Neem Tree Agro Solution was founded in 2019 by Dhiresh Kumar, Paras Jain, and Nishant Chauhan. Takes a phygital (physical+digital) approach. It’s a full-stack system that takes care of everything from sowing to harvesting. With functional retailers, stores tucked away in every nook and cranny.

Approximately 70% of rural households in India. Are reliant on agriculture, according to estimates. Most farmers use traditional agriculture, relying on their limited knowledge of crops. And agronomy to determine what crops to plant. How much fertilizer to apply when irrigating. What farm methods to use. Low crop yield and farmer income result. From a lack of knowledge combined with poor decision-making.

The Delhi-based Neem Tree Agro Solution. To overcome this problem with the use of technology. Offers a data-driven crop enhancement application called NT-Kisan. It aids decision-making and allows farmers to grow crops more.

The software keeps track of several factors. That influences the quantity and quality of output. NT-Kisan analyses and predicts the short- and long-term consequences. The quality and quantity of the product are based on these input factors. (soil type, weather prediction, soil health, and nutrients).

“The journey begins with the sowing of the seed. Dhiresh Kumar, Co-founder, and CEO of Neem Tree Agro Solutions. “Every recommendation is unique to the farm circumstances.”

The crop is planted and will provide regular updates. On weather, hydration, fertilizing, and pesticide. The ideas on how to put in place scientific approaches and important information.

“If corrective actions are not performed promptly in the event of a pest assault or a damaged crop. The crop may suffer irreversible damage.” In such circumstances. A simple photo of a damaged crop can be submitted to an app that can detect pest attacks on crops. And provide the most effective treatment. This is accomplished through the application’s picture recognition model,”.

Dhiresh explains

Neem Tree’s image recognition model has been trained. On hundreds of photographs and is hosted on Google Cloud. The business claims that the software can identify and recognize disease plants up to 95% of the time.

The app is based on data from a variety of sources. (Including climate, productivity, and topsoil). Which has been district-by-district segmented and grouped.

This is combined with agronomy knowledge to produce the greatest expected scenarios. Field visits are conducted on a month-to-month basis. By the agritech startup to meet the farmers and introduce themselves to the issues.

The USP (unique selling point)

Neem Tree aspires to be a marketplace for farmers seeking information on everything. From which plant to seed, how to develop, and where to sell. The startup has put a strong emphasis. On building a favorable relationship between the company and its target clients. This was accomplished by holding weekly and monthly field meetings. Farmers are the targeted clients.

Dhiresh explains “We’re one of the few final aggro players. And we own the farmer’s end-to-end connection.” We use data at every stage of the process from input selection. To deliver agricultural production, offer services, and add value to the chain. We provide a complete solution to farmers”.

He continues “An Indian farmer wants to be able to get all his needs met from a single store. Which is the input vendor.” “We mirror the same on our digital service with our physical presence. Kisan Suvidha Kendra — Kirana shops that order agro-based on behalf of farmers,”.

Farmers will enjoy Neem Tree Agro in three ways. First lower cultivation costs. While purchasing inputs increased farm output owing to quick. Second specialized advice. Third better farm gate pricing.

Dhiresh said, “As a result, farmers may see a net income increase of more than 50 percent,”.

The group

Dhiresh, Nishant, and Paras are friends from school. They realized the issues encountered by farmers. While wandering across Echelon and Urban areas as college students. In the second half of 2018 and wanted to design something. That would respond to their requirements.

Dhiresh explains“As a team of two engineers. And the other from an agricultural profession. We used to research and discuss. How we could tackle this interesting challenge utilizing technology,”.

Dhiresh is a BTech graduate. Of Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology who has worked in management. Company development, entrepreneurship development, and business leadership. He has also worked in brand development, architecture, and internal branding.

Paras, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), is an expert in online, application, and software development. Paras is a professional engineering student at Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Engineering. Where he has worked on graphic design, ethical hacking, artificial intelligence (AI/ML), and cloud computing.

Nishant, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). And President of Research & development activities studied healthy food. And agricultural management at Amity University and has five years of management experience. As a proponent of social rights, he founded the ‘Massomyiat’ project to combat child sexual abuse. Which gained widespread praise from organizations such as Doordarshan.

The founders, as well as one full-time employee, make up the team.

Monetization and funding

Neem Tree Agro began with a small investment of Rs 3,000. And has since received a funding of Rs 7 lakh from IIT Delhi. And funding of Rs 5 lakh from the NASSCOM Foundation to put its vision into action.

Dhiresh says, “We are in early conversations with financiers for Pre-Series A financing.”

Neem Tree specializes in a B2C strategy, offering something to do for manufacturers and growers.

“Our solution would be completely free, and after two to three seasons of association with Neem Tree. Each farmer’s transactions (on agri-inputs like seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides). Might total around Rs 45,000 per year,” says the company. The technique developed by Neem Tree is based on a model that is both cost-effective and long-term. He continues, “We split the agri-input margins with Kisan Suvidha Kendra.”

Kisan Suvidha Kendra also functions as a representative for Neem Tree Agro. Handling software downloads, distribution facilities, authorized outlets for returns and replacements, and placing purchases on behalf of farmers.

Dhiresh says “We don’t build retail outlets for the sale of agrochemicals. Since it entails a considerable capital burn and slower returns on investments,”. Our model is asset-light, making it the most extensible of any model currently available. Our customer engagements are completed by these nodes rather than sales personnel, lowering our customer acquisition expenditures to two figures.”