IFFCO promoted Indian Cooperative Digital Platform commences free door-step delivery service
Source: Rooplin Sharma *

New Delhi, January 18 2018: IFFCO promoted Indian Cooperative Digital Platform commences free door-step delivery service of its agri inputs across India
Farmers of India's interior areas get accessibility to agricultural inputs of upto 5kg packaging with no delivery charges IFFCO, the world's largest fertiliser cooperative, today announced the beginning of their free door-to-door delivery services of its agricultural inputs across India through their digital platform, Indian Cooperative Digital Platform (ICDP).

The portal is available in 13 major Indian languages and has a membership of 2.5 crore.

The aim is to bring the experience and benefits of modern e-commerce to rural India by synergizing an efficient supply chain system with the latest technology tools.

Through this service, IFFCO will reach out and offer services to farmers in hinterlands of rural India which are inaccessible to the rest of the country.

Farmers will now have access to an entire range of essential agricultural inputs such as water soluble fertilisers, agro-chemicals, bio-fertilisers, seeds, plant growth promoters and other agro-based products.

These products will be available in packages of up to 5 kg and will be delivered at no additional cost.

Traditional fertiliser products like Urea, DAP, NPK, etc would not be sold online.

As a first of its kind industry-initiative, ICDP will offer these delivery services even in interior rural areas where not even the leading e-commerce players have ever offered their services in the current scenario.

Dr.U.S.Awasthi, Managing Director, IFFCO, said "At IFFCO, we continuously strive to shape a better tomorrow for our fellow farmers.

We are truly delighted to announce our latest and exclusive & free of cost door-step delivery services through a robust rural network to simplify the agri-business.

Farmers would be able to procure agricultural inputs instantly by the click of a button through our digital platform.

ICDP has been working in this direction with the aim to enable as many farmers as possible to reap the benefits of digitization.

We have even begun training and awareness-building campaigns for the farmers, where they can learn about the usage of online and digital payment gateways, and this will also educate them about the benefits of going cashless.

Going forward, we plan to convert this platform into a thriving digital marketplace where farmers and cooperative societies can buy and sell their produce online without going through the vicious cycle of middlemen & touts who eat away a large chunk of their profits.

We hope this initiative will reap financial benefits for the farmers of the rural hinterlands and eradicate the roadblocks permanently in this realm" .

In line with Prime Minister's digital initiative #DigitalIndia and cashless drive, IFFCO had recently launched a new portal "Indian Cooperative Digital Platform" (URL: www.iffcobazar.in).

The objective of the portal is to provide a digital platform for communication and commerce between farmers/ consumers and IFFCO and its group companies.

IFFCO's Indian Cooperative Digital Platform (ICDP) aims to connect and bring on board all the 5 crore IFFCO member farmers and the 36,000 cooperatives in the country on a single digital platform.

IFFCO has been very instrumental in motivating farmers in rural areas to get connected with the rest of the world.

The Indian Cooperative Digital Platform engages with farmers for their benefit in all facets of farming and helps them to lead a more informed life.

This is a part of IFFCO's 2020 vision of doubling farmers' income.

Indian Cooperative Digital Platform has also an active Facebook page, which aims to bring forward various case studies within IFFCO and promotes discussions on topics like production, cooperatives, distribution, agricultural best practices by fellow farmers, etc.

The page has a following of over 5 lakh people of which majority are farmers and sees active participation by farmers from across the country.

Apart from this, IFFCO's other digital presence on various social media platforms get good response from the rural markets where farmers are taking active interest.

IFFCO is also including digital training lessons/sessions in the hinterlands to bring about awareness about the usage of the products and skilling the farmers in digital platforms and cashless transactions for easier access to products and services.

This will enable the farmers from the most interior regions of the country to compete with the semi-urban and general urban farmers, who are closer to the markets.

This added advantage will add a boost to the economic and financial access for the farmers from these regions which are far-flung interior and inaccessible rural areas of the Indian subcontinent.

* The sender of this news can be contacted at sharma(DOT)rooplin(AT)gmail(DOT)com .

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