When asked about the Impact Covid-19 has had on the Sericulture Industry, Mayank Tiwari, the CEO and Co-founder of ReshaMandi answers “As with any industry, COVID-19 has had an impact on the silk supply chain in India.
We have seen a slight reduction in crop production due to the inability of the farmers to sell their stock on time, largely due to transportation constraints. If one part of the supply chain sees a reduction in production, there is an impact across the supply chain.”
He clarifies that despite the downturn in production volumes, the supply chain has been largely unaffected, and it is business as usual. This is partly due to the resilience of the stakeholders and ReshaMandi acting as a facilitator, giving them easy access to sell and procure requirements via the app.
Mayank adds that the startup managed to gain the trust of farmers by showing results.
“The farmers are willing to give technology a chance, and when we work with them to improve their crop yield, it helps them in early disease detection and prevention and enables them by providing easy access to market linkages, assured payments, and more. We have been able to create long-term partnerships with all stakeholders of the supply chain,” he says.
Just a year into operation, ReshaMandi recently raised $1.7 million in seed funding. Mayank — who wants to make India entirely self-reliant in silk production with transparency across the supply chain — says the funds will help strengthen the platform. It also plans to expand to other silk hubs like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
“The ban on Chinese yarn imports has led to stakeholders increasing their production. The impact has been huge. Chinese yarn had high demand in India despite the quality, not being on par with Indian yarn. The main challenge was low production. Now, we want to fix this trend and take India to the top of the table,” says Mayank.
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