A Year after venturing into the business of cellphones and insurance,farmers marketing co-operative,Gujarat Co-operative Society Marketing Ltd (Gujcomasol),has decided to go back to what it does best selling seeds,fertilisers and farm products. Its experiment where it tied up with corporates to sell mobile phones,Sim cards and insurance products to farmers failed to achieve good results as they eyed to tap the rural markets through the farmers co-operative in Gujarat. Gujcomasol had joined hands with the IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL),a joint venture of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) and Bharti Airtel Ltd. On offer were mobile telephony and mobile Internet with handsets specially designed for the rural market. It introduced farmer-related services,including updates on crop,weather,and prices of commodities. Airtel was using IKSL as a vehicle to reach the rural masses. But within a year,the tie up could fetch business worth Rs 2 crore only even though Gujcamasol has a customer base of 2.9 lakh. Manoj Patel,in-charge CEO,Gujcomasol,said: We didnt have expertise of mobile handsets and handling of the various schemes. New schemes were being launched every 24 hours and we were not able to keep up with the pace. Therefore,we decided to stop marketing them. The Rs 1,500-crore co-operative marketing giant is now planning to sell only agricultural products. We want to focus on selling agriculture products,which is our strength. We think we dont have the expertise to sell non-agriculture products, Patel added. IKSLs alternative plan Having failed to tap the states rural market through Gujcomasol,IKSL is now in the process of reviving its business by setting up a distributor at the taluka level with a collective of 25 to 30 farmer societies. This society will reach out to the customer faster and give quick returns to IKSL. The company is engaged in distribution through its three-tier channel to farmers throughout Gujarat in cooperative structure. Gujcomasol has around 5,000 cooperative societies and 2.5 crore families are associated with it IKSL has agreed that the model is not efficient. Sim cards and cellphone handsets come under the category of fast moving consumer goods. The model of selling it through the apex body in the state was a mistake. We have now redesigned the model, said S K Tyagi,VP,Cooperative Coordination,IKSL. ISKL has 28,000 cooperative societies retailer network across India. It is expected to reach to 36,000 cooperative societies by this year-end.
