Indian aquaculture technology company, Aquaconnect, announced the opening of Aquaconnect hubs, a first of its kind direct to farmer initiative to help farmers accelerate technology adoption, improve last-mile connectivity and also source feed, health products and farm equipment. The first HUBS have been launched in the coastal cities of Andhra Pradesh - Bapatla, Ongole and Avanigadda. The company plans to launch 25 hubs in the next two years in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat and aims to engage more than 45,000 farmers.
Aquaconnect hubs will also enable direct connection to banks for farmers to secure loans. The company has empaneled leading banks and facilitates aquaculture loans to the fish and shrimp farmers. The HUBS will provide farm advisory solutions and act as a diagnostic center for aquaculture.
The company witnessed 10x growth during the pandemic. The agri-sector had a limited impact of COVID-19 and it is the right time to improve the ecosystem for aquafarmers, according to the company. The hubs will improve the support system for farmers and provide services on the ground today.
A World Economic Forum - Young Global Leader, Rajamanohar Somasundaram, CEO and co-founder of Aquaconnect said that “it is exciting to nurture a very underserved aquafarmer market. A brick and mortar approach will bridge and accelerate technology adoption for aquafarmers and encourage sustainable growth of the seafood industry. The industry is exploding with opportunities, and we believe that Aquaconnect HUBS will holistically serve the farmers to better their product quality, output, and eventually farm income.”
Aquaconnect works with more than 17,000 fish and shrimp farmers and helps them with its AI-powered farm advisory solution FarmMOJO which supports farmers to monitor and track farming activities such as a change in water quality, feed intake, shrimp growth and disease occurrence precisely. The full-stack aquaculture technology venture improves farm productivity and sustainability through AI and satellite remote sensing technologies.
