Bayer, a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of agriculture and healthcare has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cargill, a global food corporation that creates connections across the global food system to help the world thrive.
This strategic partnership aims to revolutionize the agricultural landscape by offering farmers innovative solutions and facilitating optimal price realization for their produce.
Drawing upon the capabilities of innovative platforms such as Cargill’s ‘Digital Saathi’ – a mobile-first, AI-driven service platform tailor to hyper-localize needs, and Bayer’s Better Life Farming Centres, that supports over 500,000 smallholder farmers, this strategic partnership is dedicate to improving market access for smallholder farmers.
Together, Bayer and Cargill are commit to equipping farmers with digital solutions, including discussion forums and comprehensive information on market prices, weather forecasts, and pre- to post-harvest insights.
Bayer’s eCommerce strategy involves expanding tailored solutions through the Digital Saathi app, starting with corn farming in Karnataka and later expanding to other crops and regions.
By collaborating with Food Value Chain Partners, the aim is to revolutionize and sustainably impact the agricultural sector.
This partnership also provides farmers access to Bayer’s leading corn portfolio, DEKALB®, on the Digital Saathi Platform, enhancing their agricultural capabilities.
Additionally, Cargill’s Digital Saathi platform offers convenient Crop Input e-commerce and Crop Sell Offer features, ensuring farmers have improved access to high-quality crop inputs and facilitating market linkages between farmers and aggregators through a digitally enabled marketplace.
This integrated approach aims to enhance farmers’ decision-making capabilities, streamline agricultural operations, and foster efficient and seamless connections within the agricultural ecosystem.
Digital Saathi has already successfully engage with more than 50,000 register small farmers and is project to expand its reach to 3 million farmers across eight states, including Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh by 2027.
In line with Cargill’s global objective of providing sustainable agricultural practices training and improving market access for 10 million farmers by 2030, the introduction of Digital Saathi represents a significant stride toward achieving this goal.
Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Divisional Head, Crop Science Division of Bayer for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said :
“Access to advisory, quality inputs, credit, technologies, or markets is one of the biggest enablers to unlocking smallholder value, and it lies at the very core of what this partnership is all about. We also believe that digitization is key to this exercise therefore we are looking at leveraging all relevant digital tools to ensure that we are able to deliver greater value to the smallholder farmers and create for them a level playing field.”
Simon George, president of Cargill in India, said :
“As Cargill, we are dedicated to creating innovative digital solutions, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Bayer to foster a productive and profitable ecosystem for farmers across India. This partnership marks a significant milestone in our journey towards sustainable and prosperous agriculture. By leveraging our combined strengths, expertise, and global networks, we remain steadfast in our commitment to support farmers worldwide and cultivate a resilient and inclusive food system.”
Founder of Digital Saathi, Raman Saxena said :
“We initiated the introduction of farm advisory subscription and farm management services (soil testing) on our platform earlier this year, aiming to provide farmers with a comprehensive solution for their agricultural requirements. Through this partnership, we aim to provide access to wide range of quality inputs and implements to farmers via Agri Input Market place which will improve their yields and simultaneously provide holistic solution for maximizing farmers income.”
Accessible in multiple languages, including English, Kannada, and Hindi, Digital Saathi caters to farmers in various districts of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, facilitating improved decision-making processes.
This partnership between Bayer and Cargill endeavors to connect with 3 million farmers across India within the next five years.
Initially, the partnership will be implement in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh and subsequently expand to other regions.
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition.
Its products and services are design to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population.
Bayer is commit to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses.
At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth.
The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2022, the Group employed around 101,000 people and had sales of 50.7 billion euros.
R&D expenses before special items amounted to 6.2 billion euros.
About Cargill
Cargill helps the world’s food system work for you.
We connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients and families with daily essentials—from the foods they eat to the floors they walk on.
Our 155,000 team members around the world innovate with purpose, empowering our partners and communities as we work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, sustainable way.
From feed that reduces methane emissions to waste-based renewable fuels, the possibilities are boundless.
But our values remain the same.
- We put people first.
- We reach higher.
- We do the right thing.
It’s how we’ve met the needs of the people we call neighbors and the planet we call home for 157 years—and how we’ll do so for generations to come.
