Digital marketplace pilot helps boost farmers’ earnings in Himachal Pradesh
A proof of concept digital market place, implemented in Himachal Pradesh by JICA DXLab, the digital lab venture of JICA and BCG, has shown promising results in using digital tools to increase the small holder farmers incomes and reduce post harvest losses.
The market place, implemented in collaboration with agritech firm DeHaat and with the support of Himachal department of agriculture in districts such as Solan and Mandi, helped connect farmers directly with the collection centres of the farm produce.
The multi-stakeholder collaborative initiative was aimed at improving farmer incomes by creating direct market linkages, reducing intermediaries, and ensuring better price realization.
More than 1,000 farmers were on-boarded on digital market place and the initiative led to an average 10-11 per cent price increase over the mandi price for farmers who traded their produce through the digital platform, said Sushma Vasudevan, Managing Director, BCG, which orchestrated the project.
The key aim of the proof of concept was to address the long-standing challenges in agri-value chain such as the lack of transparency, involvement of middle man and lack of market linkages, which often reduce the farmer earnings by over a tenth.
Vasudevan said the digital market place has enabled farmers to access real-time market data and pricing, and sell produce through the local collection centres with digital tracking, receive payments directly into bank accounts and reduce post harvest losses through integrated inventory management, real-time logistics and storage solutions. The platform was customized for Himachal’s context given the state’s hilly terrain challenges.
Nishtha Vengurlekar of JICA said the DXLab looks at digital interventions within existing JICA funded projects. “In Himachal, we were trying to see how farmers’ income can be improved through crop diversification away from wheat and paddy cultivation,” she said
The pilot initially focused on tomatoes, given Himachal Pradesh’s seasonal patterns, with peas included as another targeted crop. While the proof of concept centered on these crops, farmers later used the platform to trade other produce, such as cauliflower, even though these were not part of the original design. “We are looking at how we could use this model in the other JICA projects,” Vengurlekar said.
The platform was not integrated with APMC systems but operated as a third-party solution, supported by the state for last-mile execution. “I think this is a good lighthouse project, not only to figure out what’s the right way to scale up a digital marketplace, but to take any app tech solution to market through effective collaboration across stakeholders,” Vasudevan said.
Published on September 24, 2025
