SLCM launches foodgrain quality check mobile app

SLCM launches foodgrain quality check mobile app
The rollout of the app is expected to give impetus to a large-scale behavioural and institutional change and influence the adoption of digital technology throughout the Indian farming ecosystem

New Delhi-based, leading agri logistics company, Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM) has announced the official launch of the beta version of a quality check mobile application for agricultural commodities under its proprietary AgriReach umbrella recently.

Initially introduced for wheat, which is a staple foodgrain in most parts of India, the app’s capabilities will be progressively extended to include other important foodgrains and pulses like chana (chickpea), maize, rice, guar (cluster bean), moong and tur (pigeon pea) over time.

The “AgriReach Mobile Quality Check App” allows the user to get on the spot assessment of the commodity’s sample within minutes, without having to use equipment like a sieve, weighing scale or to take it to a lab for testing.

Speaking on the launch, Sandeep Sabharwal, CEO, SLCM Group, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to officially launch the path-breaking AgriReach Mobile Quality Check App for a 360-degree evaluation by a cross-section of stakeholders that includes processors, traders, exporters, importers, government agencies and financial institutions such as banks at the onset of the 2021 festive season. This first-of-its-kind solution is entirely a result of 4 years of intensive research by our in-house team of experts. The test results are agnostic of the total sample weight as they are assessed based on its image.”

“The app’s rollout is part of our commitment to provide our customer base with agritech solutions embedded in the software as a service (SaaS) model,” he added.

The app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store on handheld devices like mobile phones and tablet PCs running on the Android OS. The SLCM Group has applied for a patent on the AgriReach QC app in August 2018.

Application Model

Getting a quality check done through this app will be as easy as taking an image. Just clicking the photograph of a wheat sample and submitting it through the app will get it analysed for multiple quality parameters. In return, the user will get a quality report with the photographic evidence evaluated on specifics like damaged, shrunken, shrivelled or immature grains, foreign matter and a host of other physical parameters like height, length, grid, colour and pattern of the commodity.

The results are automatically compared with pre-fed data in the back-end system, which will regularly update itself using a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) with Python programming language, on a real-time basis.

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Elaborating on the technical aspects of the app, Rakesh Kumar Rana, Chief Business Officer (Digital Initiatives), SLCM Group, said, “The AgriReach app’s on-ground utilisation is expected to tremendously help improve the fidelity of the commodity quality checks and disseminate the instantly obtained QC results in a secure and transparent environment to drastically reduce the turnaround time in comparison to the task being performed manually. SLCM is looking at achieving up to 90 per cent accuracy with the results over a period of time. Presently offered in English, the usability of the interface will be further expanded with the inclusion of several other widely spoken Indian languages and additional functionalities in the near and medium-term.”

The rollout of the app is expected to give impetus to a large-scale behavioural and institutional change and influence the adoption of digital technology throughout the Indian farming ecosystem.

AgriReach Umbrella

The AgriReach QC app for agri commodities is the latest addition to the solutions available to SLCM customers under the AgriReach umbrella. In a country like India, where post-harvest losses are pegged at nearly Rs. 1 lakh crore, SLCM’s has helped substantially reduced these losses to 0.5 per cent at warehousing facilities under its management. This has been achieved through the deployment of the AgriReach process management system. The framework combines a series of processes, audits and real-time tracking of the facilities to give error-free results and minimise the risk of damage to stored crops. It uses techniques like geo-fencing, real-time tracking, bar-coded storage receipts to avoid thefts or pilferage and internal audits with a ‘maker and checker’ policy at each level of operation.

Also, since April 2021, SLCM has started executing its warehousing contracts using the proprietary ‘AgriSuraksha’ solution that incorporates the latest Internet of Things (IoT)-based surveillance technology. This enables real-time monitoring and interaction with the personnel at storage sites agnostic of infrastructures like availability of electricity or the fact that the grains may be stored in open ground under the sky with no roof on top as well.

SLCM Group

Founded in 2009, SLCM Group has created a business model where efficiencies of physical delivery are ensured through a strong technology backbone to provide an “inclusive ecosystem” of agri logistics services including warehousing management, procurement, collateral financing and agritech, in India and Myanmar. The company currently has a network of 7,199 warehouses and has disbursed loans to farmers worth Rs. 2,332.66 crore in the last three years through its Kissandhan unit. The firm offers its services to farmers, processors, traders and commodity exchanges. By September 2021, SLCM had directly impacted the livelihoods of over 3.88 crore people and positively touched the lives of another 19.40 crore people.

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