I’m building KisanSaathi — an AI platform to help Indian farmers sell directly to hotels/restaurants. Need brutally honest feedback before I build too much.
Indian farmers often earn only 20–30% of the final value of their crops because of middlemen. At the same time, hotels, restaurants, caterers, and event buyers are paying inflated prices for the exact same produce.
Both sides lose.
Post-harvest waste alone costs Indian farmers more than ₹92,000 crore every year.
So I started building KisanSaathi — a free AI-powered web + Android platform designed to directly connect farmers with bulk buyers.
The Problem
Today’s supply chain is broken for both sides:
- Farmers usually don’t know the best time or place to sell.
- Prices change daily and most farmers have little bargaining power.
- Produce often spoils before reaching buyers.
- Hotels and restaurants still depend on multiple middlemen and inconsistent suppliers.
- Small farmers rarely get direct access to bulk buyers.
The result:
Farmers earn less, buyers pay more, and food gets wasted in between.
The Solution
KisanSaathi tries to simplify the entire process using AI + WhatsApp-first onboarding.
The goal is to make selling crops as easy as sending a WhatsApp message.
Farmers can:
- Join through WhatsApp without downloading an app initially
- Upload crop photos
- Speak in Hindi or regional languages
- Get instant AI help with pricing, freshness, and quality grading
- Receive direct orders from hotels/restaurants nearby
Buyers can:
- Compare produce quality and pricing
- Place bulk orders quickly
- Source from multiple nearby farmers
- Reduce procurement costs and delays
The platform acts like a smart bridge between farmers and bulk buyers instead of another middleman.
How It Works
- Farmer joins through WhatsApp No technical setup required initially.
- Upload crop photo AI analyzes quality, freshness, and market pricing.
- Nearby buyers get notified Hotels, caterers, and restaurants can compare and order instantly.
- Logistics + payment handling Delivery tracking and UPI escrow help reduce fraud risk.
AI Features Planned
1. AI Quality Grading
Farmer uploads a photo → AI grades produce as A/B/C quality and detects visible defects.
2. Spoilage Prediction
The system tells farmers things like:
>
using crop image + weather + storage conditions.
3. Smart Pricing
AI suggests pricing using:
- live mandi rates
- local demand
- seasonal trends
- nearby buyer activity
4. Smart Order Splitting
Example:
A hotel needs 200 kg tomatoes.
Instead of relying on one supplier, AI distributes the order across nearby farmers based on:
- freshness
- distance
- quantity available
5. Voice-Based Listing
Farmer speaks in Hindi or regional language → AI creates the product listing automatically.
6. Secure Payments
UPI escrow system:
Buyer payment is released only after confirmed delivery.
The Goal
- Increase farmer earnings
- Reduce buyer costs
- Reduce food wastage
- Keep the platform completely free for farmers
What I Honestly Need Feedback On
I’m still pre-MVP with no live users yet, and I’d rather get hard feedback now than after building for months.
So I genuinely want to ask:
- Which AI feature here actually solves a real farmer problem — and which ones sound cool but unnecessary?
- Will hotels/restaurants trust AI-based quality grading, or will they always want manual inspection?
- How do platforms like this stop buyers and farmers from exchanging numbers and bypassing the platform later?
- Am I overbuilding before validation? Should I launch with just 1–2 core features first?
- Would farmers realistically use this regularly, especially in smaller towns/villages?
->I’m open to criticism and would genuinely appreciate honest feedback — even if the conclusion is that parts of this idea won’t work. Thanks for reading this far.
I know agriculture is a complex space, and I’m probably underestimating many challenges. That’s exactly why I’m posting before building too much.
Even harsh criticism is genuinely valuable here — I’d rather learn now than waste months building the wrong thing.
Thank you 🙏