-
Essay / ITC eChoupal Initiative - 1353
The eChoupal has provided services that increase the efficiency of all stakeholders along the value chain. These services were offered through the website, which encompasses the feeling of “community”. The website includes real-time weather information and forecasts; best practices in agricultural approaches; crop information; market information; experts in panel form on general questions and personalized questions; and relevant news. The new services have completely revamped the old supply chain, significantly reducing inefficiencies highlighted in multiple interfaces throughout the chain. ITC introduced information technology to the agricultural sector in India. . The eChoupal kiosks were set up to facilitate a new supply chain. This new technology-integrated supply chain has solved several challenges in the past. The following sections will expose the inefficiencies of traditional supply chain management; describe the ITC eChoupal Initiative; and analyze how eChoupal improves the soy supply chain. The future platform will also be discussed.Traditional Soy SupplyThere are several inefficiencies in the traditional supply chain. Firstly, the only way to find out the prices is at the mandi. Even though farmers can predict the price of previous days, they cannot know the actual price in advance before reaching the mandi. In this way, they have to bear considerable logistical costs. Without real-time price and demand information, farmers cannot make effective decisions about when, where and how much to sell or produce. As the sale price is not discovered before reaching the mandi, farmers make low profits or even run into deficit, leaving them middle of paper ......uence their farming practices through the site d eChoupal information. Since their physical networks are installed over large areas, ITC may also want to apply the concept of eChoupal to some other products to exploit economies of scope. They can leverage e-Choupal supply to improve the efficiency of other products. In the future economy, the agricultural sector would be largely determined by consumer needs. The demand for variety would increase. eChoupal's physical network will consist of strategic locations where they can sort and route customized supplies to meet various needs. Additionally, the ITC may need to have the ability to trace the origin of products. Once e-Choupal is configured, ITC can easily integrate the needs of future consumers into the eChoupal network. The eChoupal has provided a solid business platform for the future.