Bayer CropScience inks with ITC for market crop protection

Bayer CropScience inks with ITC to market its crop protection products to farmers through the latter’s e-Choupal online platform.

The partnership has started as a pilot project in Mysore, Karnataka, and will gradually be expanded to other geographies throughout India, Bayer CropScience said in a statement.

As COVID-19 disrupting farming operations and on-farm advisory, this venture will help farmers avail agri-inputs and digital advisory on a timely basis.

“ITC and Bayer are jointly training and on-boarding retailers in the Mysore region to cater to farmers’ orders placed through the e-Choupal 4.0 platform. Field Officers from both companies have also received extensive training on product knowledge and technical advisory to support farmers,” the statement said.

Almost 42,000 ITC farmers, covering 60,000 hectares across 1,100 villages in Mysore region will benefit from the partnership with Bayer.

Farmers can make their order for Bayer products through the e-Choupal 4.0 platform and track their orders. Farmers without access to smartphones can place their orders online with assistance from field staff or even make offline orders.

“We also plan to leverage ITC’s extensive rural reach to create capacity building for adoption of greater product stewardship and traceability of produce,” said Narien, CEO & MD of Bayer CropScience