agtech is an intuitive and feature rich farm management software that will integrate all of your contract farms and farmers on a single platform.  It helps you in digitizing farm diaries, geo-fencing farms, pest/disease control, real-time support to farmers, expense tracking, yield forecasting, buying, quality control, farm audits, traceability, sustainability, training master trainers (TOT) & farmers, monitoring & managing field staff, etc.