AEGF-Mastercard launch Bharat Kisan Manch portal for farmers, agri entrepreneurs

The Agri Entrepreneur Growth Foundation (AEGF) and Mastercard on Thursday launched the Bharat Kisan Manch, the former’s digital platform for farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs.

“This collaboration will accelerate the digitisation of millions of smallholder farmers and tens of thousands of rural entrepreneurs incubated by the Foundation. This will help the smallholders to enhance their income by reducing the input cost and increasing the output price, and will provide access to credit and crop advisory, leveraging the Bharat Kisan platform,” a company release quoted Rajendra Jog, Director, AEGF, as saying.

The AEGF is the implementation arm of Sygenta Foundation.

The Bharat Kisan Manch
It will be powered by Mastercard’s Community Pass; this, in turn, will make it easier for farmers to get paid more, and faster, for their produce, the release stated.

By combining the digital infrastructure of Mastercard’s Community Pass with AEGF’s agricultural network, farmers can gain access to new marketplaces, as well as a much wider pool of potential buyers.

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh are the first states where the portal will be introduced, and gradually expanded to other parts of the country.

The collaboration is part of AEGF’s commitment to equip 20 million (2 crore) smallholder farmers with digital tools and financial services, and, in the process, create sustainable livelihoods for 100,000 agricultural entrepreneurs by 2030.

The initiative aims to benefit farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs over the next three years.