Fertilizer and Food Grain Rake 2.0

Impact

40%

Of monthly active users open it, before and after launch

48%

Peak share of monthly actives, June 2026

1 week

From first design to launch

Why rake needed a rethink

I designed Rake 1.0 in 2022 to tell agri-input retailers how many fertiliser rakes were in their district. Four years on it was still the app's most-used feature, but its users were now agri-output traders, who follow food grain rakes too.

Fertiliser rake

A freight train of fertiliser, unloaded at a district's rake point.

Food grain rake

The same, carrying wheat or rice for FCI and private grain companies.

Agri-input retailer

A village shop selling farmers fertiliser and seed.

Agri-output trader

A buyer of crops who sells on to mills and markets.

The old design

Rake 1.0 showed a count per district and two states per rake. A count of four could mean four rakes that had already gone.

Rake 1.0 district screen in Hindi showing a count of four rakes in Barabanki and rake counts for nearby districts — District count

Rake 1.0 list in Hindi with three cards showing supplier, loading point, date and an on-the-way or arrived tag — Rake list, on the way or arrived

How traders track rakes today

Outside the app, news of a rake still travels by word of mouth:

WhatsApp groups
Facebook groups
Calls to local suppliers

Starting from the data

Most of the research went into the data. I went through everything FOIS, Indian Railways' freight system, could tell us, because every field on a card had to come from it.

FOIS feedNightly sync

Supplier, product
Route, wagons
Lifecycle status

Clearer decisions

What didn't make it

We explored live tracking and a map of rakes. Both needed real-time positions, which the railways don't share for goods rakes, so every rake became a card.

Live tracking, like a passenger train
Rakes on a map

The redesign

Two rake types, one tool

Fertiliser and food grain sit in two tabs with the same layout, so switching takes one tap.

Food Grain Rake tab for North Delhi with a summary board showing 5 coming soon and 52 still waiting — Food grain tab, North Delhi

Your district answers first

Before the trader taps anything, the count splits into coming soon, still waiting and already supplied.

Rake 1.0 district summary showing only a rake count — Before

Rake 2.0 district screen with a status summary for Bulandshahr and a grid of nearby districts — After

1Coming
soon

1Still
waiting

3Already
supplied

See Rake

Next loading in Oct 2026 from KRIBHCO

The district card, live, with the district's own station board

Each rake carries its full record

Each card lists the supplier, date, route, product, wagons and status, in that order.

Rake 1.0 rake card with supplier, loading point and a two-state tag — Before

Rake 2.0 list with cards showing supplier, date, route, product, wagon count and status — After

IPL

Expected in Oct 2026

Mundra Port Cargo ComplexAligarh Jn.

Imported fertiliser42 wagonsComing soon

RCF Ujjwala

Demand placed on 22 Oct 2026

ThalAligarh Jn.

Fertiliser21 wagonsStill waiting

Coromandel Gromor

Demand placed on 21 Oct 2026

DebariAligarh Jn.

Fertiliser21 wagonsAlready supplied on 23 Oct 2026

One card per rake, shown in each of its three states

Nearby districts show where to go next

Nearby districts with rakes are live cards. Empty ones are muted, so the eye skips them.

Food Grain Rake screen for North West Delhi with an expected rice rake and nearby districts marked available or not — Nearby districts, North West Delhi

A station board and a moving train

Each district gets its own station board, and a goods train runs along the foot of the screen.

The goods train: wheels, track, smoke and headlight all move

What's next

Next come rake alerts on WhatsApp. A trader will be able to follow one rake, say from A to B for brand C, and get a message each time its status changes.