Dhwani RIS aims to expand agri digital initiatives in North-East, South India
Dhwani Rural Information System (RIS) – which implements digital tools that streamline agricultural operations, enhance market access, and provide farmers with real-time weather information, prices in some States – is planning to increase its presence in north-eastern and southern states.
Swapnil Aggarwal, Co-Founder of Dhwani RIS, said his company’s work focuses on harnessing technology to empower farmers and agricultural communities, facilitating sustainable practices that enhance productivity and livelihoods. The company is implementing 75-80 projects in agriculture.
“Our primary objective is moving towards scaling the digitisation projects and technology solutions we’ve developed for various organizations across different regions of India,” he said.
Scalable proof of concept
Giving an example of Dhwani’s initiatives in the agriculture sector, he said it worked with GIZ and the Agriculture Insurance Company of India on crop insurance digitisation projects across Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. These projects focused on creating a scalable Proof of Concept for insurance onboarding, policy issuance, and claims settlement using mobile apps and geo-fencing, he said in an e-mail interaction with businessline.
“Our technology played a crucial role in forming the foundation for what became the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana platform, helping farmers access insurance more efficiently,” he said.
The initiatives of Dhwani have primarily focused on states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. It aims to increase its presence in North-East and South India, he said, adding the focus will be on promoting climate-resilient farming practices and zero-budget natural farming to foster sustainable agricultural development in these regions.
He said Dhwani’s core strength lies in acting as catalysts and collaborators, working alongside organisations deeply rooted in on-the-ground efforts. For instance, it partners with groups that promote farmer-producer organisations or those focused on smart and climate-resilient agricultural practices.
These organisations excel in their specific domains, bringing invaluable agriculture and community engagement expertise. Dhwani acts as a dedicated technology partner.
Unique advantage
“Since we work with so many implementing organisations, we have a unique advantage — we can easily scale projects across different regions. For instance, if something is working well in Gujarat, we can bring that success to Karnataka, and if a project in Karnataka is thriving, we can adapt it and roll it out in Gujarat. Since we collaborate with a variety of organisations that have expertise in different areas, it allows us to take what works in one place and apply it to another, making sure successful solutions reach more communities,” Aggarwal said.
Asked which technology has been emerging as a major player with a better success rate in the agriculture sector, he said India is a diverse linguistic country, and software or technology that has voice-based interfaces have a very high adoption rate in comparison to other technologies which have a mobile or a web interface.
Gen AI and LLM (large language models) have enhanced the experience of voice-based interaction and have made it very personalised.
He said Dhwani’s insurance project was its first experience using LLM, marking a significant step in leveraging advanced technology for its operations. “We plan to further integrate this technology into our upcoming initiatives, expanding its role to enhance efficiency and innovation,” he added.