AU2021100006A4

AU2021100006A4 - A system and a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation

Info

Publication number: AU2021100006A4
Application number: AU2021100006A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Vivek DAHIYA; Karan Sharma
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-10-29
Filing date: 2021-01-02
Publication date: 2021-05-06
Anticipated expiration: 2027-10-28
Also published as: WO2020089764A1; AU2019373839A1

Abstract

A SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR PROVIDING USERS WITH ACCESS TO SERVICES RELATED TO FARMING AND FARM AUTOMATION A method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation comprises steps of receiving a request from a first computing device (1021) of a first plurality of computing devices (102) associated with farmers, for services related to farming and farm automation, receiving one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices (102), a second plurality of computing device (104) and/or a third plurality of computing devices (106), in response to the request, depending upon a type of service required, selecting at least one bid using the first computing device (1021), from received one or more bids, verifying a quality of one or more products being provided as a part of the service, based on the selection of the at least one bid and providing a quality assurance certificate and facilitating the completion of the service to the first computing device (1021) after successful verification. [FIGURE 1] 1 1/7 100 ILI 104 1 0 l106 112 1041 41061 112 Processing Qualityverification module Module FIG. 1

Description

1/7

100

104 1 ILI 0

112

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l106 41061

112

Processing Qualityverification module Module

FIG. 1

A SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR PROVIDING USERS WITH ACCESS TO SERVICES RELATED TO FARMING AND FARM AUTOMATION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to technologies providing agricultural solutions and more particularly to a system and a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] Agriculture sector is always one of the most significant part of a country. It provides a major contribution in the GDP and more importantly is responsible forfeeding the employed class of the country. Around the world, technology has been playing a major role in the development of agricultural sector and reduce the hardship of the farmers. New farming techniques and new equipment are being constantly developed to help the farmers to yield more with less effort as compared to conventional techniques and equipment.

[003] Various systems and methods have been developed to spread awareness about the various farming methods to aid the farmers and reduce their dependency on nature, atleast to some extent. Some the available methods enable the famers to ask queries regarding farming techniques for a variety of crops they wish to grow. Some of the available solutions help the farmers to know how to proceed in case they face crop related problems. Available methods and systems aim to assist the farmer using the best available technical solutions.

[004] But still there are certain problems that remain to be solved. These problems include limited reach of the farmer in the market, both for purchasing seeds for farming and selling the harvested products. Limited reach in the market keeps the farmer unaware of the fluctuations in pricing of the seeds. The high cost of farming equipment such as farming tools, harvesters, tractor etc. does not allow the farmers to buy them and the non availability of farming equipment increases the manual labour and effort. Additionally, there is no option for the farmer to rent such equipment for a certain period of time. Another major problem is that there is no quality assurance for the products bought by the farmers, be it seeds or farming equipment. Besides, there are transport limitation. The farmer has to arrange the transport to go to a marketplace and bring the products safely. Therefore, most of the time farmers prefer the nearest vendor to reduce their transportation expenses, damages as well as efforts and remain unaware about the rest of the market.

[005] Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, that does not suffer above the deficiencies or atleast provide a viable and effective alternative.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[006] An object of the present invention is to provide a system for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation.

[007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation.

[008] Yet another object of the present invention is to enable farm mechanisation.

[009] Yet another object of the present invention is to spread market awareness among the users.

[010] Yet another object of the present invention is to ensure quality check of the products delivered to the users by an expert.

[011] Yet another object of the present invention is to extend farmers' reach in the market and ensure maximum profits.

[012] Yet another object of the present invention is to allow the users to negotiate while buying, selling or renting the product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[013] According to a first aspect of the present invention a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation may be provided. The method comprises steps of receiving a request from a first computing device of a first plurality of computing devices associated with farmers, for a plurality of services related to farming and farm automation, receiving one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices, a second plurality of computing devices associated with sellers and/or a third plurality of computing devices associated with buyers, in response to the request, depending upon a type of service required, selecting at least one bid using the first computing device, from received one or more bids, verifying a quality of one or more products being provided as a part of the service, based on the selection of the at least one bid and providing a quality assurance certificate and facilitating the completion of the service to the first computing device after successful verification.

[014] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the request for a plurality of services comprises a first request for buying a first product of the one or more of products, the first request further comprising information related to the required first product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, an expected time of delivery and a location of delivery.

[015] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the first product may be selected from a group comprising seeds, fertilizers, manure and plants.

[016] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the request for a plurality of services comprises a second request for renting a second product of the one or more of products, the request further comprising information related to the second product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a model, a maximum renting duration, a start of the duration, an expected rent and a present location of equipment.

[017] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the second product may be a farming equipment required for farm mechanization, selected from tractors, balers, combines, plows, mowers, planters, sprayers, harvester, plough and cultivator.

[018] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the request for a plurality of services comprises a third request may be for selling a third product of one or more products, the third request comprising information related to the third product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, a packaging/preparation time, an expected selling price, and a present location of the third product.

[019] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the third product may be selected from harvested crops and farming equipment.

[020] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the first plurality of computing devices the second plurality of computing devices and third plurality of computing devices may be selected from a group comprising a desktop PC, a laptop and a handheld device such as a smartphone or a tablet.

[021] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, facilitating the completion of the service further comprises the steps of establishing a payment channel and facilitating a transaction between the plurality of first computing device and/or the plurality second computing devices and/or the plurality third computing devices, depending on the parties involved in the transaction.

[022] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a system for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation. The system comprises a first plurality of computing devices associated with famers, a second plurality of computing devices associated with sellers, a third plurality of computing devices associated with buyers, the buyers being retail stores and companies, a processing module, an interface module and a quality verification module associated with quality assurance professional, a communication module for connecting the first plurality of computing devices with the second plurality of computing devices, third plurality of computing devices, the processing module, the interface module and the quality verification module via a communication network. Further, the interface module may be configured to, receive a request from a first computing device of a first plurality of computing devices associated with farmers, for a plurality of services related to farming and farm automation, receive one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices, a second plurality of computing devices associated with sellers and/or a third plurality of computing devices associated with buyers, in response to the request, depending upon a type of service required and select at least one bid using the first computing device, from received one or more bids. In addition, the quality verification module may be configured to verify a quality of one or more products being provided as a part of the service, based on the selection of the at least one bid and providing a quality assurance certificate. Additionally, the processing module may be configured to facilitate the completion of the service to the first computing device after successful verification.

[023] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the request for a plurality of services comprises a first request for buying a first product of the one or more of products, the first request further comprising information related to the required first product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, an expected time of delivery and a location of delivery.

[024] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the first product may be selected from a group comprising seeds, fertilizers, manure and plants.

[025] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the request for a plurality of services comprises a second request for renting a second product of the one or more of products, the request further comprising information related to the second product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a model, a maximum renting duration, a start of the duration, an expected rent and a present location of equipment.

[026] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the second product may be a farming equipment required for farm mechanization, selected from tractors, balers, combines, plows, mowers, planters, sprayers, harvester, plough and cultivator.

[027] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the request for a plurality of services comprises a third request may be for selling a third product of one or more products, the third request comprising information related to the third product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, a packaging/preparation time, an expected selling price, and a present location of the third product.

[028] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the third product may be, but not limited to, selected from harvested crops and farming equipment.

[029] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the first plurality of computing devices the second plurality of computing devices and third plurality of computing devices may be, but not limited to, selected from a group comprising a desktop PC, a laptop and a handheld device such as a smartphone or a tablet.

[030] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the processing module may be further configured to establishing a payment channel and facilitate a transaction between the plurality of first computing device and/or the plurality second computing devices and/or the plurality third computing devices, depending on the parties involved in the transaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[031] So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular to the description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

[032] These and other features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following text figure, with like reference numbers referring to like structures across the views, wherein:

[033] Fig.1 illustrates a system for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 illustrates a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3A illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a first request for buying a first product and receiving first one or more bids in response, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3B illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a second request for renting a second product and receiving second one or more bids in response, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3C illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a third request for selling a third product and receiving third one or more bids in response, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4A illustrates an information flow diagram to verify a quality and delivery of the first product, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4B illustrates an information flow diagram to verify a quality and delivery of the second product, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 4C illustrates an information flow diagram to verify a quality and delivery of the third product, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[034] While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one" and the word "plurality" means "one or more" unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein is solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.

[035] In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase "comprising", it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element or group of elements with transitional phrases "consisting of', "consisting", "selected from the group of consisting of, "including", or "is" preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.

[036] The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, a number of materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[037] Figure 1 illustrates a system (100) for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. These services may include, but not limited to, buying, selling and/or renting one or more products related to crop cultivation and farm mechanisation. As shown in figure 1, the system (100) comprises, but not limited to, a first plurality of computing devices (102), a second plurality of computing devices (104), a third plurality of computing devices (106), a processing module (110), an interface module (108) and a quality verification module (112) and a communication module (not shown), all connected to each other via a communication network (114) established by the communication module. In some embodiments, the system (100) may also include a data repository (not shown), which may be local storage or a cloud-based storage.

[038] The first plurality of computing devices (102) maybe associated with, but not limited to, famers, agriculturists and crop cultivators. Preferably, in present embodiment of the invention, the first plurality of computing devices (102) may be associated with famers. The second plurality of computing devices (104) associated with may be, but not limited to, seed sellers, wholesalers and merchants. The third plurality of computing devices (106) associated with buyers who may purchase harvested crops such as, but not limited to, retail stores and companies such as Pizza Hut, Dominoes, McDonalds etc.

[039] The first plurality of computing devices (102), the second plurality of computing devices (104) and the third plurality of computing devices (106) may have computing abilities and respectively have user interfaces. The user interface is envisaged to include at least a screen and an input device or may be a touch-based screen having both functionalities of display as well as input. The screen may one of, but not limited to, a TFT, an LCD screen, an LED screen, an OLED or an AMOLED screen. In that sense, the first plurality of computing devices (102), the second plurality of computing devices (104) and the third plurality of computing devices (106) may be, but not limited to, a handheld device, a laptop, a personal computer, a tablet, palmtop and a mobile phone.

[040] In addition, the processing module (110) is envisaged to include computing capabilities such as a memory unit (not shown) configured to store machine readable instructions. The machine-readable instructions may be loaded into the memory unit from a non-transitory machine-readable medium such as, but not limited to, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and Flash Drives. Alternately, the machine-readable instructions may be loaded in a form of a computer software program into the memory unit. The memory unit in that manner may be selected from a group comprising EPROM, EEPROM and Flash memory.

[041] Further, the processing module (110) includes a processor or plurality of high-speed computing processors with multiple cores (not shown) operably connected with the memory unit. In various embodiments, the processor is one of, but not limited to, a general-purpose processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Furthermore, the interface module (108) is envisaged to have display capabilities and is also capable of receiving input. In that sense, the user interface is envisaged to include at least a screen and an input device or may be a touch-based screen having both functionalities of display as well as input. The screen may one of, but not limited to, a TFT, an LCD screen, an LED screen, an OLED or an AMOLED screen.

[042] Moreover, the quality verification module (112) may be associated with a quality assurance professional. The quality assurance professional may be an authorised professional from a government institution capable of verifying and certifying one or more products related to farming, using the quality verification module (112). The quality verification module (112) may further comprise one or more sensors (1122) such as, but not limited to, location sensors, optical sensors, electrochemical sensors, mechanical sensors, dielectric soil moisture sensors, airflow sensors, gyroscope and accelerometer. In one embodiment, the verification module may also include a camera and a microphone.

[043] In addition, the communication module is provided for connecting the first plurality of computing devices (102) with the second plurality of computing devices (104), third plurality of computing devices (106), the processing module (110), the interface module (108) and the quality verification module (112) via a communication network (114). The communication network (114) may be one of, but not limited to, a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). The communication network (114) may be implemented using a number of protocols, such as but not limited to, TCP/IP, 3GPP, 3GPP2, LTE, IEEE 802.x etc.

[044] The word "module," as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, Python or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be appreciated that modules may comprised connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may comprise programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Further, in various embodiments, the processing module (110) isone of, butnot limited to, a general-purpose processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Furthermore, the data repository may be a cloud-based storage or a hard disk drive (HDD), Solid state drive (SSD), flash drive, ROM or any other data storage means.

[045] Figure 2 illustrates a method for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Before starting the method, the first plurality of computing devices (102), the second plurality of computing devices (104) and the third plurality of computing devices (106) may be registered with the system (100). The step of registration may include receiving, but not limited to, the personal/company details (Name, DOB, Location, contact number etc) and work details from each of the first plurality of computing devices (102), the second plurality of computing devices (104) and the third plurality of computing devices (106). The work details for the farmer account may include, but not limited to, type of products needed (for example: type of equipment/seeds), a location of work, and kinds of crop grown etc.

[046] The work details for a seller account may include, but not limited to, type of products sold, type of seller i.e. wholesaler, retailer, a location of the seller, inventory detail, maximum limit of a single order, area covered for on site delivery and availability of renting option for equipment. Besides, the work details for company may include, but not limited to, service/product involved in business, a type & a quantity of harvested crops needed, a location of business, frequency of requirement etc. In one embodiment, the farmers and the sellers may register for both the farmer account and the seller account, that may be switched as per the requirement. For example: a farmer may have a buyer account for purchasing the seeds and farming equipment and may have a seller account for renting/selling the equipment or selling the harvested crops to other users. Or a seller may switch to buyer account to fill up his/her inventory. This helps the farmers and the sellers to have a one stop solution for all the needs. Additionally, the farmer may also sell/rent the farming equipment when no longer required, to earn extra income and this allows other farmers to get a farming equipment at a lower cost.

[047] After successful registration, As shown in figure 2, the method starts at step 202 when the interface module (108) receives a request from a first computing device (1021) of a first plurality of computing devices (102) associated with farmers. Then at step 204, the interface module (108) receives receive one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices (102), a second plurality of computing devices (104) associated with sellers and/or a third plurality of computing devices (106) associated with buyers, in response to the request. The request from the first computing device (1021) may be for a plurality of services such as, but not limited to, buying, selling and/or renting one or more products related to farming and farm automation.

[048] In a first scenario, the request for a plurality of services comprises a first request for buying a first product of the one or more of products. The scenario has been shown in Figure 3A that illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a request for buying and receiving first one or more bid in response, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The first request may further comprise information related to the required first product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, an expected time of delivery and a location of delivery. The first product may be selected from, but not limited to, a group comprising seeds, fertilizers, manure and plants. As shown in figure 3A, for example, a farmer needs to buy 10 kilograms of paddy seeds, of grade 7/10, within 7 days at the farmer's warehouse. The farmer may raise the first request stating the same for buying using the first computing device (1021).

[049] Accordingly, the interface module (108) receives the first one or more bids from the second plurality of computing devices (104) associated with the sellers. In response to the above-mentioned request of buying 10kg seeds, the sellers of seeds may present their respective bid of the selling prices of seeds that fulfil farmer's requirements of grade, quantity and delivery time, using the second plurality of computing devices (104). For instance, four sellers bid in response to the first computing device (1021)'s first request as Rs. 550, Rs. 430, Rs. 720 and Rs 565. The received bids are presented to the farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) by the interface module (108).

[050] Then, in a second scenario, the request for a plurality of services may comprise a request for renting a second product of the one or more of products. Figure 3B illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a request for renting the second product and receiving second one or more bids in response, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The request further may comprise information related to the second product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a model, a maximum renting duration, a start of the duration, an expected rent and a present location of equipment. The second product may be, but not limited to, a farming equipment required for farm mechanization, selected from tractors, balers, combines, plows, mowers, planters, sprayers, harvester, plough and cultivator. As shown in figure 3B, for example, the farmer needs to rent the farming equipment such as planters, sprayers, harvester, plough and cultivator. The farmer may not need these equipment for now and these equipment being expensive, may not be unaffordable for other farmers. So, the farmer may raise the second request for renting, say, five planters of model year 2018 for a period of 3 months from the month of July to September and expecting a rent of approximately Rs.5000 per month.

[051] Accordingly, the interface module (108) receives second one or more bids in response to the second request, from other of the first plurality of computing devices (102) associated with other farmers. The other farmers who require the planters that available on rent, present their respective bids using the first plurality of computing devices (102). For instance, the other farmers who require the planters on rent bid on prices of renting the planters such as Rs 4500, Rs. 3750, Rs. 5300 and Rs 5500. The received bids are presented to the farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) by the interface module (108). However, it will be appreciated by a skilled in the art, that the above mentioned scenario may also be implemented when the farmer requires farming equipment on rent and the other farmerwho are owners of such equipment provide their bids for renting the equipment, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[052] Then, in a third scenario, the request for a plurality of services may comprise a third request for selling a third product of one or more products. Figure 3C illustrates an information flow diagram for receiving a request for selling a third product and receive third one or more bids in response, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The third request may comprise information related to the third product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, a packaging/preparation time, an expected selling price, and a present location of the third product. The third product may be selected from harvested crops and farming equipment. As shown in figure 3C, the farmer may require selling crops or farming equipment, the farmer may raise the third request for selling, let's say, 1-ton wheat crop of grade 6/10 produced in month of April of year 2018 from the farmer's farm and expecting a price of Rs. 980 per 100 kilograms of wheat, using the first computing device (1021).

[053] Accordingly, the interface module (108) receives third one or more bids from the third plurality of computing devices (106) associated with sellers. In response to the above mentioned third request of selling wheat crop, the buyers (such as retail stores and companies) may present their respective bids on prices for buying the wheat crop such as Rs 760, Rs. 990, Rs, 1230 and Rs 1130 using the third plurality of computing devices (106). The received bids are then presented to the farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) by the interface module (108).

[054] Returning to figure 2, at step 206, after the interface module (108) receives the one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices (102), the interface module (108) enables thefirst computing device (1021) to select at least one bid, from received one or more bids. The farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) may select a bid with a lowest/highest bidding price as per the service requirement (lowest when buying and highest when selling/renting).

[055] Then, at step 208, after selecting the at least one bid, the quality verification module (112) associated with the quality assurance professional may be configured to verify a quality of one or more products being provided as a part of the service. The quality of the selected product being sold/bought/rented may be verified using the one or more sensors (1122) and a quality assurance certificate may be provided. If the quality is not up to predefined/market standards, the service would not be facilitated and another of the received one or more bids will have to be selected by the first computing device (1021).

[056] Finally, after successful verification, at step 210, the processing module (110) is configured to facilitate the completion of the service to the first computing device (1021). Completion of the service may include establishing a payment channel and facilitate a transaction between the plurality of first computing devices (102) and/or the second plurality of computing devices (104) and/or the third plurality of computing devices (106), depending on the parties involved in the transaction. This would be understood better by continuing from the previously explained scenarios.

[057] In continuation from the figure 3A, where the farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) received four bids of Rs. 550, Rs. 430, Rs. 720 and Rs 565 in response to the first request of buying 10kg paddy seeds. So, the farmers may select any of the bid from the first one or more bids (in this case, 4 bids) of the sellers on the prices of seeds using the first computing device (1021). For instance, let's say the farmer selected the lowest bid of the seller, of Rs. 430. Now, refer to 4A that illustrates an information flow diagram to verify a quality and delivery of the first product, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. So, the selected seller with bid Rs. 430 sends a delivery of 10kg paddy seeds to the farmer's location. At the same time, the quality assurance professional reaches the location of delivery and the quality check of the first product i.e. the paddy seeds, is done. Once the quality check is complete, the quality assurance certificate is issued and the processing module (110) establishes a payment channel between the first computing device (1021) and the selected second computing device (1041) (the selected seller) of the second plurality of computing devices (104). Once the payment of Rs 430 is successful, the delivery of the paddy seeds to the farmer is complete.

[058] Continuing the second scenario from figure 3B, where the farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) received four bids of Rs 4500, Rs. 3750, Rs. 5300 and Rs 5500, in response to the second request of renting the 5 planters. For instance, let's say the farmer selected the lowest bid of Rs. 3750. In one embodiment, the farmer may select more than one bids to rent the 5 planters to more than one other farmer. For simplification, it is assumed that all 5 planters rented to the same other farmer. Now refer to Figure 4B that illustrates an information flow diagram to verify a quality and delivery of the second product, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. So, the selected other farmer with bid of Rs. 3750 reaches the farmer's location to receive the delivery of the 5 planters. At the same time, the quality assurance professional reaches the location of delivery and the quality check of the second product i.e. the 5 planters, is done. Once the quality check is complete, the quality assurance certificate is issued, and the processing module (110) establishes a payment channel between the first computing device (1021) and the selected other first computing device (1021) (the selected seller). Once the payment of Rs 3750 is successful, the delivery of the 5 planters to the other farmer is complete.

[059] Continuing the third scenario from figure 3C, where the farmer associated with the first computing device (1021) received four bids of Rs 760, Rs. 990, Rs, 1230 and Rs 1130 per 100kg of wheat from buyers (retail stores and companies), in response to the third request for selling the harvested wheat crop. For instance, let's say the farmer selected the highest bid of Rs. 1230. Now refer to Fig.4C that illustrates an information flow diagram to verify a quality and delivery of the third product, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. So, the selected buyer with bid of Rs. 1230 per 100kg reaches the farmer's location to receive the delivery of the harvested wheat crop. At the same time, the quality assurance professional reaches the location of delivery and the quality check of the third product i.e. the harvested wheat crop, is done. Once the quality check is complete, the quality assurance certificate is issued, and the processing module (110) establishes a payment channel between the first computing device (1021) and the selected third computing device (1061) (the selected buyer) of the third plurality of computing devices (106). Once the payment of Rs 1230kg for 100kg (or it may be multiplied by no. of quintals (100kg) depending on the quantity) is successful, the delivery of the harvested wheat crop to the buyer is complete.

[060] In one embodiment, the farmers may receive the notification on the first plurality of computing devices (102), regarding the fluctuation in prices, or ongoing discounts of the previously bought product from the sellers. This keeps the farmers updated regarding the current situation of the market and may provide an opportunity for cost saving.

[061] The present invention offers a number of advantages. Firstly, the present invention enables farm mechanisation by allowing farmers to rent (if they cannot afford buying) the farming equipment, allow them to access the modern machinery and reducing a significant amount human effort and time. Additionally, this enables the home delivery of products to the farmers who no longer have to bear the transportation charges and problems. Moreover, the farmers may negotiate with the sellers on one to one basis using the first plurality of computing devices to reach an agreeable and affordable cost of the required product.

[062] An indirect advantage of the present invention is that bidding starts a market competition between the sellers and market competition ultimately benefits the customer as costs are reduced. In this case, the farmers will get the benefit of cost saving as farmer knows the which seller is selling at the lowest cost. Another important advantage is that quality of product delivered is guaranteed due to supervision by an expert. This minimises any chance of cheating or misrepresentation of the product which would be advantageous to the farmers whose livelihood depends on the farming yield. Furthermore, the present invention allows the farmer to stay updated regarding the price of products in the market.

[063] Besides, a farmer or seller can switch their accounts to become a buyer or a seller as per the requirement, making the present invention stop solution to fulfilling all the trading needs. The seller may switch to buyer account to fill up his/her inventory. This helps the first plurality of users and the second plurality of users to have a one stop solution for all the needs.

Additionally, the farmer may also sell/rent the farming equipment when no longer required, to earn extra income and this allows other farmers to get a farming equipment at a lower cost.

[064] Further, while one or more operations have been described as being performed by or otherwise related to certain modules, devices or entities, the operations may be performed by or otherwise related to any module, device or entity. As such, any function or operation that has been described as being performed by a module could alternatively be performed by a different server, by the cloud computing platform, or a combination thereof.

[065] Various modifications to these embodiments are apparent to those skilled in the art from the description and the accompanying drawings. The principles associated with the various embodiments described herein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the description is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown along with the accompanying drawings but is to be providing broadest scope of consistent with the principles and the novel and inventive features disclosed or suggested herein. Accordingly, the invention is anticipated to hold on to all other such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method (200) for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, the method (200) comprising steps of: receiving (202) a request from a first computing device (1021) of a first plurality of computing devices (102) associated with farmers, for a plurality of services related to farming and farm automation; receiving (204) one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices (102), a second plurality of computing devices (104) associated with sellers and/or a third plurality of computing devices (106) associated with buyers, in response to the request, depending upon a type of service required; selecting (206) at least one bid using the first computing device (1021), from received one or more bids; verifying (208) a quality of one or more products being provided as a part of the service, based on the selection of the at least one bid and providing a quality assurance certificate; and facilitating (210) the completion of the service to the first computing device (1021) after successful verification.

2. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request for a plurality of services comprises a first request for buying a first product of the one or more of products, the first request further comprising information related to the required first product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, an expected time of delivery and a location of delivery.

3. The method (200) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first product is selected from a group comprising seeds, fertilizers, manure and plants.

4. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request for a plurality of services comprises a second request for renting a second product of the one or more of products, the request further comprising information related to the second product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a model, a maximum renting duration, a start of the duration, an expected rent and a present location of equipment.

5. The method (200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second product is a farming equipment required for farm mechanization, selected from tractors, balers, combines, plows, mowers, planters, sprayers, harvester, plough and cultivator.

6. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request for a plurality of services comprises a third request for selling a third product of one or more products, the third request comprising information related to the third product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, a packaging/preparation time, an expected selling price, and a present location of the third product.

7. The method (200) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the third product is selected from harvested crops and farming equipment.

8. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first plurality of computing devices (102) the second plurality of computing devices (104) and third plurality of computing devices (106) are selected from a group comprising a desktop PC, a laptop and a handheld device such as a smartphone or a tablet.

9. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein facilitating the completion of the service further comprises the steps of establishing a payment channel and facilitating a transaction between the plurality of first computing devices (102) and/or the second plurality of computing devices (104) and/or the third plurality of computing devices (106), depending on the parties involved in the transaction.

10. A system (100) for providing users with access to services related to farming and farm automation, the system (100) comprising: a first plurality of computing devices (102) associated with famers; a second plurality of computing devices (104) associated with sellers; a third plurality of computing devices (106) associated with buyers, the buyers being retail stores and companies; a processing module (110); an interface module (108); and a quality verification module (112) associated with quality assurance professional; a communication module for connecting the first plurality of computing devices (102) with the second plurality of computing devices (104), third plurality of computing devices (106), the processing module (110), the interface module (108) and the quality verification module (112) via a communication network (114); wherein the interface module (108) is configured to: receive a request from a first computing device (1021) of a first plurality of computing devices (102) associated with farmers, for a plurality of services related to farming and farm automation; receive one or more bids from the first plurality of computing devices (102), a second plurality of computing devices (104) associated with sellers and/or a third plurality of computing devices (106) associated with buyers, in response to the request, depending upon a type of service required; and select at least one bid using the first computing device (1021), from received one or more bids; wherein the quality verification module (112) is configured to verify a quality of one or more products being provided as a part of the service, based on the selection of the at least one bid and providing a quality assurance certificate; and wherein the processing module (110) is configured to facilitate the completion of the service to the first computing device (1021) after successful verification.

11. The system (100) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the request for a plurality of services comprises a first request for buying a first product of the one or more of products, the first request further comprising information related to the required first product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, an expected time of delivery and a location of delivery.

12. The system (100) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first product is selected from a group comprising seeds, fertilizers, manure and plants.

13. The system (100) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the request for a plurality of services comprises a second request for renting a second product of the one or more of products, the request further comprising information related to the second product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a model, a maximum renting duration, a start of the duration, an expected rent and a present location of equipment.

14. The system (100) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the second product is a farming equipment required for farm mechanization, selected from tractors, balers, combines, plows, mowers, planters, sprayers, harvester, plough and cultivator.

15. The system (100) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the request for a plurality of services comprises a third request for selling a third product of one or more products, the third request comprising information related to the third product such as a name, a request type, a quantity, a quality grade, a packaging/preparation time, an expected selling price, and a present location of the third product.

16.The system (100) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the third product is selected from harvested crops and farming equipment.

17.The system (100) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first plurality of computing devices (102) the second plurality of computing devices (104) and third plurality of computing devices (106) are selected from a group comprising a desktop PC, a laptop and a handheld device such as a smartphone or a tablet.

18. The system (100) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processing module (110) is further configured to establishing a payment channel and facilitate a transaction between the plurality of first computing devices (102) and/or the second plurality of computing devices (104) and/or the third plurality of computing devices (106), depending on the parties involved in the transaction.