Pune: At MahaFPC, QR codes on mangoes are helping buyers check even the tree from which a fruit was picked
Rahul Godse of MahaFPC said the feature was added to bring transparency in the system.
3 min read
Swapnil Gadi attributes the good footfall at his stall to the superior quality of the fruit harvested at his orchards in the village of Pural in the Sindhudurg district.A software engineer by training, 30-year-old Swapnil Ghadi’s stall in the ongoing Mango Festival organised by the MahaFPC, a consortium of Maharashtra farmer producer companies, at Marketyard in Pune has a good footfall. Ghadi attributes the sale to the superior quality of the fruit harvested at his orchards in the village of Pural in the Devgad taluka of the Sindhudurg district.
“What has tipped the scale for us is that thanks to the unique QR code on each mango, the customers can see the source of their mangoes — right to the tree from which the fruits were harvested,” he said.
MahaFPC’s ongoing Mango festival at their e Kisan Mart of Nafed has distinguished itself by allowing the customers to trace back the mangoes. Rahul Godse of MahaFPC said the feature was added to bring transparency in the system. “During the season of mangoes, consumers are often taken for a ride in the name of Devgad hapus (a variety of mango). There is actually no method to certify whether this is the real Hapus from the Konkan coast or not,” he said. Godse said given the flooding of mangoes and every box claiming to be the real Hapus, a system was needed to ensure transparency and traceability.
Godse added the solution they zeroed in on allowed them to complete the tracking of the fruit. Unique QR codes are generated and the information about the harvest like the geolocation of the fruit, when it was harvested etc is fed into the system. “Once the fruit comes to MahaFPC’s festival for sales, they (QR codes) are stuck on them. Customers can scan the codes and find out everything about the fruit,” he said. This feature has proved to be a hit with the consumers as it allows them complete transparency in the transaction, Godse added.
Unique QR codes are generated and the information about the harvest like the geolocation of the fruit is fed into the system.
For Ghadi, who was a web developer before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, this is the first time he has ventured directly in retail sales. Ghadi’s family maintains 1,000 mango trees spread over 20 acre and every year they harvest around 3,000 boxes of five dozen mangoes each. When the pandemic struck, Ghadi lost his job and decided to move to his village to take up the reins of the mango business from his father.
Normally, Ghadi, like other farmers in his region, used to sell their produce to agents who worked for traders in the Vashi market. “Normally, they paid us at Rs 600/dozen but in this festival we are getting around Rs 800/dozen,” he said. The orchard which Ghadi maintains is almost organic with very little usage of chemical fertilizers. This experience of direct selling has given him confidence to spread his business more. “May be next year we will venture into home delivery and exports too,” he said.
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