BL Agro Group Launches Agri Value Chain to Support Farmers & Agribusiness, Making UP A Self-reliant State

B L Agro Group, which comprises Leads Connect Services - an agritech company, Rohilkhand Laboratory & Research Centre (RLRC), BL Agro Industries, an FMCG company, and Laxmi Agro, a food commodity trading and export house, launched "Khet Se Kitchen Tak" solution at the India Food Expo held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

As the agri sector desperately needs to improve productivity and sustainability, this farm-to-fork solution offers just that. It creates market linkages throughout the agri value chain by clubbing the services provided by subsidiaries of the B L Agro corporate umbrella.

The ongoing three-day event, from 2nd to 4th November, was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the presence of Union Minister of State for MSME Shri Bhanu Pratap Verma.

All the services offered by all the group companies – Leads Connect, RLRC, BL Agro, and Laxmi Agro are displayed during the trade fair. A live demo was given for both Vtol and Agri drones to Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and Kapil Dev Agarwal Minister of State of the Ministry of Vocational Education and Skill Development of Uttar Pradesh. Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director, Leads Connect Services briefed them about the initiative as well as gave them a first-hand experience of flying the drones.

Four entities are synergizing the “Khet Se Kitchen Tak” initiative to provide full-stack solutions to ease problems for farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and agribusinesses. With Leads Connect Services providing precision farm advisory, financial, and crop risk management to the agriculture community; Rohilkhand Laboratory & Research Centre (RLRC) providing critical food testing, assaying, and certification facilities to agri-businesses at the farm gates; and BL Agro and Laxmi Agro providing market linkage, bringing finely curated, packed quality food material to consumers' kitchens through its extensive network of distributors pan India.

Ghanshyam Khandelwal, Chairman, B.L. Agro, says, "UP stands on a precipice. To achieve the vision of converting it into a trillion-dollar economy, we need to fuel its agriculture and food processing engine. That’s what makes us so excited and determined to build a sustainable and linked agri-ecosystem within the state. At its base, Khet Se Kitchen Tak is about supporting farmers and agribusiness, but if you zoom out, the initiative is about making UP a self-reliant and sufficient state that does not depend on anyone during any stage of the agri-value chain. While the initiative encompasses all food products from pulses to oil, we will be putting the spotlight on millets like ragi, jowar, and bajra as 2023 is the International Year of Millets."

"The changing global demands are outpacing what our current agricultural and food systems can achieve," comments Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director, of Leads Connect Services. "Currently, over 50% of India’s population depends upon agriculture to put food on the table. Yet, the sector contributes merely 20% of the national GDP. All these are signals of the dire necessity of a digital transformation, which is why we are fixated on building technologies that can drive the Khet Se Kitchen Tak initiative. Our objective is to bring the consequent benefits to every acre of farmland and stakeholder in the value chain."