What was ITC's Motivation for creating the eChoupal?

The ineffective supply chain for agricultural goods was a challenge for ITC and the farmers Farmers lacked access to quality inputs and information
Sowing seeds, herbicides and pesticides Accurate weather reports

The agricultural yield was only a third to a quarter of global standards Middlemen reduced profit margins for ITC and the farmers on the output side of the supply chain

What was ITC's Motivation for creating the eChoupal? [contd..]

Increased transaction costs due unfair practices in pricing, weighing, etc. The risk averse farmers invested less in crops and modern farming methods Fragmented farms and overdependence on monsoon IBD was lagging behind other ITC divisions ITC realized its potential benefits from the improvements in competitiveness of the entire value chain

What were the old and new physical flows and information flows in the channel?
Old Physical flow
Farmers hauled their crops to the closest mandi and waited for them to be auctioned Government appointed bidder valued the produce and set the initial bid CAs bid upward until the crop was sold The produce was moved to the winning bidders shop for weighing and the farmer was paid CAs brought the produce to ITC processing facility Farmers were often paid after an unofficial credit period Farmers did not have any facility to store the crops and were dependent on the CAs offer

What were the old and new physical flows and information flows in the channel? [contd..]
Old Information Flow
Choupal: the place where information was shared among the farmers Farmers isolation from one another and lack of telecommunications Word of mouth was the only source of price information Farmers did not have access to weather reports

What were the old and new physical flows and information flows in the channel? [contd..]
New Physical Flow
Farmers sold crops directly to one of ITCs hubs instead of selling them at mandis Farmers received cash on delivery ITC also reimbursed the transportation cost Herbicides, sowing seeds, gas lanterns, soybean oil, etc. were sold at ITC hubs

What were the old and new physical flows and information flows in the channel? [contd..]
New Information Flow
eChoupal: Information was shared to the farmers at ITCs kiosks via internet Weather Reports Best Practices page Crop Information Page Market Information Q&A Forum News page