This Microsoft techie quit his job to help farmers in India
Ruchit Garg, who worked at Microsoft at its headquarters at Redmond in Washington, launched an app -- Harvesting Farmer Network -- that helps farmers with basics like managing pests and selling produce. Gaon Connection caught up with Ruchit to discuss benefits of this app
Mithilesh Dhar 25 Sep 2019 10:47 AM GMT
"Even though I was earning handsomely in America, my heart always belonged to India. I wanted to do something for Indian farmers. This app is fixing many of their problems," said Ruchit Garg, chief executive officer and founder of Harvesting farmer network.
This mobile application fixes all farming-related problems of farmers. Many farmers in India are already using this mobile app.
Ruchit Garg, who worked at Microsoft at its headquarters at Redmond in Washington, launched an app -- Harvesting Farmer Network -- which helps farmers with basics like how to manage pests or sell produce. Gaon Connection met Ruchit to discuss the benefits of this mobile application.
Ruchit, an engineer by profession and founder of this app, told Gaon Connection: "One of the farmers in Assam posted a picture of a pineapple and wrote that he was not getting customer for his produce. As soon as I saw the picture, I inquired about it. After studying it, I found that the pineapple belonged to a unique species."
He added, "When I informed my acquaintances in Chandigarh about it, they were ready to buy it. Then, I gave the farmer the order over the phone. After covering a distance of 2,500 km by a truck and then an airplane, it reached us in Chandigarh. We received a message from the farmer thanking us."
No matter how much the quantity of the produce is, a farmer always strives to get a fair price for his produce. Many times, even if the produce is in bulk, insects or pests ruin it. In such cases, this app can prove to be beneficial for farmers.
Ruchit said, "Using this app, farmers can sell or buy crops. Apart from this, farmers may also buy or sell tools associated with farming."
Using this app, a farmer may click photo of crops or their diseased cattle and upload it on this app to get treatment tips. Ruchit said, "Many farmers and scientists are associated with this application. Sometimes when farmers post their queries, other farmers help them. The scientists also give advice whenever there's a serious issue."
There have been times when intermediaries have earned handsomely and farmers haven't gotten their dues. This app will also free them from intermediaries. Using this app, any farmer can enlist his produce and fix its price accordingly. "Thank to this app, a seller and a customer can directly converse with each other."
Whenever a deal gets fixed, we take a very small amount as our fee," added Ruchit, "However, when a farmer sells his produce with the help of an intermediary, the total sum gets shared by many people. For that reason, a farmer doesn't get a fair price for his produce. But when they use this app, their benefits get transferred to them directly."
Narrating an incidence, Ruchit said: "An Assam-based farmer informed us that he had a unique variety of turmeric. He was not getting customers for that. I had already read about this type of turmeric. It is used in medicines. I talked to an America-based pharmacy company, and then gave the order for the particular turmeric from that farmer. We are giving direct benefits to these farmers."
This app is available in five different languages
Apart from India, this app is functional in many other countries because Ruchit believes that farmers across the globe face similar problems. He, however, added that Indian farmers and their problems are his priority. As of now, farmers from 20 states across the country are using this mobile application. It's available in five different languages so that farmers don't face language issues.
Ruchit quit his job in America to help Indian farmers
After completing his engineering, Ruchit left for America, but he always wanted to do something for the Indian farmers. He said, "I was earning handsomely in America but I always wanted to do something for my country. I wanted to do something for our farmers. This is why I made this app. I aim to provide maximum benefits to our farmers."
