Tech-driven farmgate warehouses will be the norm
Farm yields have been very encouraging in the recent past thanks to numerous favourable conditions including governmental policies and awareness amongst farmers. However, the problem of wastages continues to hit the nation hard. Experts have been suggesting the setting up of small warehouses at the farmgate to ensure sale of produce and minimise wastage. Despite a 30 per cent shortage in overall warehousing capacity in the country, the average utilisation in private warehouses is still only about 50-60 per cent. Farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOS) are not aware of the structures in their vicinity. This is how technology will become a crucial cog in the wheel of future warehousing.
Cereals are still, by far, the world's most important sources of food and research reveals that an extra billion tonnes of cereals will be needed by 2030. However, in today's world, approximately 24-30 per cent of all food produced is wasted or lost between the farm and the fork. These inefficiencies in our global food system have serious impact on nutrition, health and the environment. Controlling food loss will play a key role in efficiently addressing the food needs of the world. A confluence of efforts at enhancing production and better post-harvest management that would lead to meeting the food needs effectively.
By 2030, the boundaries that separate rural India will blur with better connectivity and access. Most Indian villages will be connected with paved roads and reliable electricity supply. One billion Indians are expected to have access to the internet, and nearly half of them will access it in regional languages. Their smartphones will connect farmers to better inputs, engagement and even marketplaces. For the Indian farmer, we are looking at a shift to market-driven food production in a highly digital ecosystem compared to traditional agri value chains. As crop choices and production planning will see a stronger shift to advanced mechanisation and precision farming, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IOT) and innovation will drive the agri warehousing industry.
Digital, modular and flexible
The future of warehousing is clearly more digital, modular and flexible, bringing in traceability to each farmer's grain and transparency with regard to the quality of the produce.
Reducing food wastage will become a priority
and scientific warehousing will allow for more efficient processing of food commodities. The future of agri-warehousing thus will be at the farmgate to minimise food losses and manage demand and supply anomalies efficiently and effectively. With the constraints on capital investment, warehousing structures that are flexible, portable yet effective while being costefficient will be key.
There will be a significant shift to organic and sustainable processes and to improve the ecological impact of storage. Structures that do away with the need for application of chemicals, fumigation etc. for maintaining shelf life of produce will be imperative. For instance, Arya Collateral Warehousing’s work on flexible hermetic storage solutions provides for versatile structures for quality upkeep, without any chemical intervention right at the farmgate. Furthermore, tech-enabled self-monitoring and self-correcting structures that would use IOT to assess and control parameters such as moisture, temperature, pest growth on a real-time basis will be the need of the hour.
The future is modular storage, closer to farm gates with one crucial difference - Size! Today, commodities are produced, harvested, bagged and then finally stored. Before processing, commodities must once again move from bag to bulk. With newer bulk storage technologies, we will save on time, gunny bags, quality assessment and most crucial, negligible loss to grain.
Digital consolidation of the distributed warehousing infrastructure
Despite a 30 per cent shortage in overall warehousing capacity in the country, the average utilisation in private warehouses is still only about 50-60 per cent. This points to a discovery problem. Farmers and FPOS are not aware of the structures in their vicinity. Technology will play a very important role in increasing the visibility of infrastructure across the country. An end-to-end discovery and fulfilment platform is imperative. Digital consolidation of the distributed warehousing infrastructure with the service assurance of professional players is the path to the future. Players like Arya will add the missing layer of trust through implementation of Service Level Agreements and service guarantees for greater assurance.
Integrated with AI, low-cost mechanisation for storage, and real-time tracking of warehouse facilities will enable the optimal utilisation of our storage facilities to capacity. Traceability will be easy, and transparency will be available for commodities in storage or in transit, as they travel through the value chain from aggregation to processing.
Innovation for transparent and traceable Agri Value Chains
Digitisation of foodgrains, digitisation of commodity inventory, transaction systems and processes integrated with real-time data, real-time monitoring of supply and demand embedded in AI is the highlight of the future. Integrated image, spectral and sensor analytics for on-field quality assaying and tech-enabled margin calls and repayment processes are already a part of our current storage solutions.
Economic and environmental priorities, the better quality of food and organic varieties will drive the need for a better quality of produce and innovative infrastructure designed for safety and logistical competence. The journey towards that has already begun. Arya’s credit decisioning is Tech-led and AI determines quality assurance and pricing. Innovation and technological developments will, thus, play a key role in reducing gaps in warehousing and post-harvest agri commodity management.
The Mandi of the Future - Digital Marketplaces
The future vision of warehousing in India is that of a comprehensive technology-enabled transaction point, complete with facilities of aggregation, quality assurance, storage, transportation, finance and sale. Warehouse shall be the new mandi, the hub for all activities and market interactions. A farmer gets his commodity digitised and builds an electronic balance at the storage facility assessing quality and availing financing, if necessary, almost immediately. The farmer will be able to grade his produce, store his produce, avail of a loan and when appropriate decide to sell his produce with a reach to an ecosystem of buyers across the country. Decision making such as, whether to sell or not, when to sell, finding market linkages and access to service providers and advisories, for farmers and farmer producer organisations would all be possible at this hub alongside the digital platforms.