What Happens When Jaggery Farmers Negotiate Back

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My NoSmalltalk session with Sachin Jagtap

by Albert Schiller

Disrupting established agricultural markets often conjures images of large-scale tech platforms or venture-backed logistical overhauls.

However, my conversation with Sachin Jagtap illuminated a different, arguably more grounded, approach. His intervention in the sweet potato market within his native Satara district provides a practical, replicable model for grassroots market disruption. It’s a system built not on abstract technology but on deep market research, direct farmer engagement, quality differentiation, and the strategic introduction of transparency at the crucial point of sale – the farm gate itself, fundamentally altering the farmer's position within the value chain.

Inherited Data: The Push and Pull of Family Legacy

Sachin, choosing grassroots work over an MBA after his agriculture degree, first immersed himself in understanding the core problems facing farmers. He identified a critical failure point: the market. Farmers lacked access to proper information, dealt with layers of middlemen, and operated within opaque systems like the traditional APMC Mandi market, where pricing and weighing lacked transparency. E-commerce companies, despite claiming direct procurement, often sourced from these same opaque Mandi markets, perpetuating the cycle.

This realization became the foundation for his intervention, addressing not just inefficiency, but the deliberate exclusion of farmers from value creation.

The Intervention Blueprint: Sweet Potatoes as Proof of Concept

Sachin didn’t attempt a broad overhaul; he focused on a specific crop, sweet potatoes, and applied a meticulous, sequential strategy that directly addressed the diagnosed problems.

Market Research (Demand Side): Before the harvest season, he didn't just assume demand; he investigated the specific quality requirements of high-value buyers like e-commerce platforms (Zepto, Big Basket) and modern trade outlets. Connecting initially with their existing suppliers (middlemen) provided precise data on the exact specifications needed, bypassing vague assumptions.

Market Research (Supply Side): He then researched his local area to identify if farmers were already producing sweet potatoes matching these quality specifications. This crucial step ensured he was leveraging existing capabilities and local agro-climatic advantages, minimizing the initial burden on farmers.

Farmer Engagement & Value Proposition: Armed with quality requirements and market knowledge, he approached a small group of farmers (10-20 initially) with a concrete offer. He asked for a small quantity (1-2 tons) sorted to meet the specific e-commerce/mall standards. In return, he guaranteed a price significantly higher than the prevailing Mandi rate, payable directly at the farm gate – a clear financial incentive tied to achievable actions.

Implementing Transparency: His model explicitly replaced the traditional system (trucks sent to Mandi, opaque billing) with farm gate weighing using a transparent system and immediate farm gate payment. This direct, verifiable transaction addressed the farmers' core lack of visibility and control in the old model.

Shifting Power Dynamics Through Education

The initial success was educational. By demonstrating that meeting specific quality standards (requiring only minimal sorting of rejected material) could yield significantly higher prices and transparent payment terms, Sachin tangibly educated the farmers on market value and mechanics.

They realized the value addition possible and began understanding market dynamics previously hidden from them by the layers of intermediaries and the opacity of the Mandi system. This empowerment had a lasting effect. Even when competitors, attracted by the margins Sachin had revealed, entered the market (sometimes using questionable tactics), the farmers were equipped.

Sachin had taught them how to negotiate – demanding farm gate transparency and higher rates for sorted produce from any buyer, leveraging their newfound understanding of quality and market access.

Sachin's model, developed during the unique conditions of COVID-19 but applicable beyond, is a powerful demonstration of how targeted intervention, based on solid research and a commitment to transparency, can disrupt inefficient agricultural markets from the ground up.

It bypasses opaque intermediaries not necessarily through complex technology, but through direct communication, actionable education, and a value proposition that clearly benefits the primary producer by restoring information parity and transactional control.

It’s a transferable framework focused on empowering farmers by giving them the two things traditional markets often deny: fair value and clear information.

4 Lessons with practical value

What's next?

Sachin Jagtap isn’t solving for scale, he’s solving for truth. In our May feature of Alba’s NoSmalltalk, we explore how his farmer-first approach is disrupting legacy agri-supply chains by prioritizing transparency and equity. And in the next blog, "Choosing the Ground Truth", Sachin unpacks why he walked away from the MBA track to build his expertise where it matters most—on the ground, with the farmers, not above them.