Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative...Rice Processor Profile 12 Interviews and Translation 13 Southern India: Rice (main staple crop) 13 Northern India: Wheat (main staple crop) 13

Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative| Brief Cases Page 1

Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative Brief Cases Apr 2014

Sustainable Marketplaces Laboratory Abhishek Dobhle

Allison Ofisher Yzzer Roman

Sponsored by: ADM Institute for the Prevention of Post Harvest Loss

* This case is based on a comprehensive business plan developed by a student group in the course entitled Sustainable Product and Market Development for Subsistence Marketplaces under the supervision of the instructor, Madhu Viswanathan. The case was prepared by MadhuViswanathan, John Clarke and Srinivas Venugopal and copyedited by Tom Hanlon. We gratefully acknowledge the organizational sponsor of the project and the students who contributed to it.



Table of Contents

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

II. DHANYAM LABHAM 5

Mission Statement 5 Team 5 III. Situation Analysis 6 Internal Strengths 7 Internal Weaknesses 7 External opportunities and threats 8

Market Size and growth potential 8 Competition 8 Ecological Pest Management (natural pest control) 9 Chemical compounds 9

III. FIELD RESEARCH AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 9

Virtual Immersion 10 Emersion 10 Additional Contextual Research 11 Farmer Profile 11

A snapshot of the life in the rural area: 12 Rice Processor Profile 12 Interviews and Translation 13 Southern India: Rice (main staple crop) 13 Northern India: Wheat (main staple crop) 13 Description of idea generation and screening 14

Discussion of process and outcomes and appendix of matrix 15 Discussion of ranking 17

Concepts 18 Jute bag (gunny sack) 18 Storage Tent/Kit 18 Produce Bin 19 Bio Pesticides 19 Educational Manual 19 Bio Digester 19

Concept Evaluation 20 Needs - Drivers - Context: 20 Top-down Problem Deconstruction 20 Bottom Up Problem Deconstruction: 20 Top-down Need Deconstruction 21



Technical specifications and Detailed Drawings 22 Metrics – Benchmarks – Specifications 22 Benchmarking: 22

Prototype 23 Core product and process 23 Packaging 24 Technical specifications 24

IV. MARKETING STRATEGY 25

A. Target Market Selection 25 Background 25 Consumer Behavior 26

B. Sustainable Marketing Mix 27 Information and market access gap 27 Knowledge gap 27 Skill gap 27 The Value Ecosystem 28 The Value Ecosystem diagram 29

V. ACTION PLAN 29

Targeting and Positioning Statement Including Sustainability Issues 29 Sustainable Product design 30 Sustainable Value Chain 30

Design of the Value Proposition 31 Communication of the Value Proposition 32

Manufacturing Plan, Product Forecast and Launch Schedule 32 Manufacturing Plan 32 Product Forecast and Launch Schedule 34

Ecological (Planet) Impact Forecast: 37 Use of Neem trees and its natural active compounds 37 Use of waste material 37

Societal (People) Impact Forecast: 37 Involvement of women and children 38 Aligning with the festival of colors 38 Increase the income of villagers 38

Implementation, Controls, and Evaluation 38 Measures of performance – meeting triple bottom lines 38 Monitoring and evaluating performance on multiple dimensions 39

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I. Executive Summary

This report serves as a self-contained document tapping the learning and experiences of the yearlong course at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Product Development in Subsistence Marketplaces. Through the course, we went through a virtual immersion, emersion, and international immersion experience. These stages solidified our understanding of the subsistence marketplace, the bottom of the pyramid, and the role of not-for-profit organizations in India. Our goal was to create a company that provided a solution to a pressing issue in the subsistence context of India.

Our company, “Dhanyam Labham”, is a social enterprise committed to enhancing food security for the vulnerable populations in subsistence marketplaces. Dhanyam Labham translates to “grain saver”, and it’s a pesticide coating that is applied to jute bags. This pesticide compound is made from naturally occurring pesticides that are locally available.

Our team is composed from highly knowledgeable members with expertise in different areas: engineering, industrial design, and business. Prior member experience in several industries will further strengthen the overall reach and sustainability of the project.

Our focus on subsistence marketplaces is justified in the large global population of over 4 billion, on whom the shock of food scarcity has a highly detrimental impact. Specifically, our target market is the semi-urban and rural population dedicated to agricultural production and that are below the poverty line. Using our flagship product, we will facilitate the agricultural knowledge from Indian universities and non-government organizations to reach the key players in our enterprise: the farmer and grain processor. Through these efforts we will increase the efficiency in the marketplace, enhancing overall value for all stakeholders.

Our enterprise, Dhanyam Labham, will also contribute to the enhancement of storage solutions, and transportation networks. Our entrepreneurs will be in charge of removing barriers to enable efficient flow of harvest to the marketplace with minimum loss. Initially, the processors will be approached first as they have a higher tolerance of risk to a new product or process; they also have a higher capital liquidity. The main goal of our enterprise is to make positive environmental, societal and economic impact.

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II. Dhanyam Labham

The Tamil name “Dhanyam Labham” translates to “grain saver” in English and captures our mission in a nutshell. We are a social enterprise that is committed to enhancing food security for the vulnerable populations in subsistence marketplaces. Our team is comprised of three members possessing diverse expertise ranging from industrial design, bio-chemical engineering and business development. We have a specific focus on subsistence marketplaces because it represents a global population of over 4 billion, on whom the shock of food scarcity would have a highly detrimental impact. Further, subsistence marketplaces also represent a significant business challenge owing to extreme constraints on dimensions such as finance and infrastructure. Consequently, developing appropriate and innovative solutions to the problem of food security in subsistence marketplaces has the potential to impact billions of lives in a positive fashion. Indeed, food security is known to be a central factor in determining subjective well-being, happiness and quality-of-life. Another unique feature characterizing our approach is our focus on harmonizing financial, social and environmental value. It is our belief that for any solution that targets 4 billion people globally, the ability to harmonize financial, social and environmental is absolutely imperative. We furnish below our vision and mission statements

Mission Statement Dhanyam Labham is propelled by the mission of increasing food security in the subsistence marketplaces of India. Increasing food security is crucial ingredient in increasing quality of life, well being, and standard-of-living.

The aforementioned section clarifies our overarching mission. In more specific terms, our organizational objectives are to positively impact food security in subsistence marketplaces by reducing post-harvest-loss. Subsistence marketplace across the world are known to have excessive amounts of post-harvest-loss owning to several factors such as a) lack of storage and transportation infrastructure and b) inadequate protection against pests and rodents. This inordinate amount of post harvest loss not only impacts local food security in an adverse fashion but also severely impacts the income generation of small farmers. We believe that the issue of post-harvest-loss is the most appropriate arena for us to address owning to our team’s expertise in agricultural and biological engineering, design and business development.

We intend to create value by developing a culturally and ecologically appropriate pesticide and creating a business ecosystem in villages that reduce post-harvest loss and enable realization of greater value for small farmers. In the rest of this business plan, we elaborate on the specifics of our core product and our business model.

Team Our team is comprised of 3 members who bring in diverse expertise in industrial design, business development, and bioengineering. It is our view that developing innovative solutions for challenging business and social problems requires a mindset of mutual learning and accommodation of diverse perspectives in viewing the problem and evolving a solution. In addition to the diversity in expertise, our team has a mix of cultural insiders and outsiders with regard to our primary marketplaces in India. This insider-outsider dynamics in the team facilitates

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comprehension of the needs and better assessment of the appropriateness of evolved solution. We present below a brief description of the team members and their background.

Yzzer Roman: Yzzer is an MBA candidate with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, Yzzer brings over two years of project management experience and three years of engineering design expertise. During and after graduating from San Diego State University as an engineer, Yzzer worked in a private electrical engineering consulting firm. Yzzer was an intern this past summer with the Smithsonian Institution in the Office of Facilities Maintenance and Reliability, and during the first semester of the MBA program he served as a consultant in Illinois Business Consulting (IBC). In addition, Yzzer holds an Engineer-in-Training certificate issued by the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors of the State of California. Currently, Yzzer is working with the Office of Minority Student Affairs as a mentor for incoming freshmen and with the Office of Technology Management and as a Commercialization and Copyright Agent.

Allison Ofisher: Alison is an undergrad senior at the College of Fine and Applied Arts, School of Art and Design, majoring in Industrial Design. Her senior design thesis project focuses on the effects of music memory in Alzheimer’s patients. She has a strong understanding of user-centered design and completing empathic research. She has a strong background in product and graphic design, and is interested in how design can drastically improve our material environment and how we interact with others

Abhishek Dobhle: Abhishek is a Ph.D. student in the department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His area of research is ‘Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology’. Abhishek got his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Nagpur University in India and M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering with minor in Environmental Engineering Sciences from University of Florida-Gainesville. His thesis project consisted of designing a waste-to-energy system for NASA’s upcoming lunar mission. Abhishek is interested in development of the processes that will enhance sustainability of biofuel production, waste reduction and energy generation.

Dhanyam Labham is a self-sustaining social enterprise that is committed to empowering small farmers and facilitating entrepreneurial development in the agricultural ecosystem in subsistence marketplaces. Our approach is characterized by an intense focus on relationship building and harnessing the social capital that exists in subsistence marketplaces. In our efforts to realize these objectives, we start with a bottom-up approach to understanding subsistence marketplaces at the individual, community and context level. This nuanced understanding informs our efforts at creating a value ecosystem that provides value to our stakeholder network and impacts their lives positively.

III. Situation Analysis In the previous section we outlined our organizational mission and objectives and our broad approach that characterizes our value creation efforts. In this section we conduct a situation analysis of our internal strengths and weaknesses as an organization as well as the macro contextual factors that facilitate and inhibit our efforts.

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Internal Strengths Our venture possesses several unique assets that position us for success in the marketplace. One of our core strengths is the innovative primary research conducted by our product development team. Our team spent two weeks interacting closely with marginal farmers, grain processors, and other key members in the agricultural ecosystem in subsistence marketplaces of India. The team used multiple techniques such as in-depth interviews, field observations, experiential learning, and user feedback to obtain in depth understanding of the needs and realities of farmers in subsistence marketplaces. The issue of post-harvest-loss manifests itself in different ways in subsistence marketplaces as compared to affluent marketplaces. Indeed, the local realities of a marginal subsistence-farmer in India are completely different from that of a large-scale or western farmer. There are significant differences on important dimensions such as landholdings, mechanization, access to finance, agricultural inputs and cutting edge farming know-how. Consequently, designing successful solutions requires a deep understanding of individual farmers, communities and contexts of subsistence. Most importantly, it requires unlearning presumptions regarding best strategies for reducing post-harvest loss. Our strength in conducting innovative primary research is a significant factor that will determine our success in the marketplace.

In addition, our cross-functional product development brings together a wide-ranging experience in areas of design, technology and business. Designing and commercializing successful products requires a confluence of insights from all these domains. The experiences of our team enable us to envision products and business models that exhibit superior design, technical excellence and compelling commercial performance. The convergence of these three strengths will enable us to both create superior value for all our stakeholders. Further, our team has members who have direct international and domestic experience including the United States, Latin America and India. This enables us to harness both an insider’s and an outsider’s perspective. The benefits of cross pollination of ideas between cultural insiders and cultural outsiders have been emphasized in qualitative research.

Our organizational mission is to create a product and business model that harmonized social, financial and environmental value. This emphasis of ours is crucial in creating sustainable solutions that provide enduring value to all the associated stakeholders. Extant marketing research suggests that in subsistence marketplaces doing-good (social and environmental) is necessary for doing-well (financial). The rich tapestry of everyday life in subsistence marketplaces exhibits a fine interweaving of social, environmental and economic facets of life. Consequently, a holistic focus on all three dimensions is absolutely crucial for success.

Internal Weaknesses Being a small start-up, our team lacks the financial wherewithal and market power that big ventures possess. This could limit both our initial growth rates and our ability to make big-ticket investments in physical infrastructure and human capital required for the business. In addition, being a new entrant in the market, we would have to expend a lot of time and resources forming relationships with potential partners and building trust. Lack of a pre-existing brand name will significantly increase the time and energy spent in these relationship-building activities.

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External opportunities and threats Market Size and growth potential

The Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of India, estimates the total preventable post-harvest losses of food grains at 10% of the total or about 20 million tons, equivalent to the total food grains produced in Australia annually. In India, where 20% of the population is undernourished, post-harvest losses of 20 million tons annually are a substantial avoidable waste.

In addition, a World Bank study (1999), post-harvest losses of food grains in India are 7-10% of the total production no farm to market level and 4-5% at market and distribution levels. For the whole value chain, such losses have been estimated at 11-15 million tons of food grains annually, from which wheat accounts approximately one-third and rice for two-thirds. With an average per capita consumption of about 15 kg of food grains per month, these losses would be enough to feed about 70-100 million people, or about one-third of India’s poor or the entire population of the states of the Bihar and Haryana together for about one year.

Karnataka (southern India) is one of the top ten food grains producer states in India. Its ten agro-climatic zones are suitable for growing a variety of food grains round the year. The state has a gross cultivated area of 12.35 million hectares. Rice, sorghum, maize, and wheat are the major cereals grown in the state. The total area under cereal crops has increased from 5.4 million hectares in 1990 to 5.6 million hectares in 2000. The production of cereal crops has also gone up from 7.1 million tons in 1990 to 9.9 million tons in 2000.

Competition

Our direct competition is suppliers of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. However, these service providers in the rural ecosystem offer products that are typically expensive for marginal farmers. In addition, these suppliers do not provide usage training to farmers, which lead to misuse of these chemical compounds leading to reduce impact. Further, excessive reliance on chemical compounds without adequate protection can lead to health hazards for small farmers as well as consumers of the produce. The toxicity of the chemical compounds is the primary cause of this concern.

Specifically in the arena of organic, Neem-based pesticides, there are no known similar commercial products that use the product as paint (our solution). There are however, a variety of commercial products that use Neem as the principal pesticide and are applied mainly through a sprayer. A listing of the commercial products is shown below:

1 Azasol (http://azasol.com/) 2 Azamax (http://www.parrysbio.com/) 3 Azatrol (http://www.pbigordon.com/) 4 Aza-Direct (http://www.aza-direct.com/) 5 Nemazal (http://www.ecogrape.com/) 6 Neemix (http://www.certisusa.com/) 7 Margosan 8 Dyna-Gro (http://www.dyna-gro.com/)

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The only company that produces the product in India is Parry’s Bio. The rest are produced in the United States.

Ecological Pest Management (natural pest control)

Sometimes referred to as Integrated Pest Management, this includes the use of naturally predators, crop rotation, or other non-invasive techniques in the control and management of pests.

There are many decentralized resources available online.

1 http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/ecological-pest-management-1 2 http://www.beyondpesticides.org/infoservices/pesticidesandyou/spring%2003/eco%20pest

%20management.pdf 3 http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053307

Chemical compounds

There is an abundance of regulated and unregulated chemical compounds available in the Indian market. These are not a direct competitor and are categorized separately due to their environmental and human toxicity.

III. Field Research and Product Development

All of our classmates came to the subsistence class with a different perspective of what projects we would be involved or products we would be designing. And just like any other project, we would be given a set of goals to meet and challenges to overcome right away: low cost buildings, locally sourced materials, unskilled workers and labor shortages. A project where we would have to adapt to a different cultural context where toilets may be physically located in separate portions of a building because of gender restrictions, or maybe religious doctrine requisites.

Although we were evaluated on our skills and previous training, we were also virtually immersed into poverty, and asked to read poverty in two different contexts: the US and Africa.

Then, the Indian entrepreneur and marketplace literate people interviews came along. The interviews were very difficult to read, and much more difficult to try and understand them on the first read. The names intermingled and the timeline of their lives was more circular than the typical western life story in a chronological fashion. After these, we would read about case analysis in marketing in the subsistence marketplace and learned about the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) perspective.

When putting together the Blue Sweater and Nickel and Dimed together with the interviews, a pattern started to emerge.

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Virtual Immersion The virtual poverty immersion also provided an internal insight to what the mindset and environmental framing is of a person living with very limited financial resources. For those who participated in the process, it put them in the mental stress, hunger, and risk of eviction that some people live everyday. We were divided into groups or “families” typical of subsistence: single parent, two part-time jobs, low-income housing, multiple children, and lack of transportation options among others.

As with any family there bills to pay, groceries to purchase, and children to take to school. However, not all of these were possible because of the typical restraints of the families who struggle with a single income earner.

Emersion The main takeaways from the Blue Sweater were top-to-bottom approaches, foreign aid, self-entrepreneurship, and social dependency. Nickel and Dimed gave us a new perspective about poverty in a first world country, and the ghost-like people that work as cooks, house cleaners, laborers. And, finally, the interviews allowed us to listen directly to people who are thousands of miles away, in a different but timeless era. The Velammas, Sumitras, and Mythilis taught us that I had to first understand where they were coming from, what challenges they had faced and how society works prior to proposing solutions to a problem. Sometimes, this problem may be acceptable and even desired depending on the context of society.

As we moved into our yearlong groups, we had grown in terms of understanding poverty, subsistence, culture, needs, drivers, and sustainability of enterprises. As a group, we began to think about how our ideas in solving the problem of post-harvest loss might fit in the context of a person who has difficulty understanding abstract concepts such as payback period, or the value of bulk purchases. The limitations posed by the local language, which we do not understand, are compounded by the lack of reading and writing abilities of farmers. In supply chain solutions, we have an additional challenge as well due to the nature of the farmer: they comprehend tangible solutions better than a process improvement answer to post-harvest loss.

Despite all the challenges, an array of solutions is emerging that meets the criteria of subsistence marketplaces. The solutions overcome and embrace some of the complications posed by the local customs. Nevertheless, we are still open to adapting or even throwing away some ideas once we are immersed in the actual environment. Thinking that we have the perfect solution to reducing post-harvest loss has never been our approach, but knowing that we have a solution has.

As the team prepares for the international immersion trip, we have started to think whom we would like to visit. We are prepared to see things from an analytical and not a critical perspective. We have prepared the difficult goal of examining the farmer’s direct and indirect interactions with the harvested products.

The preparation for the international immersion included a session where we viewed videos of the daily life of people in subsistence. These videos featured a farmer, a shopkeeper, and homemakers. Another video explored the environmental issues in the same context.

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The international immersion allowed firsthand experience of the challenges faced by people living in subsistence. It also allowed in learning about people’s daily lifestyle and the constant uncertainty of events in their lives. In preparing for the field trip we have made the list of things to see in India before our trip.

• Transportation and storage process in “gunny sack” (jute bag)

• The different roles along each stage in agricultural supply chain

• In grain processing, what is the optimal transported amount to avoid excess product

• How are farmers educated?

• How are prices distributed among farmers?

• Governmental versus privately run storage facilities

Also we have prepared a typical interview script with questions to ask in India:

• How long have you been farming?

• Where did you learn your farming techniques?

• How do you store and transport grains?

• How do you choose the particular crops you have?

• How do prices influence your decisions?

• How do you use pesticides and insecticides?

Additional Contextual Research The value of money takes a different meaning when interacting with people living in subsistence. Additionally, the government’s effort seemed to hinder the progress of one section of the society while benefiting another one. A clear example of this situation is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing employment to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In this program, the government guarantees employment in certain industries, which drains the availability of workers available for farming, straining the already weak farming industry.

Through farm visits, traditional agricultural practices were evident in how farmers tackle vagaries of nature using local resources. It was also interesting to know how people use the traditional local practices to deal with different problems in daily life activities.

Farmer Profile Usually barefoot, the farmer is always constrained by the access and availability of capital. Their purchases for daily living are limited and rather make a product than purchase it. However, they

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seek quality products even if purchased at a premium. For women the access to capital or resources is much worse than for men.

The closed economy of the rural environment depends heavily on the social infrastructure of the region. In this infrastructure, the value of social status is invaluable and loss of this status through public shaming, or quarreling is almost impossible to recoup.

Further limited by illiteracy, the farmer uses different coping strategies such as pictographic matching, help from neighbors or children, and fate, as survival skills. Not to be confused, these coping strategies forge a resilient character that is full of marketplace wisdom and social network navigation instead of remaining helpless. Farmers have managed to navigate through the complex mandi system (distribution and acquisition of agricultural products by the government).

The often-remote rural locations further isolate the farmer from developed centers. The distance is worsened by the poor conditions of India’s road infrastructure that also limits the distribution of the agricultural products. Usually, the farmer is responsible for the cost of transportation of his harvest to the market.

A snapshot of the life in the rural area:

“It was difficult to survive on my father’s work as a paddy cultivator. If there was an unexpected medical-related expense, we had to use all of our money and many times borrow some additional. Our custom of trust and community relationships allowed us to borrow money and have a guarantee for the loaner to get his money back.”

“My education was limited and I only completed school up to 5th grade. I am able to do calculations, read, and write. I can read some English words, but cannot speak it. I did not get a certificate for my studies when I dropped out of school, but have been managing so far. I stopped going to school because I attained puberty at age fourteen. Our custom dictates that we must stay inside the house and can only come out until we marry. I married at eighteen. Therefore, I had to stay indoors for about four years. My marriage was arranged to my uncle’s only son. “

Rice Processor Profile Many rice-milling facilities in India have implemented certain technological advances that have helped the production of processed crops. Mechanical rice milling machines are not uncommon in the paddy processing and grain milling activities. However, there is significant room for improvement in the areas of storage, transportation and handling of products. While analyzing the processing facilities in India, we noticed that the product is often stored in rooms that lack the appropriate ventilation and temperature control. Furthermore, the processor will try to maximize the use of the limited storage space available by piling many bags on top of each other. In regards to product handling and transportation, we noticed that the rice mill workers use a hook to help lift the heavy rice bags; these bags can weigh up to 80 kg each. Often, this metal hook will rip a hole in the bag compromising its structural soundness, and causing grains to spill out of the bag.

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The rice processor is prone to many work-related hazards such as respiratory diseases, joint, and back pain, conjunctivitis, and allergic reactions of the skin. Most of these are preventable through the use of respiratory masks and goggles, as well as safe lifting practices.i

Interviews and Translation

Understanding the cultural context and life circumstances of an interviewee is important for preparing the crux of each question. It is also important to craft the questions in a manner appropriate for getting the information required from the interviewee. Using pictorial illustrations, diagrams, hand-drawn illustrations helps convey the question effectively.

Translating the interview not only required language skills but also cultural understanding. Figuring out how to extract relevant information and concisely frame and deliver it to the other party proved to be a major challenge. Additionally, translating required knowing what subjects are acceptable in a certain setting and which ones are to be avoided. Finally, the job of the translator also required bringing the interview back on track if it went out of context.

Southern India: Rice (main staple crop) During interviews of subsistence farmers who owned small (less than 1 acre) plots, it became clear that they had no real control of the crop price when selling to dealers or processors. The ability to safely store their crop would allow the farmer to sell when the market demand and prices are high; therefore earning more revenue. However, most farmers operate on credit and need revenue money as soon as possible to pay off their pre-harvest debt. Some of this debt comes from initial investments like pesticides, but can also come from postharvest investments such as storage. Therefore, they are forced to sell regardless of price to immediately earn some money.

Minimizing rodent damages in the field drove some farmers to use an electric-powered fence to surround their field. However, this method caused some people to get electrocuted. Other farmers made rice balls laced with rat poison as a preventive measure to avoid infestation of the crop.

During storage, many different methods were used to prevent pests. Some of these included chemical poisons and natural homemade remedies. For instance, one farmer would make an elevated mud pile mixed with ashes and place the jute sacks on top. Excessive moisture from rain is another problem during the wet seasons, and some farmers store the jute sacks on a bench above the ground without weather protection.

Usually, the dealer will come to the farm and pick up the harvested product for off site processing. At this stage, the only observed loss happened during transportation and when transferring the product into new jute sacks. Handlers utilize metal hooks to pick up and move the 80kg jute sacks, puncturing holes into the side of the bags. These holes eventually cause loss of product when it spills out of the sack.

Northern India: Wheat (main staple crop) Farmers in North India revealed during their interviews a different set of problems after harvest. Here, wheat is the most prevalent staple crop, and like southern India, they also suffered from lack of storage. Jute sacks were not used for transport; the crops were left outside exposed to

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the elements. In this region, the government is the middleman that purchases and transports the crops after harvest and sells through government-run markets.

The lack of reliable electrical grids makes it impossible to have cold storage units, which would prevent vegetable spoilage during storage.

Additionally, high transportation costs are incurred by the government dealers because of the large number of small farms needed collection services. Increasing the time it takes to transport the products also increases the risk of spoilage and subsequent loss.

A visual inspection of the value chain at the seller level revealed an abundant loss of perishable produce. Most of this waste ended up strewn along the streets rotting and polluting. Although uncommon, some entrepreneurs used the waste as fertilizer or to produce energy through anaerobic digestion. In regards to the utilization of waste to generate energy, the visit to the Bio-village helped visualize the theory put into practice and how engineering resources are used to create employment and uplift the society’s quality of life.

Description of idea generation and screening With the knowledge gained during the beginning stages of our virtual emersion pre-India trip, we were able to develop some broad concepts that focused around the farming value chain where post harvest loss occurs. These four areas include: harvesting, processing, storing and transporting. Starting with the beginning of the value chain, we looked at different harvesting and processing techniques already implemented in India and where there was room for improvement.

Our first idea focused on the problem of produce being harvested in an unsanitary manner as well as the mechanical damaged through handling. The concept is a type of glove that could be worn to handle produce. The purpose of these gloves would be to minimize abrasion and mechanical damage to the harvested product. Natural disinfectants could be used in the material that would reduce direct contact with bacteria and increase sanitary practices when handling the produce.

Our second concept looks at the tools that are being used in harvesting and how these tools either increase or decrease production as well as how they affect the quality of production. We learned that farmers use both mechanical and manual labor during harvesting and both techniques yielded waste during harvest.

Another way to prevent loss at the harvesting level was to look at supply and demand of each crop and to construct a system of variable processing and harvesting times among a village to prevent an oversupply of one crop. This concept would help decrease waste from over abundance at the market level, while also bringing more revenue to the farmer if the market was not as saturated as it usually is during the harvesting months.

We also looked at different ways staple crops were processed and if there were significant losses at this level. Although our insights from our trip to India and interviewing different farmers and dealers ensured us that there was minimal loss at the processing level other than some waste when transferring the crop from one bag to another.

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Our next concepts focused on the storage level of the value chain through the use of bio-insecticide from local resources so that farmers could store their crop longer. This would reduce waste from rodents and insects and is also low cost because the resource is readily available as well as culturally acceptable. Being able to store your own farming yield is important for a farmer and could increase the revenue from selling his yield at a time of higher prices.

Another concept that focused on storage was a cover for crops and produce that prevented insect damage. This would be low cost and easy to implement across a variety of crops. It would also be made from local resources and coated with natural disinfectants and bio-insecticides.

Moving to the last part of the value chain is transportation. Our first concept looked into different cart covers for vehicles that are carrying crops to the market. This cover would prevent against the harsh sun and varying weather as well as any rodents or birds.

We also looked into how we could reduce the amount of handling between transporting produce by producing a bin that the farmer uses on the farm to clean and store the produce. The farmer would then seal and distribute directly to the sellers at the market.

Our last concept looked at how we could use the post harvest waste effectively. By using an anaerobic digester one could take their food waste and use it to create energy that could be used for cooking or electricity. While this concept doesn’t reduce the loss that is being made, it does find a value for it.

With these concepts and an understanding of subsistence marketplaces and culture, we developed a set of questions to ask farmers and dealers while we were in India.

Discussion of process and outcomes and appendix of matrix

The initial evaluation criteria were chosen to be mutually exclusive and covering as many functional and contextual areas as possible. There were minimal project constraints, and so are the different criteria. However, the conceptual solutions were separated for the three portions of the value chain identified in the Indian agriculture: harvesting and initial processing, storage, and transportation. These are presented below in no particular order of importance.

Function: Innovative, Locally Available, Widely applicable, Easy to use, Effective, Scalable, Reliable, Reusable, Desirable, and Quickly Implementable.

Context: Affordable, Inclusive, Social and Gender acceptable, Compliant to government regulations, and geographical applicability.

These criteria not only provide a grading in terms of the concept being a functioning solution, but care was taken to include social and environmental aspects surrounding the recommendations. The matrix below shows our initial idea generation screening and evaluation matrix:

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Cat

egor

y

Idea

Pro

blem

it fi

xes

Inno

vativ

e

Affo

rdab

ility

Tim

e to

impl

emen

t

Sca

labi

lity

Des

irabi

lity

Mul

ti-us

e vs

sin

gle

use

Rel

iabi

lity

Cul

tura

l acc

epta

nce

Geo

grap

hic

flexi

bilit

y

Gov

ernm

ent r

estri

ctio

ns

Tota

l

Transportation

Organized bicycle

carrying large amounts of food to not spoil

2 2.6 3.2 3 4 4.4 2.2 3.4 3.6 3.6 45

Cart cover prevents sun spoiling food 2.2 4.2 3.8 4.2 2.6 3 3.6 3.8 3.6 4 49

Storage from farm straight to market

controls the yield, eases transportation and prevents transit loss

3.2 3.6 3.6 4 3.4 4 3.6 3.8 3.8 3.6 51

Storage

Netting controls pests and birds 3 3.6 3.8 4 3.4 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.8 4 51

Storage station

slows decay for transportation/use

3.4 2.6 3.2 3.2 3.4 4 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.6 49

Cooling station (no electric power required)

slows decay for transportation/use

5 2.8 3.2 3.6 4 4.4 3 4.2 4.2 4.2 53

Mechanical device for detection of insects in stored grains.

controls pests 4 2.4 2.6 2.8 4 3.8 2.4 3.6 3.6 3.2 44

Low cost technique for enhancement of shelf life of tomato

slows decay for transportation or use

3.6 3.4 3 3.2 3.6 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.8 4 46

Alternate bleaching material.

3.2 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.8 2.4 3.6 2.6 2.6 36

Light/bright color controls pests 2.8 3.6 3.6 4 3 3.4 3.4 4.2 3.4 3.8 50

Pheromone bag controls pests 3.4 3.8 3.2 4.2 3.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.8 3.4 50

Bio insecticide from local resources

controls pests to improve shelf life

4.2 3.6 3.6 4.4 4.2 4 3.4 4.2 3.2 3.4 55

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Cat

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Harvest Process

Grinders

processing food on site, and reduce waste on small farms

3.2 3.2 3.8 3 2.8 3.8 3 3.4 3.4 3.8 46

Gloves to handle products

prevents abrasion injury 3 4.4 4.4 4.4 3.2 3.8 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 57

Hand tools (cutters, knives, shears)

minimize handling, abrasion, and mechanical damage

2.2 3.4 3.6 3.6 3 3.2 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 47

Packing station

minimize mechanical abrasion injury to crop for transport and storage

2.8 3.2 3 3.4 3 3.6 3 3.2 3.6 3.6 45

Banana comb cutter

minimize handling, abrasion, and mechanical damage

3.8 3 3.6 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.6 3.2 3.8 3.2 47

Algorithm of maturity index calculator

controls yield and prevents over or under production

4 2.8 2 2 2.6 3.2 3.2 2.6 2.8 3.8 40

Auto blender cum mixer

processing food on site, and reduce waste on small farms

3.8 2.2 3 2.6 3.8 3.6 2.4 3 3.4 2.8 42

Firmness tester

controls yield and prevents over or under production

3.6 3.2 3 3.6 3.8 3.6 3 3 3.4 3.4 47

Variable process/harvesting times

education understanding supply and demand

3.6 4.4 2 4.2 4 4.8 4.2 3.8 3.4 3.2 51

Discussion of ranking

The ranking of the concepts was done through a systematic voting from all the members of the group. Each member awarded a score to each of the criteria and the results were averaged; all the categories were equally weighted. In addition, a top conceptual idea for the three parts of the value chain identified earlier was selected.

Nevertheless, through the discussion regarding which concepts to select, it was clear that one of the main criteria was the ability to provide value to the farmer in the form of tangible or immediate benefits.

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Concepts During the international immersion, the critical issues seen in the field were to address storage and processing losses, as well as deficient packaging and handling damage to gunny sacks (jute bags). The problems were exacerbated by the low quality of the crop sacks made from the natural fiber jute.

The conceptual solutions that were deemed most appropriate to further research and that generated more interest to the project sponsor were:

Re-design or improvements to the jute bag (gunny sack) Temporary storage tent Bin for produce transport and storage Bio digester Bio insecticide

These concepts are further examined below for the problems they address and the pros and cons of implementing the solution.

Jute bag (gunny sack)

Re-designing the jute bag, usually of poor quality and low in resources, is an option to safely store and transport staple crops. This re-design can include searching for new materials, method, and structure on which to construct the bag. Another aspect to consider is the reduction of material and eliminating the use of metal hooks while moving the large and heavy bags. Current design allows for pests to enter the bag through the stitches done while closing the bags.

Storage Tent/Kit

Usually, rural farmers do not have the necessary infrastructure to store their harvest. Storing it for future use could allow the farmer to sell the product at a better rate. Instead, they need

to sell everything as soon as it is harvested. Additionally, some areas lack the sufficient number of jute sacks and many farmers resort to leaving their crop outside susceptible to rain, rodents, and pests.

Providing a low cost structure that could be temporarily constructed after harvesting the crop would provide a safe place to store so the farmer can sell when the prices are best. Moreover, this kit would use as many local materials as

available to not only protect from excessive moisture from rain, but also prevent pests.

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Produce Bin

It was observed that during transportation, produce gets damaged (mechanical damage) because there is no protective packaging. This concept is aimed at designing a produce transportation bin that can protect delicate produce. Having a bin that can be easily stored and can be collapsed while not in use would alleviate some of the damage to the produce and wouldn’t take much space. However, the current procedures and methods can make a bin difficult to implement into the existing value chain. Additionally, there exists the risk that the bin may be used for other purposes

rather than the intended.

Bio Pesticides

There are many solutions available in India for pest prevention involving materials that are toxic to animals and humans. Bio pesticides are available to the farmers, but it is still unknown why many small farmers end up purchasing traditional pesticides. This concept solution aims at teaching the farmers how to make their own pesticides, and provide them with techniques on how to prevent and manage if infested. An illustrated pamphlet with instructions on how to process would be included in a kit.

Educational Manual

Despite the vast amounts of knowledge, the farmer is still isolated from many types of agricultural solutions. This concept consists of a manual for pest control on rice crops that includes detailed pictographic identification of common pests including its threat level, and

actions to be followed if detected. The guide will be applicable to rice and will be limited to southern India. This manual, will allow the marketplace-literate farmer to identify and prevent pest infestation before, during and after harvesting. It also makes pests visible and presents the farmer with a list of resources (pesticide, call center, connection to Indian university) for a possible solution depending on the threat level. However, market penetration could pose a difficulty because most information at the farm level is

delivered orally.

Bio Digester

One of the biggest issues identified in India was the amount of waste that was discarded in the streets in urban areas and markets. Using an anaerobic digester to turn waste into energy for cooking or electricity would not only reduce the amount of organic waste in the streets that presents a bio hazard problem, but would turn waste into usable byproducts. Our goal is for communities or families to invest in a system that uses this technology on a small scale. It would provide electricity and fertilizer.

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Concept Evaluation Needs - Drivers - Context:

Using the Needs Drivers Context framework we were able to understand the issues that surround a farmer at a subsistence level. His/her needs are to provide for a family and increase yield while preventing waste when farming. The farmer’s main drivers are survival, resourcefulness, and increasing financial strength. Moreover, the context issues that surround the farmer include resources for investment, cultural norms, climate, education level, and politics.

Top-down Problem Deconstruction

The ADM Institute (ADMI) for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss serves as an international information and technology hub in an effort to reduce postharvest loss in staple crops. The staple crop that our team has chosen to analyze is rice. The working area will be limited to the southern portion of India, where rice plays a critical role in the diet of the population. Furthermore, ADMI did not limit our scope as far as what portion of the value chain to be improved. One of the main concerns that our sponsor had was the accurate and reliable measure of postharvest loss. Many times, some loss is culturally acceptable and expected in the process. Nevertheless, we set to examine the different portions of the value chain as described in previous sections.

According to research provided by ADMI1, the rice losses are tiered in the following manner:

1 Farm Level Loss 73.57% 2 Wholesale Level Loss 5.59% 3 Processor Level Loss 0.42% 4 Retailer Level Loss 20.42%

Most of the losses were for both the farm and retailer level during the storage period of the crop (23.11% and 10.21% respectively).

Bottom Up Problem Deconstruction:

Using the Bottom Up problem framework, we were able to understand farmer needs and where they overlapped in our Top Down Need Deconstruction framework of reducing post harvest loss. At the subsistence farmers level, his/her basic need is to obtain enough money to provide food and shelter to sustain survival for his/her family. In order to do this the farmer needs to be successful in farming and having a sustainable harvest for the year. For this, a farmer needs reliable planting seeds, equipment, labor resources, pest and rodent control, adequate storage, as well as reliable buyers that they can sell their harvest to. There are also outside pressures that are out of the farmer’s control including, weather, amount of available water, amount of available electricity and the fluctuation in market prices.

1Basavaraja, H., Mahajanashetti, S.B., and Udagatti, Naveen C. Economic Analysis of Post-harvest Losses in Food Grains in India: A Case Study of Karnataka. Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol. 20 January-June 2007 pp 117-126

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Top-down Need Deconstruction

The primary need is the reduction of postharvest loss. This need spawns directly from the several farming and market deficiencies: lack of appropriate storage facilities, poor road infrastructure, lack of adequate transport, and handling and processing methods. The need for better storage methods, roads, transport, and processing methods spreads across all aspects of the value chain.

However, not all of these needs can be addressed at the same time. Our approach was to find a solution that could be applied to as much part of the value chain as possible. Our team recognized that the biggest need was at the farm level at 73.57%. Out of this loss, the largest portion belongs to storage, at slightly over 23%. Focusing on this area allows us to cover both needs at the farmer level as well as the need to reduce post harvest loss.

The following diagram combines the Bottom-Up problem deconstruction and the Top-Down approach to the needs:

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Technical specifications and Detailed Drawings Metrics – Benchmarks – Specifications

For our chosen concept, there are not comparable products in the market. Therefore, having a set of benchmarks has been somewhat difficult. Our metrics are compared to the next best single product used for the same purpose. For example, in effectiveness in killing the pests, there are commercially available products with considerable strength. However, these are unsafe for human handling and it was observed that children were playing with this toxic material. Our intended product will not have the toxicity of the commercially available product, but will be safer to handle. The pest-repelling efficacy has already been tested with liquid-based compounds and has been highly successful. This compound, however, is also stand-alone.

The specifications stated in the table are expected targets using locally available resources, simple technology, and minimal processing. Additionally, the product is expected to function as a hole-patching compound.

Need Metrics Benchmarks Specifications Kill Effectiveness low, medium, high None medium Longevity seasons 4 4

Affordable dollars $1 $1 Ease of Application easy, medium, difficult None easy

Culturally Acceptable low, medium, high None high

Repelling efficacy low, medium, high None high

Moisture control low, medium, high None medium

Sustainability low, medium, high None high

Benchmarking:

As seen from our trip to India as well as through research we concluded that there is no adequate benchmark set for our product. The current system for dealing with pests is quite basic at the subsistence level and includes using some common pesticides spread around stored bags, to basic home remedies that are unreliable when trying to store the grain for a long period of time. We were able to find some products that have been invented to prevent pest infestation but have not been widely accepted yet among subsistence farmers in India.

Some of these products trap insects in stored grains by using different sticky materials to trap insects. This process will help eliminate the initial population of pests. Another product is a specialized bin that has an insect removal mechanism that stops any common insects from getting inside to the grains. Newer technology has been looking at how UV light can trap insects in storage facilities as well as how to produce a specific device that could detect if stored grains do have pests without damaging the jute sacks.

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While these products do help trap and kill pests there are also other problems that occur when storing grain. Some of these include moisture damage from inadequate storing as well as the use of low quality jute bags that increase direct loss of grain.

Prototype Core product and process

Our product consists of using local resources to create a bio-insecticide paint that can be applied to jute bags before filling them with rice. This paint will not only protect against pests and rodents that commonly penetrate the jute sack, but also create a barrier from moisture. Future specifications may also include means to strengthen the commonly weak jute sack from holes caused by hooks during transportation.

The process for producing and applying the paint is shown below. The materials will be sourced from local farmers, processors, or through commercially available products: bio insecticide (Neem), pigment (for coloring), and a binder (rice bran or coconut oil). The Neem fruits will be processed to extract the active components. The three materials will be mixed with hot water and stirred until the right paint consistency is achieved. The next step is to apply this coating onto the outside of jute bags and then hang to dry. After the coating is set and dry, the bags can be used to store rice.

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Packaging

The product will be packaged in a bucket that can be reused. The labeling will clearly identify our brand logo by its bright orange color. Additionally, the bucket will have the simple instructions printed on the back.

The purpose of the bucket is to have a control of the amount of concentrate in proportion to the water added to the mix. Over diluting the concentrate will result in diminished potency and longer drying times.

Technical specifications

As specified earlier, the paint will consist of pigment, binder and bio insecticide. We tested the Neem oil extract available commercially with henna and turmeric as pigments. Additionally, we used coconut oil as the binder because rice bran oil was not readily available and had to be put on order.

It is not known how the Neem oil extract was commercially prepared for the US market. However, in India the bio pesticide extract is traditionally prepared using Neem leaves and Cattle Urine. The first step is to dip the crushed Neem leaves extract in cattle urine for 8 hours. After the extract is ready for spray. The Neem active ingredients control aphids and butterflies, while the urine acts as pest repellent and liquid fertilizer for plants. In addition, the Datura leaves, seeds, flowers, stems and roots can also be used as pesticide. The preparation consists of drying the plant constituents under the shade, crush and extract in the boiling water.

Our proposed product preparation is detailed in the manufacturing plan elsewhere.

Our controlled tests suggest a minimum drying time of at least 30 minutes when using three parts of Neem oil, and between two and four parts of pigment extract in powder form. The coconut oil was varied between three and five parts. The diagram below shows the drying

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times when simulating the weather conditions of southern India during the harvesting period: 37 degree Celsius and 60% relative humidity.

IV. Marketing Strategy

A. Target Market Selection Background

Tamil Nadu, situated in Southeast India, has an area of 130,000 square kilometers and a population of about 72.1 million. Comparatively, Karnataka has a population of 61.1 million and an area of 191,791 square kilometers. In India, about 74% of the population are literate compared with 65% in 2001. For Tamil Nadu, the percentage of male population literacy is 87% compared to 74% for females, and in Karnataka, the ratios are 83% and 68% respectively2.

The rural population of Tamil Nadu is 35 million persons, representing almost 50% of the state’s population. For Karnataka, the population is also 35 million at 57% of the total state’s population. 1.2 million are agricultural workers in Karnataka and 0.7 million for Tamil Nadu3.

Rainfall is erratic and averages about 945 mm. Soils are suitable for a large variety of crops. About 80% of farm holdings have less than 2 hectares, and they are often fragmented.

Our target market lies within the rural population dedicated to agricultural production and that are below the poverty line. Or approximately 7.2 million people in the state of Tamil Nadu alone from 1990 census data. However, due to rural migration to urban centers, labor shifts, and population growth, this quantity may be unreliable.

2 http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_results_paper1_india.html 3 http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/Census_Data_Finder.aspx

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Consumer Behavior

The success of the product will heavily rely on the appropriate selection of target market. This is in response to the risk tolerance of the Indian consumer, which increases as the value chain moves toward the market-ready rice. The risk tolerance then drops again depending on the consumer sector targeted with the quality and price of the processed rice. The subsistence consumer tends to get the lower quality rice because of budget limitations, although some are willing to pay an extra premium when additional cash is available.

A simplified diagram is presented below where the increase of risk tolerance is shown below. The top arrow indicates the movement of the rice as it becomes ready for market. The small arrows represent the transaction flow where a middleman is likely to appear depending on geographical and market constraints. In that case, the middleman would be in charge of rice transport and price negotiation between the producers, processors, and distributors.

Additionally, the farmer is likely to fall into subsistence because of the socio-economic factors of the Indian culture. In small and rural farming, there have not been many modern or industrialized method improvements. This reduces the potential yield and increases the expenses per hectare directly reducing the income and increasing the expenses, leaving a small profit for the farmer that can easily be erased by unpredictable weather or changing market conditions.

The processors and distributors are much more established and tend to have more capital liquidity and storage infrastructure. Furthermore, their risk tolerance level is much higher than that of a farmer. Therefore, our product can be introduced as a test market to the processors and distributors, with a secondary market that includes the subsistence farmers.

The production, intent and knowledge derived from our product is also expected to match the subsistence marketplace’s tendencies to buy or self-manufacture a product that fits their needs. In this manner, the farmer can copy the benefits of the manufactured product for higher income consumers while adjusting for the scale of his crop production and budget.

To tie all the market segments together, the role of the entrepreneur will be created. This entrepreneur will be in charge of manufacturing, marketing and distribution of the product. This entrepreneur will have to avoid price discrimination in order to reduce abuse of consumers with low literacy in computational operations related to the scaling of product quantities to the size of farms. Instead, the entrepreneur can assume the role of “teacher” and provide the farmer who cannot afford the product with knowledge regarding pest control.

Finally, the entrepreneur and the consumers may also find alternative materials that can be adapted to improve the product. It is a common occurrence that products are not always

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used according to the original design. This happens more often in the subsistence context, where more valuable uses for a product are use than those originally intended. The same is expected to our product.

B. Sustainable Marketing Mix Our core solution addresses the important needs of a) non-toxic, b) effective and c) affordable pesticide. In order to deliver this solution, we intend to create a business ecosystem in rural agrarian villages that provide value on multiple dimensions to the farmer and rice processor and also create entrepreneurial opportunities locally. Explained below are several gaps that limit the advancement opportunities for subsistence farmers and how we are addressing them:

Information and market access gap

Subsistence farmers often lack market information regarding prices of produce across buyers and the quality of produce in demand in the marketplace. This often leads them to cultivate crops that realize lower value in the marketplace. Providing farmer’s relevant market signals will enable them to align their production to the needs of the marketplace thereby enhancing their value.

We propose to close the information and access gap by working closely to groups of buyers in the marketplace who would provide us accurate information regarding buyer needs, which will be shared with the farmers in a timely fashion through our local entrepreneurs. This process will provide value to farmers by enabling them to plan their production schedule better. In addition, this will be beneficial to buyers because they will obtain assured supply of produce at the required level of quality.

Knowledge gap

In a country like India, it is difficult to provide one-size-fits-all advisory services to farmers. This is because of the diversity in terms of agro-climatic zones, diverse agricultural products, and soil specificities. Government-run agricultural universities are mandated to provide detailed advisory services to farmers, however, they face the difficulty of obtaining detailed farm level information to be able to provide meaningful advisory services. Additionally, the work is geographically limited by the funding of the research.

Our value network will facilitate the flow of farm-specific information to extension workers of agricultural universities enabling them to disseminate specific advice to individual farmers. Our local entrepreneurs will elicit information at the farm level and Dhanyam Labham will become the conduit between agricultural universities and farmers.

Skill gap

There are several agricultural non-government organizations (NGOs) that provide diverse training to small farmers. Being an outside entity, such NGOs often face the difficulty of accessing the agricultural network. By aggregating large number of farmers through our village level entrepreneurs, we will be able to facilitate delivery of training on agricultural practices to farmers. This delivery of expertise will then enhance the overall outcomes of the farmers.

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Efficient and sustainable farming techniques, general literacy, and public health programs are available through non-governmental organizations serving the subsistence marketplace. As with the university knowledge, these skills are only limited to a certain village or farming group. By adding these skill-training programs to our entrepreneurs, the value creation of Dhanyam Labham is strengthened.

The Value Ecosystem

By facilitating the information flow, we hope to bring about higher efficiency in the marketplace enhancing value for all stakeholders. We shall also put in place storage and transportation facilities to enable efficient flow of produce to the marketplace with minimum loss.

The flow of the abovementioned services across our value network will act as the glue keeping the whole ecosystem together. Our bio pesticide coating will allow the entrepreneur to serve as the central provider of value through the network. The entrepreneur, in conjunction with our flagship product, will not only reduce post harvest loss but will increase the overall value for all the stakeholders in the ecosystem through tangible benefits.

Using local entrepreneurs who are embedded in the same economic and social context of the farmer will create effective delivery agents. Using incentive programs, the entrepreneurs will encourage the farmers to adopt the suggested improvements while creating relationships and generating knowledge.

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The Value Ecosystem diagram

V. Action Plan

Targeting and Positioning Statement Including Sustainability Issues The products and services provided are targeted to directly benefit farmers, processors, and entrepreneurs. Initially, the processors will be approached first as they have a higher tolerance of risk to a new product or process; they also have a higher capital liquidity.

The farmers, who do not tolerate risk as well as processors, will benefit after the product is tested and adapted by the processors. The demand from the farmers is expected to be lower than processor demand. These farmers seldom store their crops indoors, and usually store them outdoors. At the other end, the entrepreneurs who take on the task of producing the materials are the ones that will connect the farmers and processors. Others are expected to benefit indirectly through the profits generated by reducing post-harvest crop loss.

The product’s positioning is show in the following graphic:

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Sustainability issues include social, environmental, and economic. Making sure that the product can be deployed with minimal impact to the environment is no less important than making sure that its use and production generates financial gain. Similarly, further developing and strengthening social ties within and throughout villages will be sustainability measure. Moreover, the human impact measured in toxicity is another factor in sustainability.

Value is provided on the effectiveness of the product and the price that the consumer pays. A more valuable product is that which has maximum effectiveness at a low cost.

Sustainable Product design There are three sustainability aspects for the product: social, environmental, and economic. Sustainability in the social context will be based on the ability to impact the community ties by sharing knowledge. The composition and application of the product must be shared within and throughout the villages. The entrepreneur does not risk losing its ability to provide value by selling the product since the manufacture requires acquiring a substantial amount of raw materials and man-hours to produce. Additionally, feedback regarding the effectiveness and use of the product from the farmer and processor to the entrepreneur will further build the knowledge. Environmental sustainability relies on the use of raw products available within the villages and using minimally processed materials. Natural and biodegradable materials will be specified in the manufacture. The economic sustainability will be provided through a business model that does not rely on subsidies, grants, or any similar type of assistance.

Sustainable Value Chain

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Design of the Value Proposition

The design of the value proposition presents two challenges. There are no effective loss measurements in the subsistence marketplace and the results have to be tangible. In this enterprise, the primary role of the entrepreneur is to find creative ways to implement post-harvest loss reduction strategies taking into consideration the local environment. In India, there are two ways the entrepreneur can tap into the value chain.

In the first scenario, the farmer takes the paddy rice to the grain processor and sells it. He does not take back any of the processed crop and it’s the grain processor that takes the product to the market.

The entrepreneur that represents Dhanyam Labham will then be in charge of reducing the exposure of the crops to pests. One way would be to have a small amount of grains stored in regular and treated bags. Constant monitoring of the grains would provide a visual example to the grain processor that the treated bag will not only last longer, but will attract less insects and rodents. Since pests present one of the possible causes of losses, we estimate that the percentage of loss directly from these is about 10% of the weight per bag. If the bag’s worth is estimated at 2,400 rupees (30 rupees per kilogram, and 80 kg per bag), then 10% is 240 rupees.

Therefore with an investment of about 10 rupees per bag, there is a 240% return on investment. Current prices per jute bag are at 2-3 rupees, plus the incentive paid to the farmer to introduce the bags into the system at 1-2 rupees per bag. However, the measurable losses through visual inspection will be significantly lower. The minimum savings for the pricing structure to work is at least 2%. This represents about 1.6 kg (48 rupees) per 80kg bag.

The second scenario explored primarily involves the farmer. In this scenario, the farmer will take the harvester paddy to a grain processor and will pay to get market-ready product. The farmer will then try and find a buyer in the wholesale market.

For this setup, our target consumer will be the farmer. The visual test is also a way to prove to the farmer that the stored or transported grains will last longer and attract fewer pests. However, an investment of 10 rupees per bag does not work with the farmer. For this case, a bag exchange may work better. If the entrepreneur exchanges the bags that the farmer has

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(bags are readily exchanged in the market), and gets paid per bag after the farmer realizes that the treated bags yield a higher quality of rice (free of pests). Through Indian farmer feedback, the price points of these bags are at 2-3 rupees. However, to make the business viable, a price point of 5 rupees must be set. Significantly lower than the price point of a grain processor, but with the same benefits.

In addition, the table below represents the tiered product and services that the entrepreneur can provide to the different consumers with different income levels:

Consumer Pest Control

small farmer information / product / exchange mid-size farmer information / product / exchange large farmer information / product / application processor information / product / application distributor information / product / application

Communication of the Value Proposition

Sending a message to the farmers will have the most impact if done in a pictographic manner. Below are images of the value added:

Manufacturing Plan, Product Forecast and Launch Schedule Manufacturing Plan

Our product consists of using local resources to create a bio pesticide paint that can be applied to jute bags before filling them with rice. This paint will protect against pests and rodents that commonly penetrate the jute sack, and will also create a barrier against moisture. It can also strengthen the commonly weak jute sack from holes caused by hooks during transportation. The process in producing and applying the paint has been simplified for field use. The entrepreneur will first collect the materials needed: bio pesticide (Neem), pigment (for coloring), and a binder (rice bran or coconut oil). The farmer will then have to process the Neem and binder and create a fine powder. The three materials will be mixed with hot water and stirred until the right paint consistency is achieved. The farmer will then apply this paint

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onto the outside of bare jute bags and then hang to dry. After bags set and dry, they can be used to store rice.

The following materials will be sources locally:

1 Rice bran or coconut oil 2 Datura (leaves, fruits, flowers, stem and root) 3 Neem (leaves, fruits, flowers, stem and root) 4 Heena powder (pure mehandi without amla) 5 Gulmohur leaves (Delonix rega) 6 Wheat plant 7 Turmeric 8 Flowers

a. Amattas (cassia fistual) b. Marigold/Gainda (Togetus erecta), c. Yellow Chrysanthemums d. Black Babul (Acacia arabican)

9 Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos) 10 Red sandal wood powder (Raktachandan/lalchandan) 11 Sindura 12 Fruits of amla 13 Kattha (Acacia catechu)- one eaten with paan 14 Tea/coffee leaves 15 Geru powder (Red) 16 Chuna powder 17 Chemicals

a. Ethyl Alcohol (lab grade) b. Ammonium Hydroxide (50% dilution) c. Chloroform d. Acetic Acid

The user manual in local languages, along with pictorial demonstration, will be provided with step-by-step procedure as follows:

Preparation of pesticide

1 Dry under the shade for two days: a. One handful of Neem leaves and fruits b. One handful of Datura leaves and fruits c. One handful of Neem and Datura flowers d. One Neem plant stem e. One Neem plant root

2 Crush well all the ingredients together until it becomes a fine powder 3 In a metal container mix the powder with 1 cup of ethyl alcohol 4 Boil in water for approximately 8 hours 5 Add a few drops of ammonium hydroxide

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6 Add half a cup of chloroform 7 Let the liquid rest until two layers of liquid appear, one floating on top of another (like oil

floats on water). 8 Carefully separate the layers by pouring the top layer into another cup 9 To the container with the top layer, add quarter cup of acetic acid 10 Let it rest for one hour 11 Discard the bottom liquid

Preparation of Pigment

1 Boil dried fruits of amla in an iron vessel 2 Let container cool and store overnight 3 Next day, check color of liquid

Final Preparation of Paint

1 Combine the liquid from the neem fruits and leaves 2 Add the coloring from the amla fruits 3 Mix well 4 Add the rice bran oil 5 Mix well 6 Apply to jute bags and let dry

Product Forecast and Launch Schedule

The enterprise expansion has been forecasted for the first four years of operation. In the first two years, it is expected to reach most of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. During the international immersion portion of the project, we established relationships with farmers and other social entrepreneurs that operate in the area. Using these connections, we’ll enter the market in villages near Chennai. The third year, the expansion will move towards the western state of Karnataka. Having learned and created sustainable relationships within the first two years, the team will enter a culturally distinct state from the initial launch. Language and customs, as well as the agricultural conditions are expected to be different from Tamil Nadu. The fourth year the expansion will take aim towards the north in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Again, the team will face a different culture and farming conditions. However, the expertise gained from entering two distinct markets in the previous years will have tested the scalability of the enterprise.

All the planned expansions will have to heavily rely from the entrepreneur network formed in the previous markets. Social networks will have to be leveraged to reach the proposed regions of southern India.

Our product launch is based on the following assumptions:

Assumption 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year

Entrepreneurs start each month 3 4 4 4

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Entrepreneurs who quit each month 0 1 0 0

Preparers start each year 1 1 1 1

Number of bags treated 400 640 740 800

Number of product sold 5 10 10 10

We accounted for a number of entrepreneurs starting each month, slightly increasing after the first year. However, in the second year we accounted for some of them moving on to other things and added a turnover rate. In the same way, we accounted for a slight number of product preparers increasing at a yearly rate. It’s not necessary to have one preparer added per month and the optimal ratio of preparers per entrepreneurs is about 1:50.

Increasing our production will also increase the incoming cash flows and the viability of our enterprise. Additionally, it is expected for the entrepreneurs to get better at introducing protected bags into the system and the number of bags treated per month is expected to increase. The initial quantity is approximately 20 bags per day (5 day workweek). This quantity will have doubled by the end of the fourth year.

The operational expenses and costs of running the facility are presented below:

Yearly Expenses

Equipment 10,000.00 ₨

Equipment Setup 2,000.00 ₨

Equipment Repair - ₨

Fees 1,000.00 ₨

Operational Expenses (per month)

Facility rent 2,000.00 ₨

Product preparer 1,000.00 ₨

Entrepreneur 2,000.00 ₨

Admin 200.00 ₨

In the table above, some of the line items will be added in later years such as the equipment repair. The costs of the facility will double as we increase the needed space for the staging of product and the salaries will also grow to remain competitive in attracting talent.

Yearly Expenses

Equipment - ₨

Equipment Setup - ₨

Equipment Repair 2,000.00 ₨

Fees 800.00 ₨

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Operational Expenses (per month)

Facility rent 4,000.00 ₨

Product preparer 2,420.00 ₨

Entrepreneur 2,420.00 ₨

Admin 484.00 ₨

Additionally, there are some other recurring expenses directly related to the production of the protective coating. The costs on these will increase as the expected number of treated bags is expected to increase:

Recurring Expenses (per product preparer per month)

buckets 800.00 ₨ storage 25.00 ₨ bags 5,120.00 ₨ Recurring Expenses (per preparer, per month)

bio-pesticide 56.70 ₨ binder 81.00 ₨ pigment 24.30 ₨ bucket 60.00 ₨ product loss 2.00 ₨ Traveling 175.00 ₨ Farmer Training 50.00 ₨

Using the assumptions presented above, a financial forecast was developed to calculate the expenses incurred in a year along with the forecasted revenues. The profit was then calculated and it becomes positive after the second year. Therefore, the break even point is shortly after the second year. The cumulative profits for four years near 18 million rupees and the expenses are approximately 14.6 million rupees. We will be using the cumulative expenses for four years as our asking investment capital.

Financial Forecast Summary

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year Expenses (634,234)₨ (2,151,254)₨ (4,412,452)₨ (7,401,685)₨ Revenue 424,800 ₨ 2,089,920 ₨ 5,903,040 ₨ 9,314,400 ₨ Profit (209,434)₨ (61,334)₨ 1,490,588 ₨ 1,912,715 ₨

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Ecological (Planet) Impact Forecast: The bio insecticide paint from locally source materials has a unique advantage of using natural waste material for the manufacturing of environmentally friendly product.

Use of Neem trees and its natural active compounds

Neem has powerful pest controlling activities and medicinal properties. More importantly, pesticides made from Neem are much safer compared to synthetic pesticides. The side effects of the synthetic pesticides can sometimes be more serious than the problems it intends to solve. They cause environmental contamination and are a great risk to human health. As a consequence, there has been an intense search for safer pesticides. Neem is extremely beneficial to prevent the environment from becoming polluted; since its in-florescence is purifying ‘with its feathery crests tossing fifty feet into the sky’ Neem is a veritable “Kalpataru” for giving healthy environs. Like other trees, it exhales out oxygen and keeps the oxygen level in the atmosphere balanced, and it also brings other environmental benefits such as flood control, reduced soil erosion, increased soil fertility, and less soil salinization. The Neem tree has been used in semi-arid regions in India, sub-Saharan, Asian and Central American geographies, and other tropical countries for rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and waste lands through reforestation.

In the urban environment, Neem trees are extremely useful because they have a remarkable ability to withstand air and water pollution as well as heat. Neem is a natural resource to keep environment clean. In villages and cities as well as on farms, it is useful as a windbreak. As a source of shade, it is excellent for parks, roadsides etc. Because of its many qualities, it is a common practice in rural India to have a Neem tree within the compounds of most houses. Finally, it is also a regarded as a valuable Indian forestry species.

Use of waste material

“Waste is food!”

In traditional settlements in many parts of the world, the age-old habit of returning household wastes to the food chain persists. Solid waste management is a serious issue for Indian agricultural fields. Our product proposes the future use of agricultural residues and waste. For example, straw, rice husks, weeds, peals, fibers can be added in the manufacturing of the paint thereby creating a win-win situation of solving the solid waste management problem and creative use of agricultural waste. The use of these materials can decrease the drying time as in the addition of rice husks. The high content of silica in these husks can be an additional moisture barrier. Some of the other materials mentioned can be used to strengthen the jute fibers.

Societal (People) Impact Forecast: Besides being beneficial to grain processors, our product can align with the social culture and provides benefits for local residents.

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Involvement of women and children

Our product gives a unique opportunity for women and children to get involved in the agricultural activities. The series of events and precision of ingredients in paint manufacturing resembles that of cooking and hence women can play a vital role in preparing paint using our product. Painting is always a fun activity for kids. Children can use their creativity in painting jute bags thereby adding hand to their families business by having fun at the same time.

Aligning with the festival of colors

The painting activity may coincide with the festival of colors (eg. Holi) thereby making villagers collect all the raw material together and synthesizing paint as a group activity. The cultural driving force will increase the cohesiveness in the society and at the same time will ensure the efficient use of local resources for paint manufacturing.

Increase the income of villagers

Villagers apart from farmers and processors will get benefited in the process since there will be opportunities for collecting, preserving and selling local recourses, selling natural colors etc.

Implementation, Controls, and Evaluation Measures of performance – meeting triple bottom lines

The main goal of our product is to make positive impact on society an environmental, societal and economic level. We have identified several measures that will enable us to track how well the project is meeting all its stated goals along with the three dimensions.

Societal

Increase in farmer’s/processor’s income Increase in farmer’s/processor’s social status Increase in the awareness of the use of local resources Increase in societal bonding Increase in women’s and children’s involvement in agricultural work

Environmental

Increase in the use of local resources Increase in the use of bio insecticides Reduction in the agricultural waste Increase in the fraction of reusable material

Financial

Increase in income Increase in quality of life Reduction of over-dependence on lenders

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Monitoring and evaluating performance on multiple dimensions

Performance Criteria Monitoring

Societal

Increase in farmer’s/processor’s income Measurement from sales and procurements over quarters

Increase in farmer’s/processor’s social status

Villager’s self perception (half yearly)

Increase in the awareness of the use of local resources

Villager’s self perception (half yearly)

Increase in societal bonding Biannual cultural survey

Increase in women’s and children’s involvement in agricultural work

Village population’s survey (annual perception)

Environmental

Increase in the use of local resources Data from procurement department

Increase in the use of bio insecticides Data from procurement department

Reduction in the agricultural waste Solid waste management authority data

Increase in the fraction of reusable material Data from procurement department

Financial

Increase in income Measurement of sales and expenses

Increase in quality of life Cultural survey

Reduction of over-dependence on lenders Survey of farmer debt

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i Prakash, Seema; Manjunatha, Shashikala; Shashikala, C. Morbidity patterns among rice mill workers: A cross sectional study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062021/ APPENDIX A Market research notes during field research The following notes are the transcription of notes from the interviews conducted in India during December 2012-January 2013. December 28, 2012 Household visits:

No electricity Stainless steel vessels to store grains Buy groceries every week or as required Husband, wife and 2 sons One of the son doing diploma in electrical engineering Rental house Living for 2 years Born and bought up in village and then moved to city

Shop visits:

Men’s clothing/tailoring shop No electricity, so difficult to satisfy customer’s demands on time Morning 9 to evening 9 except Sundays School uniform season profitable

Grain shop visit:

Processing-milling-storing-sending back to mills No boric powder use Outsource rice to hotels, shops etc. Seasons: regular, festival, feast Use of red chilies, turmeric in jute bags to store grains longer

Farmer 1:

Name: Subramanyam Grows rice 45-50 seeds/cultivation Was using cow, now uses tractor After ploughing 10 days again ploughsrest for 1 day check necessary

consistencyroots don’t get too far Natural manure: cow dung, weed, waste from plants etc Layers of seeds, sand, manure 78 kg sack Rs. 1200-1500 60 days before cultivations, plough, grow, tractor, natures vagaries Jute processing waste utilization Through experience (roots absorbing nitrogen) harvests after 90 days Multiple soil for rice/paddy/sugarcane/red chilies/pulses

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062021/

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June to Dec (90 days cycle) December to May (90 days cycle) Again May to June (90 days cycle) Post-harvest: If its raining, go to rice mill; if not store in storeroom Storeroom is made up of cement. 1-2 days/week spread/sprinkle BH10 chemical BH10 costs Rs. 20 Willing to shift to natural pesticides if it works with his logistics, availability, labor etc. Transportation: tractor (covered in sheet) government weighing 50 kgs gives about Rs. 1000

Farmer 2:

Name: Murgan From: Uttarmed Grows rice, ground nuts Grows 5 varieties of rice, out of these 3 varieties are prominent All varieties in 1 year Spends Rs. 6000 in harvesting and processing afterwards Harvestdirectly sell to dealer (paddy) dealer sends to the processing unit Farmer has no idea about transportation No storage, but believes that storage can improve economic condition Willing to use natural material if made available in the same price Buys seeds for the 1st cycle and then stores for next year 5 kg for 3 bags, Rs. 13/kg Stores grains in jute bags and spreads insecticide around Do not put any insecticide inside He gets 35 sacs worth of rice in 1 acre 1 sac=80 kg Post harvest loss reported at the farm level= 1 sac/acre = 80kg/acre Post harvest loss reported during transportation=0.5 sac=40 kg Post harvest loss reported in further processing=0.5 sac=40 kg In total, general perception of post harvest loss by farmer is that 6 out of 10 sacs worth of

rice can only be used for selling or consumption (so 40% loss) He buys jute bag for Rs.55 and believes that it lasts for 2 years Machine=wastage/spill out Manual labor= less loss Believes that he can make Rs. 200 more per sac i.e. per 80 kg if able store longer

Farmer 3:

Name: Ms. Anudha Grows ground nut, chilies, rice Harvesting methods: For groundnut-manual labor, For chilies-small amount by manual

labour, Rice-machine/tractor For rice: Rs. 1000-1500 per sac spends on harvesting (1 sac=70 to 75 kg) For groundnut: Pays Rs. 20/sac for transportation About 20-25 people involved in harvesting 2 acres worth of groundnut If stored, can sell at higher price (Reported Rs. 3000) but needs to get away at Rs. 1000

or so because of urgent need of money Use organic chemicals as pesticides

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Use jute bag for storage which costs about Rs. 50 per bag For seeds: dries in sunlight and then stores Stores rice for shorter period (about 2-3 sacs over 3 months)

IIT Research Park: Session 1:

Speaker: Mr. Rajesh NREGA: Communication and skill development Importance in local development Central government funds state government and then state government decides what

work to do “Act should adopt!” Need to address issues regarding what can be done to make it useful to the society

Session 2:

Speaker: Mr. Jayrajan AGE: A product for underprivileged Janma kit (5 pieces) customized WHO’s 6 principles for safe delivery Kit costs Rs. 110 80,000 to 100,000 women die in India because of lack of delivery safety infrastructure Section 25 company Challenges: No pharmacy, Somebody has to make sure it has to reach to the

beneficiaries Session:

Speaker: Mr. Kanan RTPI group Interaction between Science & Technology and People, Society and Environment ATM=Direct cash transfer Microspin textile 95% decentralized, next to agriculture, largest employers, export

foreign currency, inefficient Cotton yarn Skill gap: Malthusian catastrophy Population grows at geometric progression while food grows at arithmetic progression Demographic dividend By 2020 average age in different countries: Values in years: India (25), China (40), US/Europe (50+), Japan (70+) Without trainer, equipments, physical skills in digital way at much lower cost

One-to-one interaction with Mr. Kanan:

Energy vs. food “Biology violates second law of thermodynamics and environment” Toyota largest manufacturer of car, greater than #2, 3, 4 put together Mass production works when market has mass, but that does not work like that always.

eg: Everyone just likes to wear different shirts Integrating value chain Non-value adding

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Visionware.com: technology developed by IIT-Bombay professor

Call-center visit:

Allsec Technologies Ltd. Pan Am (1950): first to bring customer service concept 19990: GE capital international via telephone AT&T: Pioneer in toll free services Two types: contact center and call center ITES (Information Action Technology Enhanced Services) and IT industry VOIP: Voice Over Internet Protocol

December 29, 2012 Farmer 4:

Name: Shekhar Cultivating corn, rice, flowers 5 months to get matured and ripe and worn out Harder seeds Sells to dealer in market Method of transportation: trucks or 2 wheelers One acre=6-8 sacs of corn Pays Rs. 500 for transportation Color change of corn decision to harvest based on experience Stores rice for economic benefit Use chemical: Bridon 18 Does not store corn (storage expensive) Uses two types of sacs: 40kg and 80 kg Mostly uses 80 kg one Buys jut bag at Rs. 40-50 Lot of loss reported from using jute bags Uses plastic bags only when demand is high Jute bag lasts typically for 1 year Plastic bag lasts longer, but expensive Rice storage: pesticide inside rice Agri Labors: Rs. 150/day Employees at least 15 people for 1 acre Post harvest loss reported=2 bags/acre for rice Perceives that only natural calamities causes post harvest loss Process rice and stores grain in jute sacs for 2 months Storage facility: 9 x 10 ft., cement, roof, one ventilation, light Does not use hooks to lift Uses handles to lift Spends about Rs. 1000-1500 on pesticides every year Market price of corn=Rs. 8000 Education: 4th grade Well adapted to mobile phone technology

Farmer 5:

Name: Perimar

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From: Kadambaru Farming since 40 years Grows rice, sugar cane, local crop Has 3 acres of land Harvests 30 sacs per acre Harvests using machine Rs. 1100/acre for machine Sells paddy directly to the dealer Gets Rs. 1000 per sac Employees 30 people per acre No storage facility Earlier used to use barter system, but doesn’t not use it now Post harvest loss reported: 2-3 sacs/acre Use chemical insecticides: Pridol (spends Rs. 1000 each time) No storage as such, but seldom stores maximum 1-2 sacs Cultivation period: 90-105 years and 15-20 days after harvest For rodents: use chemical poison Jute bag cost Rs. 60. Does not use hooks for loading Groundnut: Rs. 5000/year/acre/harvest/bag Processing: DAP 50-60 fertilizer 50 Potash for base fertilizer nuts 25-

kalamwater supplymud additionpest 90 days harvest Willing to pay for rental storage Education: 3rd-4th grade No knowledge of mobile technology Seed: sunlight drying free of moisture jute/plastic bags Harvest to culture=2-3 months Seeds cost Rs. 35 per kg Uniform staking in storage

Farmer 6:

Name: Ms. Amudha Education: 9th grade Grows rice and groundnut Technology knowledge: basic SMS Preferable learning mode for technology: Video format Has 2 acres of land Grows rice in 1 acre. Gets about 20 bags/acre Grows groundnut in another 1 acre. Gets about 20-25 bags/acre Manual harvesting of groundnut Employees about 20 people/acre Rice: Rs. 1500/acre; machine harvesting No storage facility Uses jute sacs Does not use bio based insecticides Uses chemical pesticides only when affected PHL reported=1.5-2 sacs/acre Loss depends on kind of machines used No knowledge of machine

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1-2 sacs loss in the processing Groundnut: owns tractor for transportation, 2-3 people for loading and unloading, 20-25

sacs/acre of groundnut Each sac=Rs. 8000 Processing cost=Rs. 20/sac Buys sees at Rs. 1000 and sells at Rs. 8000 Rice: 8 bags/year for personal consumption Drying in sun process

December 30, 2012 Farmer 7:

Name: Kali Age: 40 years Land:2 acres Grows rice, groundnut, pulses and planning to grow sugarcane in future Why into sugarcane? Because of dearth of agricultural laborers, sugarcane is 1 year crop

(No need to worry about 1 acre), more profit, No pesticide needed No manual labor Rs. 1300/sac Total production=20-30 sacs No storage Directly deals with dealer Keeps 5 sacs for own consumption Jute bags for paddy storage Uses chemical pesticides Uses harvesting machine: 8 bags paddy capacity sheet into sacs: perceives 0.5 sac

loss in the process Rodent problem: current wires around the field Post harvest: 2 hours x 3 people x 20 sacs; people are hired by dealer Maximum profit by groundnut (Rs. 50,000) and sugarcane (Rs. 80,000 but cost of cutting

is high) Farm Visit/Harvesting Machine Demo:

Machine cost=Rs. 120,000 Renting machine=Rs. 4500/acre (process done in 1 hour) Comparison to agri laborers which cost around Rs. 3000-3500 Companies manufacturing saplings and directly put on the machine 120 days for growing sapling

Visit to Rice Processing Unit:

Sun dried for 2 days Storage room tank water added soaks for 10-12 hours *denser

steamcontainer dried (2 days) * lesser weight floats use as animal feed PHL perception: 25 bags due to fodder, moisture Feeds 75 bags gets back 50 bags worth rice

Interview with rice processor:

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He is a dealer, procures paddy Uses hooks Rs. 100 willing to pay for new bag Pays Rs. 32 now Uses needle to stitch Stitching done in 2-3 seconds Stitching not much durable Expectation from new bags: 1. Aeration 2. Rodent repellent 3. Rough and tough 4. Less

repair/maintenance Not much interested in using machine which directly puts the grain into bags Considerations: moisture, weight, natural/sunlight drying

December 31, 2012 Centroid Design Company:

Inspiration, story telling, innovation, trends (new/styles), new technology, special needs (eg. SPASTICS), human factors, sustainable

Tractor design: more muscular, lower chin Stethoscope for rural areas Incubators: Low cost/local servicing; light source; air-circulator (can be cleaned) Stacking tables/modular furniture Room freshener and soap dispensers Iterative processes, scenario specific Toilets for all: principle of universal design, age group, industry design Color indicator with visual identification Door opening: inside (for normal people), outside (for handicapped/elders) Inside space should be for 2-3 people Rs. 60000

Farmer 8:

Name: Perumal Age: 35 years Land: 3.5 acres Grows rice (1.5 acres), sugarcane (1 acre) , groundnut (1 acre) Education: 5th grade No technology knowledge; operates mobile with someone’s help Gets 30 bags/acre out of which 2 bags wasted No storage Dealer comes to the farm to get the produce Willing to pay for rental storage Uses chemical pesticides: Kiritol (solid), uses liquid pesticides when crop reaches

particular height PHL perception: comes from harvesting machine Renting machine to harvest: Rs. 1500 (dry) and Rs. 3000 (wet) Sells at Rs. 1000/bag Gets information about fair prices from TV, radio, newspaper, wealthy farmers Jute bags buys at Rs. 40 per bag; Good for 3 years Does not know where to buy new one Not willing to pay more for new bag

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Chain: Jute bag used bagfrom sugarcane mill wash Sprinkles BH 10 10% powder For rodents: poison, electricity PHL: 10-20% loss from transportation from filed to processing units For holes in jute bags: rubbing the holes with hands and it seals by itself For groundnut: 30 agri laborers needed, but only get 15-20 Use barter system to pay Free time: work in other’s farm Get paid Rs. 100/day for tilling by cows

Farmer 9:

Grows rice, groundnut, vegetables For rice: gets 30 bags/acre

Uses most latest model (rented) machine, so perceives no loss (Rent=Rs. 1200/hr) Total time=4.5 hours/acre to harvest Old machine: Rs. 1000/hour, losses 3 bags, 1.5 hours/acre

Pesticides: mix of natural plus artificial Fertilizer: DIP, complex, urea, potash Pesticides: Domogon, Karat Rodents: rat poison NO storage facility Dealer directly comes and picks up crop Price: fair price communicated by fellow farmers Never buys a jute bag Dealer never charges for a bag Agri laborers: for groundnut: 20 people/acre but gets only 5 Neem: uses in agricultural fields, crush and mix with soil, no boiling in water Outside field: Rs. 200/day Revenue: Rs. 30,000-45,000 for 25-30 bags

Farmer 10:

Name: Ms. Devi Education: 10th grade Farming since 4 years Also daily wage worker (gets Rs. 50-100/day) Paddy harvested by hand PHL perception: 0.5 bag (=40kg)/acre Needs 10 people/acre for harvesting Works as NREGA worker Not much income from farm Learnt from observations Harvesting process: on concrete land (150 m X 150 m), by hand, drive tractor over

January 1, 2013 Farmer 10:

Name: Yeteiyapa

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Age: 31 years Grows: rice, sugarcane, groundnut, flowers Uses chemical pesticides (Kilitap) Uses jute bags No storage Stores 8 bags for personal consumption (sun dried and then dark room storage) Rodents: uses rat poison (Dimit) PHL perception: due to machine, depends on height of crop Willing to purchase new bag as long as it does not affect the existing crop Sugarcane farming: Government sends vehicle to get sugarcane, 1 acre=40-50 tones, 15

people employees, Rs. 600/person/day, 1 tn=Rs. 2250 –selling price No loss in harvesting or transportation Uses hooks for 80 kg bag Works in neighbor’s during free time. Agricultural waste: burns and turns into ashes and spreads that over the field using water

Farmer 11:

Name: Ezumalai Age: 42 years Farm size: 3 acres Grows: rice, groundnut Stores paddy: 15 bags, uses boric powder (o.5-0.75 kg for 50 kg bags) at least once in 2

months Rodents: rat poison, groundnuts roasted, take out skin, mix with rat poison and feed Jute bags: from government bodies/committees: Rs.50 for new one and Rs. 20 for used

one. PHL perception: based on climatic conditions, rain, outside storage Loss: For 50 bags, loss of 2 kg of paddy Storage Room: closed to wall to prevent moisture contamination, husk on ground to

prevent moisture, 50 bags in one room of 25 ft X 30 ft x 9 ft (L X B X H) Agricultural waste: cow dung+urea+waste ballspankcake laid Pesticides: 20 kg total, each costs around Rs. 20, 12 kg of rat poison, each Rs. 60

Farmer 12:

Name: Ms. Rani Farming since 15 years Grows paddy, groundnut Owns 2 acres of land Employees 45 laborers for groundnut Dealer comes to the farm with machine and harvests and charges for that PHL perception: 4 bags for 2 acre Rodents: Electricity wires; government people not happy about that. Another rodent strategy: tomato cut into half, take out pulp and fill with rat poison Neem leaves around the bag 20-50 kg of neem leaves/bag Jute bags: Rs. 100/bag=capacity 100 kg, quality is good, lasts 4-5 years Husband educated till 10th grade and can make Rs. 100/day outside farming Agricultural waste: takes waste and converts to manure

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Farmer 13:

Name:Ms. Eettiammal Age: 55 years Husband: 68 years old From Kadambur village Grows primarily rice Net=Rs. 10,000/acre/each round of harvest 3 months to harvest Only income=agriculture (Rs. 20,000-30,000/year) Harvesting: machine, Rs. 2200/hour for rent, wastage depends on quality of machine, PHL perception: 1 sac out of 10 sacs wasted (depends on machine) Since 10 years using machine, before that by using hands Jute sac: Rs. 50/bag +Rs. 20 for packaging Put in jute sac and use it directly If stored, someone has to guard it in person Rodents: rat medicine with eatables, Dimit, Electric shock method Neem Leaves: a strip of leaves Neem Oil: sprays around field

Farmer 14:

Name: Siva Age: 30 years Occupation: Farmer+plumber Grows: rice, groundnuts, watermelons PHL perception: loss occurs because not harvested at right time Dealer procures from farmer and then sell to wholesale dealer Transportation loss= 2 kg each from farmer to dealer and from dealer to wholesaler Total loss=approx. 160 kg Time of harvesting is important, no difficulty in practices People are trained on harvesting machines Storage: neem+nochira

January 2, 2013 Harvester Visit:

Welcoming new idea of waste to electricity and manure Cutter conveyer thresherpaddy (direct to sac) weed PHL perception: 1 sac/acre

Farmer 15:

Name: Subramanyam Grows: rice, sugarcane, groundnut Land: 10 acres Deals directly with dealer No stocking Storage in only one place means rodents will directly attack Dealer packs rice in jute bags Good stitches, so no wastage during stitching process

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Rodents: electricity wires, rat biscuits, rat poison cakes (knows that should not touch it, if

you touch then rat smells it and don’t eat the food trap) Expectation from new bag: ready to use, inner lining, good quality

January 3, 2013 EID Parry:

225 year old plant First sugar factory in the country 12 moth old sugarcane procured 6000 tn/day (~1000 trucks) crushing capacity Has to be crushed within 24 hours after harvesting, otherwise bacteria will eat away Spread around 16 km area 8% actually turn into sugar Imbibition (crushed sugarcane+water) Pressure, temperature, level, flow, pH (Parameters: normal, actual) DCS control system by Honeywell Juice boils at 80 Ccrystallizationbrown colorrotor A, B, C gradesanimal feed

distillation Quality control: 48 parameters (ash color, solubility etc) Wet analytical lab, microbio lab, hot room

MSRRF Bio-Village:

Biovillage: pro-poor, pro-nature, pro-women, pro-employment Human being at the center Self replicating and self-sustaining Converts bioresources into employment to uplift the society Community managed Bio Industrial Wastershed-Villupuram NICR

John Deer Dealership Visit:

Marketing strategy: farmers considered mostly males but not females because they use it not females

Farmers pick up things very well. They are technically very strong Funding: from bank, agri funding Lot of men moving to cities, so women left in the farms to do agricultural work Multiple application of tractor (tractor=traction, whatever you want to treat it) 2% loss in wheat and paddy, process modification Level of mechanization: seed-bed (high), sowing (medium), harvesting (low) (0%)

January 6, 2013 Farmers 16,17,18:

Farm waste because of lack of cold storage Machine for wheat harvesting Progressive farmers association to help each other (60,000 farmers family, 500 farmers

currently member) Minimum procurement price varies biweekly like Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1250 to Rs. 1600

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200 x 50=10000 lb/acre=5000 kg/acre production Processing unit right at the farm Concept of organic farming Stores wheat in clay tanks Do not use jute bags, transports wheat in open trailer with plastic sheet on the top

January 7, 2013 Interaction with experts: Meeting 1:

50 million (1950) to 250 million (2013) 6-10 % PHL Harvesting: losses due to weather in July-August Storage: Government can only store 30% that is procured, rest is stored in open. Maximum loss occurs at farmers and traders level Need: to improve storage facility in villages, to improve local storage conditions Cool and dry environment (air tight) Temperature: construction material of low thermal conductivity Lack of awareness among farmers; training and facilities should be provided Moisture: 1% reduction in humidity, shelf life doubles Level of spoilage: sensors to identify starting of spoilage 3-20 qt. capacity metal bins to store grains (like one provided by Haryana government) Design of roof: roofing material (HT minimized), PUSA design (mud insulation, bricks to

prevent rats, polythene sheet in between mud and bricks) Quaintly-high (air flow fans) and low Storage and price fluctuation Quantification of loss: harvesting, storage Loss quantification database and what improvements can be made Combined harvester: speed of harvester Openings (inlet and outlet) not air tight Closing opening with mud Joints (moisture, insects)

Meeting 2:

Variations in value chain Wheat gets wet and changes its color; sold it as 2nd grade (can go as low as half the price) Every farmer saves at least 10% of total produce to buy supplies for next year Aggregation of produce (reason: small farm size) Value chain loss (“Nothing is waste”)

Meeting 3:

Fruits and vegetables loss-biggest issue Rs. 10 tablet for small farmers Use of datura Grading of vegetables Never sell wholesale produce in one market (eg. Oval tomatoes-last longer, round

tomatoes-perishes)

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Documents

Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative...Rice Processor Profile 12 Interviews and Translation 13 Southern India: Rice (main staple crop) 13 Northern India: Wheat (main staple crop) 13