Amazon has begun providing real-time guidance and information to farmers via a specialized smartphone app, and has even deployed machine learning technology in agriculture. Securing a consistent supply of fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs is seen as critical to Amazon’s dominance in Indian online shopping. The concept, dubbed Reactive and Proactive Crop Planning by Amazon, promises to supply producers with cutting-edge technologies and information.
Amazon is the latest corporate behemoth aiming to capitalize on the world’s greatest yearly crop of fruits and vegetables following China’s, joining Reliance Industries Ltd., Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart, and the Tata Group, which just purchased online supermarket Big Basket. They want to grow their companies by assisting in the modernization of a sector dominated by small farmers who are unable to get basic equipment from temperature-controlled warehouses and refrigerated vehicles, resulting in massive waste.
Amazon.com Inc. is taking the initial steps toward breaking into India’s ageing agricultural industry, seeking to obtain farm food that accounts for two-thirds of the country’s $1 trillion in yearly retail purchasing.
“Unless Amazon, Walmart, Reliance, and others break into the farm supply chain, they would be unable to achieve significant growth in e-commerce.” “Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consulting firm Technopak Advisors Pvt. “Gaining goodwill at the grassroots level by cultivating close relationships with farmers will enable them to obtain consistent, high-quality food at consistent pricing throughout the year.”
Amazon’s mobile app provides notifications and answers questions about soil, pests, weather, disease, and other crop-related issues, the company stated in a statement without elaborating. It can also provide machine learning methods for detecting flaws in fruits and vegetables. It will also assist farmers with sorting, grading, and packing food for shipment to Amazon Fresh fulfilment facilities.
“Such an effort is time-consuming, and it may be years before Amazon and others see benefits,” Singhal explained.