Mahindra War Room 2016

Agri-business Caselet

MAHINDRA AGRI-BUSINESS CASELET

REALIZE MARKET & FINANCIAL VALUE OF MY AGRI GURU APP
Mahindras Automotive & Farm Sectors have independent caselets for the Automotive
business, Tractor business, Truck business and Agri-business - this caselet pertains to
the Agri-business.
BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Mahindra commenced its tractor business in the 1960s, pioneering the green revolution
in India, and subsequently grew to be among the largest sellers of tractors in the world
by volume, tilling lands in over 40 countries world-wide. Mahindra has dominated the
Indian tractor market for over 3 decades, holding over 40% of the market. Enduring
partnerships with Mitsubishi, TYM and Hunaghai Jinma, mark a global growth success
story, with a rapidly building presence in the United States. Mahindra subsequently
forayed into farm mechanisation equipment in the 1990s, marketing equipment such as
harvesters, transplanters and tillers - collectively referred as the Applitrac range.
In the 2000s, Mahindra reinvented its Farm Sector vision to go beyond just selling of
tractors and farm equipment, to help their farmer customers worldwide realize farmtech prosperity - of assisting farmers by providing them market linkages for their
produce, which would in turn help increase their returns. This inspirational vision
propelled Mahindra to foray into Agri-business, consolidating what was earlier an
incidental business of fresh produce called Shubhlabh, along with Crop Care, Seeds,
Micro-irrigation, Agronomy Services (again an earlier incidental business called
Samriddhi) and other food related businesses. From an agri-input driven approach,
Mahindra has re-oriented focus on key input businesses on the farm side (seeds, crop
care, micro-irrigation), as well as the new Dairy, Edible Oil, Fresh Fruits, Pulses,
Processed Foods and Basmati Rice businesses.
Mahindra Agri-business is one of the fastest growing businesses in the Mahindra
Group, with an 8X growth in the last 4 years, with deep connections to the War Room
as well - the Dairy business foray was the national winner in 2012, and one of the
members of the winning team is actually working with Mahindra GMC in implementing
the strategy. The Edible Oil business strategy caselet in 2014 too was one of the most
popular caselets across campuses, and the choice of the national winning team too!
The Saboro fruits caselet in 2015 too received an enthusiastic response.
LIVE CHALLENGE: REALIZE MARKET & FINANCIAL VALUE OF MYAGRIGURU
APP
The Economic Survey of 2014-15 points to Indias yields for major crops such as Rice,
Wheat, Maize, Cotton and Oilseeds being far below the global best and world averages:

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Mahindra War Room 2016

Metric Ton / Hectare

Agri-business Caselet

Rice

Wheat

Maize

Cotton

Oilseeds

9.8 (Egypt)

7.7 (UK)

9.1 (USA)

11.1 (China)

4.0 (Germany)

World Average

3.9

2.8

3.3

7.3

1.8

India

2.9

2.7

1.1

4.6

0.8

Worlds Best

Another study in Paddy Cultivation in UP revealed that the best performing farmers
overall profitability was 77% higher than the average farmers, purely because of
farming techniques used. This indicates the large opportunity to be realised by farmers
by improving their farming techniques - improved input usage, sowing techniques and
pest management. The below-par state of agriculture and Indian farmer can be
attributed to a weak decision making process of the Indian Farmer as s/he struggles
with challenges on multiple fronts. Timing right is of utmost importance in the cropping
cycle, and yet the Indian farmer relies on a loose network for guidance even today. In
addition to the vagaries of nature in the form of drought, floods or pests, the farmer is
forced to depend on sub-optimal local expertise, delayed good expertise or fellow
farmers in the same plight, to tackle the various challenges pertaining to farming. Even
if (s)he moves through the challenges somehow to deliver the crops, (s)he is forced to
depend on the local trader for an optimum price for the cultivated produce. An
Assocham study in 2014 quantified the losses to crops each year due to pest and
disease at INR. 50,000 crores.
Indias rural market accounts for about 402 million mobile phone users, which is 41% of
the total user base; of which 53 million are also mobile internet users (25% of the total
mobile internet user base) as of June 2015. However, there are not enough apps
relevant for the rural market or customised for farmers needs. Mahindra has studied the
following habits and behaviours of farmers:
Adoption of android phones are increasing, with 10-15% of the farmers currently
using them. For the rest, most of them have atleast 1 family member who owns
an android phone.
The awareness of Internet is high with most internet consumption happening
through the mobile phone with an average spend of INR. 100/-.
Internet is used mainly for entertainment, with only a few exploring farming related
updates and information. Some users are advanced, using even Google Voice
search for browsing.
Farmers with smartphones use WhatsApp and Xender extensively, and are also
aware of Facebook.
To solve these challenges facing the Indian farmer through modern technology,
Mahindra created MyAgriGuru - an Android App based digital solution to help farmers
increase their income through effective management of their various challenges Aamdhani Badao - Increase your Income - is the clarion call of MyAgriGuru. With

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Mahindra War Room 2016

Agri-business Caselet

MyAgriGuru, Mahindra has brought all agri-related knowledge on one platform, with
intuitive navigation, engaging content, useful solutions and unbiased recommendations.
Currently, the MyAgriGuru app has the following sections that help farmers through
relevant information and advises:
Section
Crop Calendar

Information Areas

Crop cycle from sowing to harvesting.

Agronomic practices to be followed, including recent innovations to
improve productivity.
Date-wise activity plan with alerts to ensure no activity is skipped or
overlooked.
Crop Protection against possible pest & disease attacks at specific stages
of the crop.

Crop Protection

Against insects, diseases and nutrient disorders and their management.

Image gallery to diagnose crop issues by comparing symptoms.
Take & send picture of own crop problems and share with other farmers.
Expert guidance from MyAgriGuru to diagnose crop issues and
recommend solutions.

Budget Tracking

Manage budget across 7 parameters of cost of cultivation during the crop

cycle.
Tracking of suggested vs. actual spend by the farmer, helping to analyse
over and under spends.

Discussion Forum

Connecting farmers to their peers and agri-professionals for discussions

and problem solving. Share and discover information about new
technologies, implements etc.
Brainstorming among users to propagate effective indigenouss
techniques and solve problems. User ratings to validate proposed
techniques. Sharing of images and videos with each other.

Market Price

Latest Mandi Prices; Guidance on decisions related to sale of produce;

Inputs on what time and which markets fetch the maximum returns;
identify commodities with good returns to plan next cycle.

Profile

Networking with other farmers, crops, technologies adopted; user ratings

with profile to estimate acceptability of suggestions; viewing of own crop
history.

Videos

View videos of successful farmers and techniques adopted; knowledge

sharing and understanding of new techniques and technologies.

Weather

Weather updates and forecasts for selected locations; guidance to plan

irrigation, pesticide and fertiliser usage on the basis of the forecast.

Updates

Latest news, educational articles, success stories, testimonials, tips, latest

offerings by leading agri companies and non-agri brands.

Created in Hindi & English, the app has been launched in Madhya Pradesh &
Uttarakhand in June 2016. After an initial 3-month pilot, the app will be expanded to all

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Agri-business Caselet

Hindi speaking states. Farmers are the primary target for MyAgriGuru, with the
secondary target being Agri-Professionals Scientists, Agricultural extension officers,
KVK scientists, agronomists, professors, students and other people engaged actively in
agriculture. MyAgriGuru aspires to connect the complete eco-system of agriculture to
enable effective knowledge sharing among farmers and agri-experts. MyAgriGuru also
intends to be relevant to the entire spectrum of farmer base, by delivering content in
regional languages, with geographically relevant and mapped solutions.
What can be the different modes by which MyAgriGuru can directly, and significantly
increase the income of the farmer? What should MyAgriGuru do to be the must-have
app for every farmer and agri-professional? What other offerings should be added to
make the app more relevant to farmers? What partnerships are to be looked at, and
why? What are the potential revenue streams for the platform, and how to realize them?
Who will pay for these value additions, how and how much? Should MyAgriGuru follow
a freemium model - if so, what services need to be added? Should MyAgriGuru be
Mahindra specific, or should it be opened for other companies to participate too? If so,
why?
Based on this background, prepare a comprehensive business plan to maximise
market and financial value of MyAgriGuru App, and significantly impact atleast 5
million farmers over the next 3 years.

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