From ₹0 to ₹3.6L Saved: Our First Year with Farm Software

January: The Decision

We started the year with a simple question: "How much does it cost us to grow one kilogram of tomatoes?"

No one on the farm knew the answer. Not the manager, not the workers, not me.

February: The Setup

Installed Krishishastri across all 7 zones. Added workers to the mobile app. Started logging every input purchase, every labor hour, every equipment use. The first week felt like data entry hell.

March: The First Insight

Zone 2 was costing us ₹18 per kg while Zone 5 cost only ₹11 per kg for the same tomato variety. The difference? Zone 2 had poor drainage causing root rot. We fixed the drainage. Zone 2 costs dropped to ₹12 per kg within a month.

April: The Safety Kernel Moment

A worker tried to harvest Zone 3 on the same day it was sprayed. The safety system blocked it. Pre-harvest interval for that pesticide was 7 days. We would have lost the entire Zone 3 crop to residue violation. Estimated value of that block: ₹45,000.

May to July: The Accumulation

Three months of data started showing patterns: - Fertilizer application in Zone 1 was 30% higher than needed - Water usage in Zone 4 was 40% above optimal - Labor hours on weeding were double in zones without mulch

August to October: The Optimization

Acted on the data: - Reduced fertilizer in Zone 1 by 25% (no yield loss) - Installed soil moisture sensors in Zone 4 (water down 35%) - Applied mulch to Zone 6 and 7 (weeding labor cut in half)

November to December: The Harvest

Final numbers for Year 1: - Total input savings: ₹60,000 - Prevented losses (safety system): ₹45,000 - Yield improvement: 12% - Labor efficiency gain: 18% - **Total benefit: ₹3,60,000**

What Did Not Work

• Soil testing took 3 weeks to get results (too slow)
• Weather forecasts were unreliable during monsoon
• One worker refused to use the mobile app (literacy barrier)
• Data entry was inconsistent for the first month

What is Next

Year 2 goals: - ₹5L+ savings target - Second farm onboarding - Voice interface in Hindi, Marathi and English - Integration with mandi price updates