It is common to talk about the lack of good food, air and water. It is much effective, to trust one’s own power to unlearn, learn and get down to doing something about it. Mr Sanjay Dasari, through the company he has co-founded, WayCool Foods, works meticulously and diligently towards improving the agricultural supply chain from farm to fork.
Hello Mr Sanjay Dasari,
Hello!
Mr Sanjay, please start with a brief introduction about yourself and your firm, WayCool Foods.
The genesis of WayCool Foods was in July 2015. The idea was to set up a social-impact company to focus on the end-to-end agricultural supply chain in India. We researched and realized that there is a lot of dis-aggregation at the front and back ends of the supply chain. Farmers, at the back end, were extremely small plot owners and customers, at the front end, have extremely small demand. We started WayCool Foods to bridge the gap between these two entities in most cost effective way possible. The aim is to:
Minimize food wastage
Maximize information transparency and
Ensure farmers, at the back end, get their benefits
For example, farmers, who work with us, have experienced an income increase of about 25 - 40%. So far, we have about 36,000 farmers in our database, spread across the country, who are available for us to work with us. We transport anywhere between 250 - 300 tonnes of products on a daily basis. We operate across Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. We are importing our produce as well. ith the outgrow programme, which enables us to work with these farmers, we have picked certain commodities, esp. where the volume is justified and farmers require help into those commodities. Based on these commodities that we have selected, we identify the farmers, select their land area, determine the soil health, understand what can be best grown on that piece of land and give those farmers an annual cropping pattern. This plan includes 2-3 crop cycles. It is not necessary that it is one crop. In fact, in most scenarios it is 2-3 crops. Once that is done, we give them a package of practices for the crops we have selected. We start with the seed. We recommend the seeds that need to be used, based on the region, our experience and knowledge. We support the farmers from seed to harvest - in terms of the fertilizer and pesticide usage, etc. Hence, we work with the farmers to improve the productivity of that particular crop. In addition to this, in some cases, depending on water availability, we also ask them to work with multiple crops on the same field because of channel irrigation etc. In such cases, the farmers get an additional income through the second crop too. We also train farmers on certain pest management practices like having border crops which can avoid pests, etc. For crops like cabbage and cauliflower, having a sweet corn crop at the border helps reduce pest attack because of the nature of the sweet corn crop leaf. To increase the revenue for farmers and the productivity of the land, we also consider reducing usage of inputs like pesticides etc. We bring in low-cost technologies from across the country into farming practices. We work on technologies like drones and few other concepts on a regular basis to see if this can be commercialized. When we started working as an organization to reduce wastage in the supply chain, esp. with respect to post-harvest which is about 40% as claimed by the government data; we found that there is so much of wastage happening in the pre harvest timeframe. For example, if a farmer sows perhaps 7000 - 8500 tomato seedlings, within a week there is 10-12% crop mortality rate. It has been studied that the farmer doesn’t replant them which essentially reduces the yield. When we identify such things, we caution them. The interesting thing is that our payments to farmers are done 100% digitally. That is been driven by the government's aadhaar, That has been very helpful.
Do you take care of the water management also?
We recommend drip irrigation. Also, between crops and during seasons, we also look at how the soil can hold more water. Hence, ploughing is done based on that. During the rainy season, we plough the fields so that there are smaller ridges and furrows enabling the soil to hold water. This ensures that water doesn't run down.
Those are the small things that we add over and above the government initiatives wherein the channels and ponds are created.
Can you give information on the variability of the soil?
Wherever we connect with farmers for actual production, we first test the soil to understand the soil nutrients. Based on that we recommend crops which best suits that soil. We find this more effective than suggesting a crop which will require more fertilizers added into the soil. That is one approach we have taken towards improving soil health. We have a list of 20 crops for which we work with farmers depending on the season and soil health.
What about the water requirements for these crops?
Seed companies offer different seeds best suited for different regions. We work with these seed companies to understand their packaging practices and use that information to advice farmers on the irrigation requisite of the crop. Since the farmers are spread across different regions, we don't have local data. So, we work with couple of other institutes like IIT and IISC to understand how to install a weather station to check the soil moisture and soil condition to recommend better irrigation. This project is on the works.
Are you confined to Bangalore and Chennai areas alone?
No, our sourcing spreads across the entire country, including Maharashtra, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and even foreign countries for imported goods.
Are there common crops that you deal with in two varied regions?
In Maharashtra we work with onions and potatoes, primarily. We also work with moong dal to some extent. In Karnataka, we do tomatoes. In one season we do potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, chillies, cucumber, etc.
How about pest control?
We ask our farmers to practice neem-seed kernel extract. That spray is extremely effective in cabbage and cauliflower especially for the larva-caterpillar based pests. That is very effective. We ask them to spray it as a preventive rather than cure the plants after it is attacked. This has been very effective.
Do you consider the percentage of infestation in the crops, while applying this neem oil, etc. because it is a repellent and not a killer? I mean if there is a 30% infestation in a crop, then which pesticide will you apply?
We have certain package of practices for each of the crops.
What about the supply chain?
When we engage with farmers, our organization may have a volume requirement of about 350 tons of all products put together on a daily basis. We have a planning and forecasting process where we determine what quantities are required on a weekly basis. The sowing, harvest and procurement is done based on this data. 70% of the material we distribute is actually sourced through these farmers and FPO networks where collection happens at the farm level. We supply crates of fruits and vegetables which gets transported in our own vehicles. It does not go to a market. It goes directly to our distribution centres and from they get procured by customers.
So, is it safe to say that your supply chain is independent of government interventions?
The government plays a very strong role in setting policies and allowing independent companies like ours to flourish. We also work with both Central and State governments actively to explore new methods of improving farmer welfare, and agri policy.
Do you have any plans to have a go at organic crops, given the current trend?
We definitely are interested in the organic sector. We are trying to get our heads around the actual processes and standard operating procedures around the true organic farming sector. Once we are through that, we will be able to implement it further. We have worked with a number of farmers who are certified as organic. We recommend people to push for healthy farming practices. At the moment, we don't market ourselves as an organic company because we cannot match the kind of demand that is there. We work with farmers on a long-term basis. But, in short-term you want to fine tune the basic levels of farmer interactions, physical supply chain, transportation, etc. The next step will definitely be organic.
What are the challenges you get to face, in this venture, Mr Sanjay?
When it comes to farmer interaction, we have 0 issues from the farmer's side. They are very aggressive about adopting these new practices when they work with companies like us. A lot of the issues that we face have been on the manpower hiring side. To get the talent to come work with this company and to share the same vision that we have is tough. It is not an easy or glamorous industry. Other than that we look at liquidation. The company is taking a lot of risk on board because we buy the stock from the farmer. We don't do a central marketing model. We actually do a buy and sell, eliminating the farmer’s risk and take it on the company. So, the sales is a challenging element in our business model. Having said that, these are solvable problems. But other than that we are running fairly well.
What are your future plans?
We have done lot in terms of working with the National Agro Foundation, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University and the M S Swaminathan Foundation. Since we don't have qualifications in this field in particular, we get our ideas analysed and confirmed by people who have lot more experience in this field. For future plans, we will launch our North and West India sales operations. We do, currently, source North and West India produce but sales is only in South India as of now. We also plan to do a lot of exporting because Indian products are of high quality. The export markets are, however, not buying it because of the lack of traceability. They lack visibility into the package of practices for the confidence that certain products have not been used during cultivation etc. So, we are trying to bring that traceability in place using technology. Once information such as, seeds and fertilizers used, humidity at the time of harvesting etc. is available we can package products to companies based in the UAE, France etc. That is also something that we want to work towards, in the future.
Being a non-agriculturist to have mastered the field is highly commendable. Congratulations and all the best!
Thank you! We are just getting started, and we have a long way to go. We’re excited to be working with some of the brightest minds in the industry, and blessed to have the opportunity to make an impact in this industry. Looking forward to what lies ahead.
Hello Mr Sanjay Dasari,
Hello!
Mr Sanjay, please start with a brief introduction about yourself and your firm, WayCool Foods.
The genesis of WayCool Foods was in July 2015. The idea was to set up a social-impact company to focus on the end-to-end agricultural supply chain in India. We researched and realized that there is a lot of dis-aggregation at the front and back ends of the supply chain. Farmers, at the back end, were extremely small plot owners and customers, at the front end, have extremely small demand. We started WayCool Foods to bridge the gap between these two entities in most cost effective way possible. The aim is to:
Minimize food wastage
Maximize information transparency and
Ensure farmers, at the back end, get their benefits
For example, farmers, who work with us, have experienced an income increase of about 25 - 40%. So far, we have about 36,000 farmers in our database, spread across the country, who are available for us to work with us. We transport anywhere between 250 - 300 tonnes of products on a daily basis. We operate across Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. We are importing our produce as well. ith the outgrow programme, which enables us to work with these farmers, we have picked certain commodities, esp. where the volume is justified and farmers require help into those commodities. Based on these commodities that we have selected, we identify the farmers, select their land area, determine the soil health, understand what can be best grown on that piece of land and give those farmers an annual cropping pattern. This plan includes 2-3 crop cycles. It is not necessary that it is one crop. In fact, in most scenarios it is 2-3 crops. Once that is done, we give them a package of practices for the crops we have selected. We start with the seed. We recommend the seeds that need to be used, based on the region, our experience and knowledge. We support the farmers from seed to harvest - in terms of the fertilizer and pesticide usage, etc. Hence, we work with the farmers to improve the productivity of that particular crop. In addition to this, in some cases, depending on water availability, we also ask them to work with multiple crops on the same field because of channel irrigation etc. In such cases, the farmers get an additional income through the second crop too. We also train farmers on certain pest management practices like having border crops which can avoid pests, etc. For crops like cabbage and cauliflower, having a sweet corn crop at the border helps reduce pest attack because of the nature of the sweet corn crop leaf. To increase the revenue for farmers and the productivity of the land, we also consider reducing usage of inputs like pesticides etc. We bring in low-cost technologies from across the country into farming practices. We work on technologies like drones and few other concepts on a regular basis to see if this can be commercialized. When we started working as an organization to reduce wastage in the supply chain, esp. with respect to post-harvest which is about 40% as claimed by the government data; we found that there is so much of wastage happening in the pre harvest timeframe. For example, if a farmer sows perhaps 7000 - 8500 tomato seedlings, within a week there is 10-12% crop mortality rate. It has been studied that the farmer doesn’t replant them which essentially reduces the yield. When we identify such things, we caution them. The interesting thing is that our payments to farmers are done 100% digitally. That is been driven by the government's aadhaar, That has been very helpful.
Do you take care of the water management also?
We recommend drip irrigation. Also, between crops and during seasons, we also look at how the soil can hold more water. Hence, ploughing is done based on that. During the rainy season, we plough the fields so that there are smaller ridges and furrows enabling the soil to hold water. This ensures that water doesn't run down.
Those are the small things that we add over and above the government initiatives wherein the channels and ponds are created.
Can you give information on the variability of the soil?
Wherever we connect with farmers for actual production, we first test the soil to understand the soil nutrients. Based on that we recommend crops which best suits that soil. We find this more effective than suggesting a crop which will require more fertilizers added into the soil. That is one approach we have taken towards improving soil health. We have a list of 20 crops for which we work with farmers depending on the season and soil health.
What about the water requirements for these crops?
Seed companies offer different seeds best suited for different regions. We work with these seed companies to understand their packaging practices and use that information to advice farmers on the irrigation requisite of the crop. Since the farmers are spread across different regions, we don't have local data. So, we work with couple of other institutes like IIT and IISC to understand how to install a weather station to check the soil moisture and soil condition to recommend better irrigation. This project is on the works.
Are you confined to Bangalore and Chennai areas alone?
No, our sourcing spreads across the entire country, including Maharashtra, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and even foreign countries for imported goods.
Are there common crops that you deal with in two varied regions?
In Maharashtra we work with onions and potatoes, primarily. We also work with moong dal to some extent. In Karnataka, we do tomatoes. In one season we do potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, chillies, cucumber, etc.
How about pest control?
We ask our farmers to practice neem-seed kernel extract. That spray is extremely effective in cabbage and cauliflower especially for the larva-caterpillar based pests. That is very effective. We ask them to spray it as a preventive rather than cure the plants after it is attacked. This has been very effective.
Do you consider the percentage of infestation in the crops, while applying this neem oil, etc. because it is a repellent and not a killer? I mean if there is a 30% infestation in a crop, then which pesticide will you apply?
We have certain package of practices for each of the crops.
What about the supply chain?
When we engage with farmers, our organization may have a volume requirement of about 350 tons of all products put together on a daily basis. We have a planning and forecasting process where we determine what quantities are required on a weekly basis. The sowing, harvest and procurement is done based on this data. 70% of the material we distribute is actually sourced through these farmers and FPO networks where collection happens at the farm level. We supply crates of fruits and vegetables which gets transported in our own vehicles. It does not go to a market. It goes directly to our distribution centres and from they get procured by customers.
So, is it safe to say that your supply chain is independent of government interventions?
The government plays a very strong role in setting policies and allowing independent companies like ours to flourish. We also work with both Central and State governments actively to explore new methods of improving farmer welfare, and agri policy.
Do you have any plans to have a go at organic crops, given the current trend?
We definitely are interested in the organic sector. We are trying to get our heads around the actual processes and standard operating procedures around the true organic farming sector. Once we are through that, we will be able to implement it further. We have worked with a number of farmers who are certified as organic. We recommend people to push for healthy farming practices. At the moment, we don't market ourselves as an organic company because we cannot match the kind of demand that is there. We work with farmers on a long-term basis. But, in short-term you want to fine tune the basic levels of farmer interactions, physical supply chain, transportation, etc. The next step will definitely be organic.
What are the challenges you get to face, in this venture, Mr Sanjay?
When it comes to farmer interaction, we have 0 issues from the farmer's side. They are very aggressive about adopting these new practices when they work with companies like us. A lot of the issues that we face have been on the manpower hiring side. To get the talent to come work with this company and to share the same vision that we have is tough. It is not an easy or glamorous industry. Other than that we look at liquidation. The company is taking a lot of risk on board because we buy the stock from the farmer. We don't do a central marketing model. We actually do a buy and sell, eliminating the farmer’s risk and take it on the company. So, the sales is a challenging element in our business model. Having said that, these are solvable problems. But other than that we are running fairly well.
What are your future plans?
We have done lot in terms of working with the National Agro Foundation, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University and the M S Swaminathan Foundation. Since we don't have qualifications in this field in particular, we get our ideas analysed and confirmed by people who have lot more experience in this field. For future plans, we will launch our North and West India sales operations. We do, currently, source North and West India produce but sales is only in South India as of now. We also plan to do a lot of exporting because Indian products are of high quality. The export markets are, however, not buying it because of the lack of traceability. They lack visibility into the package of practices for the confidence that certain products have not been used during cultivation etc. So, we are trying to bring that traceability in place using technology. Once information such as, seeds and fertilizers used, humidity at the time of harvesting etc. is available we can package products to companies based in the UAE, France etc. That is also something that we want to work towards, in the future.
Being a non-agriculturist to have mastered the field is highly commendable. Congratulations and all the best!
Thank you! We are just getting started, and we have a long way to go. We’re excited to be working with some of the brightest minds in the industry, and blessed to have the opportunity to make an impact in this industry. Looking forward to what lies ahead.