Agritech And How It Is Helping Serve The Social Cause

“Agritech And How It Is Helping Serve The Social Cause”

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India, a country from South- East Asia, is known for its rich culture and heritage also known as “Krishi Pradhan Desh”. The Hindi term “Krishi Pradhan Desh” means “country whose large population depends on agriculture for their source of income.” It is believed that agriculture in India is the heirloom of Indus Valley Civilization. Around 9000 BCE, Indian agriculture started as a result of the early cultivation of plants, and domestication of crops and animals. In the Indian Context, farmers are called “Annadata” meaning food provider, but the irony is that they still suffer from a lot of difficulties. India is a unique country from an agricultural point of view because of its vast expense of level land, rich and fertile soil, wide climatic variations suited for a variety of crops, and ample sunshine.

Table 1: India: Growth of GDP and major sector (in Percentage)

Sector 1980-1991

1992-2001

2002-07 (Tenth Plan Projected)

Agriculture 3.6 3.3 4.0

Industries 7.1 6.5 9.5

Services 6.7 8.2 9.1

GDP 5.6 6.4 8.0

Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy through its share in GDP has economy and employment declined from 1951 onwards. The contribution of agriculture to the national economy can be explained by the fact that Agriculture contributes 23% of the GDP of India and 67% of the Indian population earns its livelihood from agriculture. It supplies raw material to numerous industries and ensures food security for the country.

STATS OF INDIAN AGRITECH SECTOR AS PER NASSCOM REPORT

According to the stats published by NASSCOM, India has currently 450+ Agri- Tech Startups and in a survey, 48% Agri-Tech CEOs, believe to have the next Agri-Tech Unicorn in the next 3 years.

In March 2020, a Nationwide lockdown was imposed. It shuts almost all the activities in every sector. But there is one sector that is unaffected by this lockdown, that is the Agriculture Sector. All though a lot of challenges were faced by farmers still this sector was doing well.

CHALLENGES FACED:

1. NO TRANSPORTATION

As there was no transportation, this results in a gap in Demand-Supply Chain. There were plenty of products available to the farmers but they had no medium to sell those products.

2. UNAVAILABILITY OF LABOURS

Since laborers migrated to their native place after lockdown have been imposed, one of the major concerns was the unavailability of laborers.

Today, the Indian Farmer does not want his son to become a farmer. Farmers have been facing so many problems and land under agriculture is decreasing. Reasons are Due to heavy indebtedness, Crop failure, Insecure life, Agriculture costs very high, uncertainty in regular income.

As said, “Modern Problem requires modern solutions”. Each problem can be solved by some technological advancements and it is proved by startups. Some leading Agri-tech Startups are:- NinjaCart, AgriCart, Cropin, AgriNext, etc, which are trying their best to solve all these problems.

NINJACART

NinjaCart is B2B company to improve the supply chain. They connect food producers directly with retailers, restaurants, and service providers having in-house applications that drive end to end operations. It was founded by Thiukumaran Nagaranjan, Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Ashutosh Vikram, Sharath Loganathan, Kartheeswaran KK, and Sachin Jose. Currently, they are working in seven major cities- Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Mumbai.

Services Provided by NinjaCart:

It controls the Supply Chain by using technology and analytics. On the one hand, farmers get consistent demand and better prices while on another hand retailers get a fresh product at their doorstep.

AGRICART

Agricart is an online shopping platform for agriculture and gardening needs. It provides seeds, Tools, Chain saws, Lawnmowers, Brush cutters, manure, etc.

Services Provided by Agricart

Agricart provides an Online Shopping platform related to agriculture products. It offers Cash on Delivery Services for those farmers who are not frequent users of digital transactions. It provides Tools and Machinery along with different kinds of seeds( vegetable, fruit, plants). It also provides technologies for the Drip Irrigation System.

CROPIN

Cropin is a leading “Full–Stack Agri-Tech” organization which was founded by Krishna Kumar with Co-founder Kunal Prasad. It enables stakeholders to adopt digital technology such as IoT( Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), Machine Learning, Remote Sensing, and Satellite Imaging

Services Provided by CROPIN

CROPIN is committed to providing a robust and flexible system for Farm Management with great features including traceability & output Predictability. It involves Alert Log & management (pest infestation, disease, etc.) with Satellite and weather input based advisory. One can also get crop reports & insights from the team.

DEHAAT

DeHaat is an AI-enabled organization to revolutionize the supply chain. Currently, they are operating in Bihar, UP, and Odisha with 265,000 farmers. It was also felicitated by NASSCOM, Forbes, ET Niti Aayog, and Bill Gates Foundation.

Services provided by DeHaat:

DEHAAT is aimed to provide technical support to farmers which includes Soil Testing, Forecasting yielding, Use of AI, ML & Analytics. It also provides Agri Solutions to farmers along with seeds, nutrition with advisory and support. The team also provides Agri-financing which includes – Credit & Insurance, Harvest, and Market access.

AGZON AGRO

The Organization was founded in 2015 to provide a reliable and cost-effective solution for the nutrition requirement of plants particularly deals with fertilizers, probiotic micronutrient solutions, and other plant growth regulators.

Services Provided by AGZON AGRO

AGZON AGRO provides quality Agri- input products with ground-level support and guidance to farmers to maximize profits by utilizing available resources, It aims to develop a strong, efficient and effective distribution system focusing on creating the best working environment in the organization.

KAMAL KISAN

Started by Engineer and business graduate Devi Murthy, the company Kamal Kisan provides low- cost farm equipment. The company has developed machines like vegetable planters, power weeders, bed makers, sugarcane planters, etc.

Features of Products developed by KAMAL KISAN

KAMAL KISAN’s services are suitable for use on small farms with minimal dependence on fuel, ease of self-maintenance to reduce dependence on post-sales service, integrated with existing farming practices to lower adoption barriers, and Cost-effective.

FASAL

To eliminate uncertainties in farming, the Fasal app was launched in 2018 with four team members to reduce the cost of cultivation and increased quality through AI Powered platform. The Company promotes Sustainable Agriculture by following the path of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Services provided by Fasal

FASAL provides Farm Level Weather forecast with high accuracy with alerts for the risk of disease and pests. It also manages irrigation precisely by optimizing the usage of water and monitoring the finance of stakeholders.

FLYBIRD FARM INNOVATIONS

Fly Bird farm Innovation is a social enterprise focusing on helping farmers conserve water and control irrigation.

Services provided by Flybird Farm Innovations

It helps farmers by improving Crop Yield / Production. Conservation and efficient usage of water and electric power, Improving the livelihood of farmers, Integrating Affordable Technologies for farmers are their’s motive.

CROFARM

Founded in 2016, Croform is also a Startup aiming to improve Supply Chain. They deliver fruits and vegetables both online and offline after taking them directly from the farmers. It depends on an AI-based prediction system to keep tracking of its procurement.

Services Provided by CROFARM

CROFARM provides a Farmer/ Supplier App along with Distribution Centre Console, Transporter App, Reseller App, Retailer/ Consumer App.

All these Startups are giving hopes that, apart from being a prominent country in the field of IT, India will also conserve its traditional occupation with the use of new technologies. With the new era, Farmers will become managers and Robots will do all the work. Advanced Technologies like Market linkage, digital agriculture, better access to inputs are attracting large tractions. Surely, these StartupsSb will help local farming become a sustainable and profit- yielding enterprise. For more amazing articles check out Insellers.