Bangalore, Aug 6 - Agri-tech firm Ratnagiri Impex will set up a retail chain in rural India to market farming machinery such as sprayers, a top company official said.

'We plan to set up about 300 agri-marts through the franchise route as a one-stop solution for farmers, especially small and marginal farmers,' Ratnagiri Impex chairman and managing director S.A. Vasudev Murthy told IANS.

The decade-old Bangalore-based Impex has tied up with global agri-tech product manufacturers such as Oleo-Mac SPA, Cifarelli SPA and GF SRL of Italy, Briggs and Stratton of the US and Alrite of South Africa to import machinery for tilling, sowing and harvesting despite 39 percent customs duty.

'Most conventional agriculture implements are locally made and sold through the unorganised sector. Farmers are unable to enhance production, improve quality and minimise wastage. Lack of adequate and institutional funding also discourages farmers from graduating to mechanised farming,' Murthy said.

Going forward, he said, the company planned to set up manufacturing plants with its international partners to avoid import tariff and shipping and landing costs.

'We hope to build sufficient volumes over the next three years to go for a joint venture with Olea-Mac or Cifarelli to manufacture import-substitute farm machinery.'

The Rs.40-crore (Rs.400-million) company is also in talks with potential investors to open about 70 agri-marts in the southern states in the first year of operations and roll out the remaining 230 retail outlets across the country over the next three years.