Sequoia-backed agritech startup DeHaat taps franchise route for smart fields

“Dheet hai yeh, manenge nahin (they’re stubborn, they won’t go away),” said the farmer. He was referring to a bunch of engineering grads trying to persuade farmers to switch to rajma (red kidney beans) from wheat. This was in 2011 near Vaishali in Bihar, recalls Shashank Kumar, who was part of a foundation started by alumni of IIT Delhi and Kharagpur to help farmers.