0
Home
News
Directory
E-newsletter
Magazine
Events
Data
AgReport
Subscribe
A golden opportunity in crisis? Decoding agri-tech post pandemic
−− Given that agriculture accounts for nearly 60% of aggregate employment in India, there’s a fair degree of concern over what will happen in the future, especially post this life-threatening disease.
May. 8, 2020
While the country grapples with Covid-19, there are two worries that concern us all - the first being the health of India’s large population and how one can minimise the extent of damage. And, second, what will be the future of our businesses after the pandemic eases?
Given that agriculture accounts for nearly 60% of aggregate employment in India, there’s a fair degree of concern over what will happen in the future, especially post this life-threatening disease.
It is important to note that despite the lockdown and the supply-chain impacted nationwide, the government is working overtime to ensure easy availability of vegetables, fruits, dairy and other essentials. Even in such a crisis, agriculture took centre-stage. And why is that? Because ‘food’ can never go out of business. After all it is a basic necessity for survival.
However, we have witnessed that agriculture cannot survive solely on traditional methods and desperately needs large-scale technology intervention to resolve various pre/post-harvest agri-chain woes, which will in turn boost healthy production and revenue.
As per NASSCOM’s 2019 report, India is home to more than 450 agri-tech start-ups, growing at a rate of 25% annually. The sector has received more than $248 million in funding, which is a clear indication of the agri-tech industry’s growth potential. Given that the food economy impacts human population, there’s huge scope for building a seamless ecosystem in the agri-technology space.
Post this adversity, 2020 will no doubt be a year full of challenges, with various issues to resolve. However, with greater investor interest and government partnerships, agri-tech companies can surely address immediate problems that threaten the agriculture space.
Fundamental issues like poor soil quality, water shortage, low quality seeds, climate change, lack of market access, inadequate storage facilities, ill-equipped warehouses, malpractices and poor credit facility has crippled the agriculture sector. Only agri-tech companies can fill this gap quickly with the help of high-end technology like GIS, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, remote sensing, data analytics and various Internet of Thing (IoT) devices.
With 15 agro-climatic zones and different cultivation practices, India will benefit from advances in digital farming.
In fact, blockchain technologies enhances transparency and traceability that can be leveraged to create more efficient supply chains. Aggregating and organising the supply chain will further promote better standardised agri-market practices.
Instead of indiscriminate selling of technology which many can’t afford to buy, providing technology inputs at the intersection of buying and selling to medium and small-scale farmers will lead to incurring lower cost by the farming community and higher acceptance of technology. This is because 86% of India’s farmers are small and marginal as per Agriculture Census 2015-16.
The agronomic intelligence can help enhance micro-financing and credit facilities for farmers and create faster access to traceability certification, which is beneficial while exporting to the overseas market. Data analytics will also help provide accurate inputs and discourage sale of spurious seeds and crop care products to farmers. In order to become sustainable, market linkages and networks are an essential part of any agribusiness, which is the focus of enterprises. Concentrated efforts are also being made to reduce dependency on intermediaries involved in the value chain which eats into the farmer’s profit.
Agritech firms are equipped to provide viable farming solutions and the activity in this industry will multiply manifold post the lockdown. These enterprises will create positive impact and will lead India's journey towards overall digital agriculture transformation.
Advanced mechanisms can help local farming be profitable enterprises. Hence emphasis should be on innovation, data-sharing, easy access to working capital, infrastructure and enable real-time information access to farmers across the country. Quality, safety, traceability and sustainability of food produce will be a priority for agri-economy stakeholders.
Going forward, we can look at creating new collaborative, neutral platforms for sharing data and enable a culture of transparency as well as mutual accountability across global networks. This also means empowering consumers and stakeholders with accurate information.
The global crisis has brought all of us together like never before. Given the adversity, and the crying need for urgent and smart solutions, we are set to see the best minds at work to propel innovation. The dynamics of agriculture is going through a metamorphosis and the agri-tech industry is bound to change the way business of agriculture will be conducted. And that could well bring about another green revolution-like transformation in India.
By Pankajj Ghode, CEO of Agri10x, a leading agri-tech company.
Source: The Economic Times
More from AgroNews
Change
Hot TopicSubscribe
| Subscribe Email: | * | |
| Name: | ||
| Mobile Number: | ||
Comment
0/1200
NEWSLETTER