The social situation as of date is an extremely sensitive one. Businesses are bleeding, losses being incurred in every industry, and various people will never be able to see life the same way again. The COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed the entire flow of the agricultural supply chain all over the world. An organized supply chain was established, where the produce used to move from the farmers’ fields to the mandis, then to the retailers, and finally to the households. The farmers and labourers are unable to do their fieldwork in light of the lockdown and being afraid for their family and their safety as well.
Along with this, due to the labour shortage being a problem, crops that are ready for harvesting cannot be taken out of the fields for post-processing. This results in losses incurred not only due to wastage of produce, but additional costs are stacked up to discard the crops which are not suitable for consumption.
In today’s scenario, AgTech and AgMech companies are doing everything to make the best out of this situation. Work from home is not too tough of a situation to adapt into for companies like ours, and it is something that FarmERP voluntarily took up before the lockdown was enforced. Technology-based companies will not be affected long-term, but a short-term hit is something we will feel, as there would be less business coming in and less demand for our services in the next few months. In some ways, we can help a lot more people using techniques like satellite imagery assisting individuals to find specifications of crops, e.g. how much, where, etc, and proceed to help them track it while getting it to the people who require it.
Platforms and companies like ours can also work towards establishing an online supply chain, which is already in process. There are different opportunities for companies to supply products through online portals, the fact of individuals not leaving their homes and who require groceries to be delivered directly to their houses will surely increase demands for these businesses in the coming months. Technology can also help enhance transparency in this age where everyone is extremely wary of the goods coming into their homes. Tech software can enable trust-worthy resources, showing consumers the fundamentals of all products, they are purchasing to provide them with authentic sources.
Alongside AgTech and AgMech companies having various business opportunities emerging for help during these unfortunate times, even post-production companies will have certain opportunities. Companies that harvest, clean, grade, pack and then proceed to offer goods to consumers can do so in a way that individuals can confidently consume that produce.
At this time, every sector can join hands and collaborate to ensure that their companies are taking the right measures to counteract the losses to their businesses. Technology will have a large role to play to smooth operations over in the coming months.
