- How to start a business selling agricultural inputs?
- What are the difficulties in agribusiness?
- Do you need to develop your business?
A success story of one man who opened an agricultural shop in the village.
Shavkat Muzaffarov graduated from the Agricultural Institute in 1993 and got a job at the Navabad Garden State Farm of the Pаnjаkent region as a dispatcher in the machine and tractor fleet. Gradually, after 2-3 years, the state farm was reorganized and several hundred individual dekhkan farms appeared, and specialists in agriculture became unclaimed. Including Shavkat left without work. He chose labor migration and worked for several years in the Russian Federation in construction companies. Upon returning to Tajikistan, he began to work in the land plot, which he got as a result of the reorganization of the state farm. In the first year of his farming activity, he considered that he received almost 2 times less income than he spent on growing crops. He studied the activities of neighboring farmers and noticed that almost all farmers receive a meager income. Also, almost everyone’s crop did not meet any standards and did not have a good presentation. Farmers sold their crops of vegetables and fruits for meager prices. Since they were either severely affected by pests and diseases, or very small. Therefore, he began to study agronomic literature and began to look for reasons and decided that the main reason was non-compliance with agricultural technology, the use of low-quality seeds, and plant protection products. Everyone bought seeds and plant protection products from the local bazaar and did not even know what kind or what is the name of the pesticide or fungicide that they bought and used.
Next year Shavkat decided to sow onions on 1 hectare and tomatoes on 0.5 hectares. He went to Khujand and bought seeds and pesticides from the “Meroj” agro-shop and the next year received more than 100 tons of onions from 1 hectare and 35 tons of tomatoes from 0.5 hectares. All the neighbors came and looked with envy at the fields of Shavkat. The next year, several neighboring farms asked him to bring for them seeds and pesticides too. Shavkat decided to open an agricultural shop. He signed a contract with the company “Nexigol” and received seeds, pesticides, and other inputs to produce agricultural products for sale. At the same time, he tested various varieties of vegetables and fruits on his land and chose the most suitable variety for the Pаnjаkent district. When the harvest ripened, he, together with the Nexigol company, invited nearby farmers and spent a field day, where he conducted an economic analysis of the use of new varieties and plant protection products. Farmers from other villages of the Pаnjаkent district also came and bought seeds, plant protection products and gradually expanded the circle of farmers who collaborated with him. So, within 3 years, he turned into a successful businessman and now most of the farmers, as well as retailers of agricultural production inputs, are his clients and purchase goods from him. We met with him at the agricultural shop and asked a few questions about how he achieved success in this new business for him.
What was the reason for you to start this business?
I, like all the villagers, grew vegetables and fruits but received very little income. The crop was of poor quality, and we could not sell it or sell it at very low prices. I began to study agronomic literature and concluded that to obtain a good harvest, it is necessary to use high-quality seeds, complex fertilizers, and pesticides. Therefore, I met with representatives of Nexigol company and purchased and bought from them Dutch tomato seeds and Turkish onion seeds. The harvest was a record one and all the neighbouring farmers turned to me to bring them the same high-quality seeds. I got the idea to open an agro shop.
What was the reason for you to start this business?
I, like all the villagers, grew vegetables and fruits but received very little income. The crop was of poor quality, and we could not sell it or sell it at very low prices. I began to study agronomic literature and concluded that to obtain a good harvest, it is necessary to use high-quality seeds, complex fertilizers, and pesticides. Therefore, I met with representatives of Nexigol company and purchased and bought from them Dutch tomato seeds and Turkish onion seeds. The harvest was a record one and all the neighbouring farmers turned to me to bring them the same high-quality seeds. I got the idea to open an agro shop.
What is the reason that in the Panjakent district many farmers, even from remote villages, purchase seeds and pesticides from you, although there are other points of sale for these products in the region?
Firstly, in the store, I have never sold counterfeit and low-quality goods. All my products are certified and produced by world-famous companies such as Syngenta, DuPont, Bio Zaaden, Bayram, Bereket, and others. Secondly, I have my own land, and before recommending to farmers any new seeds and pesticides, I first test them in a small area. That is, I have small demo plots. Only those seeds and pesticides that show good results I recommend to farmers. Also, farmers will visually see that our dehkan farm “Ahmadshoh” annually receives record harvests of onions, tomatoes, apples, and corn, and we get a good income. This will be an incentive for others to use quality inputs of agriculture production. We also deal not only with sales, but also advise farmers on the care of plants, since after the reorganization of collective and state farms, there is no local agricultural extension service.
The prices for quality seeds and other means of agricultural production are always higher than what is sold in the bazaar. What makes farmers buy quality goods, although they are more expensive?
The Tajiks have a proverb “Expensive is not without a secret, cheap is not without flaws.” When the crop ripens at the demonstration plots, we invite farmers and tell you what agrotechnical techniques were used, as well as do an economic analysis. In the economic analysis, we will tell the visitors how much we spent in monetary terms when using high-quality pesticide seeds and how much we would spend if we used traditional and low-quality means. And by improving the quality and increasing the gross collection, high-quality inputs always give at least 50% more income. Also, when recommending pesticides, we always try to recommend those pesticides that are less harmful to the environment and the health of the population, that is, pesticides of 3 and 4 classes.
What would you recommend to those who want to do agribusiness?
1. Try to always sell a quality product, if the first time a customer buys a low-quality product, he will no longer come to you.
2. Try to advise the farmer when buying.
3. Keep in touch with your customers.
4. Try to improve your knowledge and recommend to farmers the innovative technologies available to them and new effective products
5. Be polite with your customers.
Thank you for the interview.