The risks faced by the aqua farmers, arising from contaminated soil, wrong levels of salinity in the water or the killer 'White Spot' virus, could wipe out an entire shrimp crop, e-Choupal provided them the support and the know-how to cope with and manage such risks. Information equips farmers with comprehensive know-how to keep abreast of food safety norms to compete in the international market. All these factors help to neutralise the risks involved in aqua farming. Making it economically much more attractive, benefiting hundreds of aqua farmers.

A Dependable Knowledge Partner

Coffee planters in India have been victims of extreme volatility of the international coffee market, especially since price updates and prevalent trends in coffee trading were not available to them. echoupal.com has equipped India's coffee planters with appropriate knowledge base and risk management tools. The site arms them with the latest prices posted on commodity exchanges like CSCE in New York and LIFFE in London. Planters have access to technical analysis by experts to help them comprehend trends, trading ranges and chart patterns in simple language. Tradersnet, a special link on the site, brings together a large number of coffee planters, traders and roasters, creating a virtual market for transparent price discovery.

Continuing the expansion of its rural footprint, ITC scaled up the total number of e-Choupals to nearly 6,000. The reach of the initiative has widened to nearly 36,000 villages, empowering over 3.5 million farmers in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

During the year, significant progress was made in the marketing of products and services through the e-Choupal channel, with throughput doubling to almost Rs 100 crores. The channel now distributes products from 45 companies - both public and private sector - in categories ranging from FMCG and consumer durables to automotive and agri inputs.