Bayer has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Superplum according to a release. Superplum is an agri-tech startup working to build a digital farm-to-customer supply chain and has been working towards solutions for India’s local agriculture issues since 2020.. The goal of this collaboration is to expand and implement a sustainable crop protection model for fruit growers in UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Eventually the program will expand to further states. The program is looking to economically benefit 15 thousand smallholder farmers in India over three years.
Bayer will work with Superplum to provide support for compliance, product scheduling and quality control to help achieve substantial growth in farmers’ incomes. Bayer will also develop crop protection packages and help to train farmers in new protection practices. Superplum will provide a scannable QR code to consumers to give them full product traceability.
“Nutritional security along with food security is a critical national and global imperative for the growing population,” said D Narain, president, South Asia, and global head of Smallholder Farming for Bayer. “To this effect, Bayer has launched a global ‘Nutrient Gap Initiative’ that aims to expand access to essential nutrients to 50 million people in underserved communities by 2030. However, we do recognize that to achieve this at scale a collaborative ecosystem is required and to further this critical agenda we are happy to partner with Superplum to create a holistic ecosystem that will help improve fruit growers’ incomes by sustainably enhancing market linkages and ensuring healthy produce for the end consumers.”
“Our focus has been on improving consumer choices for fresh produce by providing a fully traceable and MRL tested alternative,” said Shobhit Gupta, director and CEO, Superplum. “With our modern supply chain, we provide full traceability to consumers. With our joint efforts in the field and a technology first approach we will be able to provide full transparency to consumers as well as farmers. Improved practices of post-harvest technology and digital managed supply chain will help to reduce wastages and increase income to farmers.”
The partnership between Bayer and Superplum will help guide farmers to improve fruit quality and provide advising to increase productivity. Superplum will use science and technology to work to improve shelf life of fruits. Fresherato, Superplum’s IoT-driven technology, is a cold-chain transport system that will be used to carry fruit in a remotely monitored and controlled environment. This system helps reduce waste and increase shelf life without needing temperature-controlled transport.
