Samhitha Crop Care Clinics provides precision farming advisory to the farmers. A team of qualified and experienced agri-professionals keeps an eye on the crops at all times. Farmers, Field Assistants, and Advisors are the three main components of this system. Farmers who want to make farming easier and more profitable by using sustainable farming practices should register with the system.
United Impacts Group Team spoke with Kalyan Enjamoori, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, to gain a better understanding of how Samhitha Crop Care Clinics works. Through his technological expertise, Kalyan is helping Samhitha build technological solutions for Indian farmers.
Q1: Can you provide an overview of Samhitha Crop Care Clinics and your journey so far?
A1: Samhitha, established in February 2021, focuses on precision farming advisory for farmers. We’ve successfully onboarded 4,000 acres of citrus fields in Telangana, representing over 700 farmers. Our founding team, with 50 years of combined experience, includes Dr. Shyam Sundar Reddy, Jagan Chitiprolu, and myself. We raised $1.5 million in a seed round in November 2021.
Q2: What challenges is Samhitha addressing through its offerings?
A2: Our research identified profitability and crop longevity as major challenges for horticulture farmers in India. Issues such as imbalanced fertilizer application, defective irrigation, late pest detection, and poor water management also prevail. Samhitha aims to double the average citrus tree age, reduce cultivation costs, double crop yield, and improve produce quality through advisory services.
Q3: What is Samhitha’s business model and monetization strategy?
A3: Samhitha offers precision advisory services through plant and soil expertise and technology. We operate on a revenue-sharing model, charging a one-time registration fee of Rs. 1,000 per acre and ₹10,000 per acre post-harvest every season for advisory services.
Q4: How is Samhitha leveraging technology to disrupt the agricultural space?
A4: We use a combination of cloud services, drones, IoT devices, mobile apps, and AI/ML algorithms. Drones provide field vitals, IoT devices capture ground truth and aerial data, and the Citron Mobile App with computer vision detects 52 citrus problems. AI/ML algorithms generate cost-effective advisory solutions.
Q5: How does India’s agriculture sector compare with other economies, and how does Samhitha navigate these unique challenges?
A5: India’s agriculture sector is unique, with 42.6% of the workforce employed despite contributing only 20.19% to the GDP. Challenges include unpredictable conditions and small landholdings. High mobile penetration and low data costs enable the delivery of digital services. Samhitha leverages these factors for success.
Q6: What gives Samhitha a competitive advantage in the market?
A6: Our granular data capture at the tree level, in-house development of IoT devices and ML algorithms, low customer acquisition cost, and strong farmer community provide a competitive edge. Bi-weekly farmer engagement and a 90% NPS facilitate easy introduction of new services.
Q7: Can you elaborate on the current market scenario and the business opportunities Samhitha sees in this segment?
A7: Samhitha is exploring market linkages in modern retail and mandis. Challenges such as pre-determined farm gate prices, volatile mandi prices, and high logistics costs present opportunities for us to address through advisory services and partnerships.
Q8: What is Samhitha’s product/service enhancement roadmap?
A8: In the next six months, we plan to launch mobile apps for modern retail and mandis, implement degree Brix measurement for consistent fruit quality, and collaborate with banking and insurance companies to provide credit and insurance services.
Q9: What are Samhitha’s expansion plans for the next 3-5 years?
A9: Over the next three years, we aim to onboard 1 lakh citrus acres, expand to neighboring states, and diversify into other cash crops. We’re exploring market linkages, input linkages, and partnerships for credit and crop insurance throughout India within the next five years.
