Innoterra & AEG Foundation partner to enable the transformation of 500,000 farmers

Innoterra, a Swiss-Indian food and tech platform company, has entered a partnership agreement with the Agri Entrepreneur Growth Foundation (AEGF), set up by Tata Trusts, IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative, and Syngenta Foundation to serve smallholder farmers in India through their agri entrepreneur network.

The partnership provides Innoterra Platform Services access to all AEGF clusters, setting the stage for a rollout of its hi-tech and high-touch Farmer-360 services for taking up dairy activities and work as a partner of AEGF for market input/output linkages to enable 60 to 100% increase in farmer incomes over 3-5 years. Around 500,000 small holder farmers are associated with AEGF. Innoterra will kick-off pilots in first identified village clusters to onboard ~100,000 verified farmer members in the next quarter. This partnership marks the beginning of a 24-month rollout plan to connect all AEGF’s verified members across India to the Innoterra platform.

Innoterra brought together its incubated companies, including India’s leading fruit producer-exporter Desai AgriFoods and dairy company MilkLane, under its corporate umbrella in 2021. The company has already connected more than 100,000 farmers to its hi-tech and high-touch Platform Division. Innoterra platform provides 360-degree services encompassing farm inputs, data-driven advisory, traceability and market access to smallholder farmers in India.

Speaking about the partnership, Rajendra Jog, chief executive officer of AEGF, said, “From its inception, AEGF aims to connect small holder farmers with various opportunities that can help them increase their livelihood income. This arrangement with Innoterra will add to the income of the small holder farmers and provide opportunity for active engagement of women members of family. The 360-degree service in livestock with cattle on demand is unique intervention and AEGF is excited to extend these services to the maximum number of small holder farmers associated with them.”

Dinesh Poduval, chief operating officer, Innoterra Platform, said, “This partnership is an incredible opportunity for Innoterra Platform to roll out our dairy value chain services to AEGF members. Innoterra has extensive experience working with India’s smallholder farmers to deliver high-quality and traceable produce, value chain efficiency, scalability, and better access to markets and credit. The DNA of Tata Trusts and Syngenta Foundation have made AEGF a powerhouse in transforming India’s rural economy. Together, we are confident that we will create many more farm- preneurs on a sure path to increase their income multifold in the 5-year horizon.”