Gram Unnati ties up with Bayer for spring maize cultivation in UP

Gram Unnati, India’s fast-growing full-stack agricultural value chain services company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bayer, to promote the cultivation of spring maize in six districts of western Uttar Pradesh. The districts are Amroha, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Moradabad, Rampur, and Sambhal, says a company press release.

More than 1,00,000 farmers across these districts will benefit from the partnership between Gram Unnati and Bayer CropScience. As part of the MoU, farmers will be able to access timely crop advisory, transfer of good agricultural practices and access to premium products through Bayer along with support needed to set up model farms. Gram Unnati will facilitate farmer mobilisation and ensure market linkages.

The MoU aims at replicating the success Gram Unnati and Bayer have achieved by successfully promoting spring maize production in the Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand in the past. The project helped farmers significantly improve their incomes and save thousands of litres of water.

“We are excited to work together with Bayer to deliver greater value to small-holder farmers in western UP by offering them a level playing field,” said Aneesh Jain, Founder & CEO, Gram Unnati. “This partnership will empower small-holder farmers by providing them access to advisory, quality inputs, credit, technologies, and market linkage. Gram Unnati has deep rooted connections in these six districts and is already working with IFC & Government of UP to help convert 20,000 acres from summer paddy to spring maize. This partnership allows Gram Unnati to mobilise larger number of farmers and help them get the right technical and product guidance from Bayer CropScience," he said.

"At Bayer, we want to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across India. Enhancement in livelihood entails adopting timely advisory and good agricultural practices so that they get can get the right remunerative prices for their produce. However, no company can achieve this ‘access to solutions’ challenge alone as it requires building up a larger ecosystem and meaningful collaborations along the agri-value chain. With Gram Unnati, we aim to enhance our reach to smallholder farmers and offer personalised solutions, enabling them to achieve better harvests more sustainably," said Ajeet Chahal, Head of Commercial Key Accounts and Alternate Business Models, Bayer.

The MoU between Gram Unnati and Bayer is a significant step towards promoting sustainable agriculture in India. The partnership will help to improve the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in western UP and will also help to conserve natural resources.

Gram Unnati is an agri-tech company providing i) advisory services, ii) access to high quality inputs at low cost and iii) market linkages to marginal farmers along with iv) customized production, logistics and end-to-end quality control of agri produce to institutional buyers. The company was founded by IIT Kharagpur graduate Aneesh Jain in 2013. He realised that farmers and buyers often fall prey to value traps due to absence of a fully integrated platform. The company has a formidable advisory pool comprising seasoned agri professionals, ex civil servants, and industry body representatives.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to drive sustainable development and generate a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability, and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2021, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 44.1 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 5.3 billion euros.