Bayer ties up with two firms for financial digitisation of 1 crore small farmers in India

Global life sciences firm Bayer on Wednesday announced its tie-up with Rabo Partnerships and Mastercard for a five-year programme that aims to help 1 crore small farmers in India gain easier access to formal financial services.

The programme is part of Bayer's commitment to reach 10 crore smallholder farmers worldwide by 2030 with much-needed inputs, digital tools and financial services, the company said in a statement.

''Through this partnership, smallholder farmers will not only gain easier access to agricultural advisory services and direct market linkages, but also build their credit profiles and lower their input costs through access to institutional credit, allowing them to increase efficiency, improve crop yields, and grow their profits significantly,'' said D Narain, President, Bayer South Asia and Global Head of smallholder farming.

Bayer's FarmRise, a digital platform for android mobile users, provides various digital advisory services to smallholders today, and through Mastercard's 'Farm Pass' digital platform, farmers will gain access to new marketplaces and a much wider pool of potential buyers, enabling them to improve their livelihoods in a commercially sustainable way.

Rabo Partnerships, a subsidiary of the Rabobank Group, will enable access to financial services over the platform by the Indian financial sector, by enabling data-driven credit scoring, credit analytics and product development within the partner financial institutions, the statement added.