Exclusive Interview with Rajesh Ranjan, Founder of Krishify

Agritech not only outperformed other industries during the peak of the pandemic, but the pace of digitization in the sector also accelerated to a great extent. Krishify is a technology organization working in the agriculture space. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Rajesh Ranjan, Founder of Krishify.

1. Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

Krishify is a technology organization working in the agriculture space. We have built a social network for farmers to get information related to farming techniques, weather, crops, mandi rates, animal husbandry etc.

Additionally, we have also bridged the gap between farmers and businesses by building a digital marketplace that farmers can browse through to buy agrarian products such as seeds, fertilizers, tractors, equipment, and even cattle.

Our strength lies in the personalized user experience we provide to farmers that are enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven algorithms that we have built in-house.

2. With what mission and objectives, the company was set up? In short, tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

India's agriculture ecosystem is mired with many challenges for farmers such as information asymmetry, lack of awareness about sustainable farming techniques, limited options and avenues to buy agrarian products, and poor market linkages for crops and dairy products.

Krishify was built to address these glaring issues so that farmers can seek the right information on best practices associated with farming, and consequently increase their income level.

We are proud to see how our products have helped to resolve these traditional issues for farmers through our content-centric, information-rich, and trusted digital network where farmers are at the center and can connect with other stakeholders such as fellow farmers, Agri scientists, experts, agribusinesses, engaging in information exchange and business transactions.

3. Brief us about the Founder Team of the company and their contributions to the company and the industry. Please share some major achievements of Krishify under your leadership

Krishify was founded by three friends from IIT – Rajesh Ranjan who leads as the CEO, Manish Agrawal who is the CTO, and Avinash Kumar who is the COO. All of them have played a significant role to build the online community of farmers and the subsequent marketplace integration.

With their efforts, Krishify has skyrocketed to reach more than 7 million farmers. Already, we have seen an influx of more than 200 businesses who have listed their products on Krishify targeting communities of farmers.

4. Tell us how your company is contributing to the IoT/AI/Big Data Analytics/Robotics/Self-Driving Vehicles/Cloud Computing industry of the nation and how the company is benefiting the clients.

At Kishify, we have engineered an Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning enabled algorithm to give personalized user experience to farmers. The level of personalization that we have achieved has helped farmers to resolve their individual challenges such as seeking information related to pest attacks, for instance.

We are a pioneer in establishing a rural social network that is built using sophisticated AI and ML-driven technology. In the agri-technology industry, we have connected the greatest number of farmers in the shortest span of time.

5. Kindly mention some of the major challenges the company has faced till now.

Considering the limited extent of the internet bandwidth in rural India, we knew it wasn't going to be easy to nudge farmers to adopt digital media. However, we started deploying several behavioral science tactics to acquire users and push them into the habit-forming stage.

6. What are the key trends driving the growth in AI/Machine Learning in Agri Space?

There are various key trends that are shaping up agritech space in India and across the globe. Some of the promising technologies are predictive analysis that can identify the output yield and forecast prices through real-time sensor data, usage of drones in smart farming, surveillance systems to monitor farms to avoid animal breaches, etc.

To share an experience, at Krishify, we are leveraging computer vision to help experts in identifying crop diseases and resolve farmers' queries quickly.

The application of AI and ML technologies is certainly going to revolutionize farming and make it more sustainable for future generations.

7. What are your growth plans for the next 12 months?

We are bullish about our organization's growth and are eyeing connecting 10 million farmers by 2024.

8. How is your company helping customers deliver relevant business outcomes through the adoption of the company's technology innovations?

Farmers lie at the core of Krishify's existence. We have built a digital marketplace from where they can buy agrarian products from agribusinesses of all sizes and shapes. Some of the items that are listed on our platform are seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, cattle, chaff cutters, water pumps, etc.

In simple terms, Krishify connects millions of farmers with businesses to engage in transactions.