iFarmer has inaugurated their first Procurement Hub to facilitate farmers by collecting their produce and ensuring fair crop prices. The inaugural event took place today in the Birganj area of Dinajpur district.
During the post-harvest period in Bangladesh, farmers face various obstacles in selling their crops. Farmers are forced to sell their hard-earned crops at a nominal price to avoid the risk of the harvest getting rotten if the buyer refuses to purchase them later. Now, farmers can conveniently sell their crops to iFarmer’s Procurement Hub without worrying about incurring losses.
The hub has storage facilities of around 20,000 tons. It is located in the middle of the local markets where farmers can easily reach. The procurement hub will ensure farmers make more profit by eliminating the additional cost, time wastage, and other inconveniences. The hub has already started its operations by collecting paddy, rice, maize, and mustard seeds using a digital scale meter service for transparency to the sellers.
Currently, 500 farmers, 50 retailers, 50 Foriya, and 60 Suppliers are listed on the procurement hub. Among these people, Ayub Ali, a farmer who came to the procurement hub, expressed, “Earlier, we had to spend a lot of money to go to the town or village market to sell our crops. Still, we have never received the whole amount of money for the crops. But now, I can easily bring my crops to the hub, sell them, and get my money without any hassle.”
Fahad Ifaz, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, iFarmer, commented, “This Procurement Hub has been set to encourage farmers to produce good quality of crops and to support them in ensuring their fair earnings for the crops. We are hopeful that this initiative will play an important role in the journey of Smart Agriculture.”
Fahad Ifaz, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, iFarmer, and Jamil Mohiuddin Akbar, Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, iFarmer, were present as Chief Guests at the inauguration of the Procurement Hub. Other special guests were also present during the event, including Md. Humayun Kabir, Senior Agricultural Marketing Officer, Dinajpur Directorate of Agricultural Marketing; Md. Shariful Islam, Upazila Agriculture Officer, Birganj Directorate of Agricultural Extension; and Md. Moinul Islam, Inspector of Police (Investigation), Bangladesh Police (Birganj).
It is worth mentioning that iFarmer has plans to set up more procurement hubs in other districts besides Dinajpur.