Arya Collateral showcased expertise in Philippines’ 16th edition of National Corn Congress

Arya Collateral, an Indian Agri-tech startup, participated in Philippines’ 16^th edition of National Corn Congress (PNCC). The event, organized by Philippines Maize Federation Inc. (PhilMaize) and the National Corn Congress, marks the joint celebration of their National Farmers Day. It was held virtually this year with over 3,000 participants and 20 eminent speakers from the agriculture industry.

Prasanna Rao, Managing Director Arya Collateral, participated as a resource speaker and showcased India’s work in the field of agri production. Rao said the startup has evolved to being the largest agri-warehousing service provider in India, while servicing mostly the smaller primary and secondary agricultural markets.

Roger Navarro, President Philmaize, at the event expressed his desire to replicate the Arya experience of Commodity Collaterized finance in the Philippines. He also suggested that it is the way forward for Philippines’ corn farmer and can help stabilize prices and supplies, and offer the best price and cost for farmers and consumers.

“We feel that corn is an extremely important value chain for a country like India where the dependence on commodities like wheat and rice has traditionally been very high,” Rao explained. “Post-harvest losses can be reduced manifold using innovative farm gate level storage and embedded commodities collateral financing. We believe that more accessible credit and storage can contribute to food security. Such financing is an important component of a holistic approach to making agricultural credit and professional storage more accessible and we are striving for that through all our initiatives.”

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Arya also highlighted its efforts in India to tackle the challenges that arrived due to the pandemic and also suggested how Philippines can opt for them and implement them at the local level. Their recent initiative, A2ZGodaam enables farmers and other value chain stakeholders to easily find agri-warehouses, access credit and other post-harvest solutions across India. Presently, about 3,000 warehouses, spread across 300 districts, are listed on the platform. They have an aggregated area of about 45 million square feet with a storage capacity of 7.0 million tonnes. Moreover, there are 76 service providers from insurance to local transportation that could be accessed through the platform.

Arya was established in 1982. In 2002, it forayed into agribusiness with a core business of warehousing and collateral management, and is now present across 20 states of India. The company is a significant player in the post-harvest agriculture ecosystem.