We’ve been hearing a lot about the Farm-to-table movement in India- and it’s a while since this phrase has been buzzing around. Let’s check in and see what the Farm-to-table movement is looking like and how far we have progressed in it. But just to be clear, we’ll get into a brief introduction of what the Farm-to-table movement is and what exactly does it entail?

Farm-to-table movement is just as simple as it sounds. It can be defined quite literally- it is the movement of farm produce directly from the farmer’s farm to the consumer’s table. Or to define it in a way that sounds a bit more formal, Farm to table, which is sometimes known as farm to fork, is a social movement where restaurants buy their ingredients directly from farmers who own local farms.

And now, why is this important? In India, the farm to fork chain speaks about direct acquisition and a simplification of the agricultural value chain. This means, it will have people direct contact with the farmers. A simplification of the value chain also cuts out and weeds out the middlemen from the process.

 The Middlemen form a section of the agricultural value chain that are often exploitative- whose monetary gains come at the cost of the Indian farmer. They are a big reason as to why the Indian farmer despite providing food to the largest population in the world- still cannot earn a decent dime.

Weeding out middlemen- significantly improves the farmer’s income. The farmers can receive the price that the consumer pays which often times is manifold the price that the farmer initially sells for. And the consumer also benefits from this- because the mechanism of direct sourcing ensures credibility and safety.

Say, a consumer only wishes to consume organic produce. A direct contact with the farmer will assure the consumer that the farm the produce grows in is indeed organic. However, if the same product were to come through the entire convoluted value chain- the consumer would never be able to be sure.

To give you an insight into the farm to fork situation in India, it’s never been better! The start-ups are mushrooming everywhere and they have grown into a booming agri-tech sector. Following are some brands that have been doing well in India.

• FarmerFZ: Farmers Fresh Zone (FarmersFZ), founded by Pradeep PS in 2015, assists farmers in selling fruits and vegetables free of pesticides to consumers directly. Weekly payments are made to the farmers through their bank accounts.

• Crofarm: Another firm, Crofarm, assists farmers in receiving the full value of their produce promptly and digitally. Compared to the mandi, they offer a transparent pricing structure that allows farmers to make more money.

• DeHaat: Founded in 2012 by Shashank Kumar and Amrendra Singh, DeHaat provides a variety of services for farmers, including inexpensive access to agricultural inputs like seeds and fertiliser, one-on-one support, soil testing, weather forecasts, microfinance, and insurance. Additionally, it gives farmers the choice to place input orders through the app and potentially sell their produce straight to Dehaat.

• NinjaCart: A tech-driven fresh produce supply chain firm. Using internal apps that power end-to-end operations, they directly connect food farmers with merchants, eateries, and service providers. In June 2015, Ninjacart was established as a B2C hyperlocal food delivery startup by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Kartheeswaran K K, Ashutosh Vikram, Sharath Loganathan, and Vasudevan Chinnathambi. To address the issue of the fresh agricultural product supply chain for farmers and merchants, it was developed into a B2B agritech startup.