Over 1 lakh farmers to get affordable micro greenhouse

BENGALURU, 15 July 2021: Samunnati, a specialized Agri Value Chain Enabler has announced its partnership with Hyderabad-based Agritech startup Kheyti to deliver Kheyti Rakshak to over 1 lakh farmers in the next 4-5 years.

As part of this partnership, Kheyti is rolling out the first 100 kits to farmers across Telangana and Karnataka. Under this partnership potentially USD $150Million (INR 1000 crores) will be deployed by Samunnati to make this model reach 1 lakh smallholders.  This will enhance the income levels of over 1 lac farmer families, significantly.

Kheyti helps smallholder farmers battle climate change through the Greenhouse-in-a-Box, a low-cost greenhouse bundled with end-to-end services. It developed world’s cheapest greenhouse to grow quality vegetables even in off seasons. The company provides greenhouses with digital services to help farmers double their farm incomes.

In line with the company’s vision to accelerate agritech momentum across the country, Samunnati will offer farmers loans to purchase the Kheyti Rakshak, a Greenhouse-in-a box affordable, modular solution bundled with full stack services, which will help scale the solution to over 1 lakh farmers in the country.

Recognising the significance of Climate Smart Agriculture as the need of the hour, Samunnati has collaborated with Kheyti to deliver Kheyti Rakshak, an affordable and innovative solution to farmers at INR 1 lakh, which is 80 percent less expensive compared to other alternatives in the market.

Designed for smallholders, the Greenhouse, Kheyti Rakshak fits in 2 percent of their land, costs 90 percent lower than regular greenhouses, protects crops from environmental risks and grows 7x more food with 50x water efficiency.

Commenting on the partnership,  Anilkumar SG, CEO and Founder at  Samunnati, said, “Digitalisation is changing the face of the Indian agriculture ecosystem and as the country prepares for Agri 4.0, promoting sustainable agricultural practices which can minimise impact on the environment and maximise gains to the farmers will be crucial. At Samunnati, we have always believed in collaborating with the industry to help the agri ecosystem operate at a higher equilibrium. We are excited about our collaboration with Kheyti and together we look forward to bringing the benefits of innovative agri solutions to the smallholder farmers across India.”

Sathya Raghu, Co-founder and President, Kheyti, said, “Kheyti developed ‘Kheyti Rakshak’ to increase incomes of the ultra-poor women farmers in the country, in a market based model. We are making vegetable farming predictable and profitable. We innovated a fantastic greenhouse. We stabilized our crop practices with a portfolio of the vegetables consumed in India like Tomatoes, Onion, Cabbage, Carrots, Okra and the like. Our digital advisory ensures ongoing support in growing and selling. We intend to partner with relevant farmer focused organizations across India and the world to grow at 4x to 5x every year and reach a 100,000 farmers by 2025. Also, we wish to be the go-to place for the smartest people who want to solve the toughest problems in India agriculture.

According to the International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC, 2013) agriculture, forestry and the change of land-use, account for as much as 25 percent of human induced GHG emissions globally.