NITISH BHARDWAJ
In 1960s India was grappled with hunger and famine and was commonly known as ship to moutheconomy because imported food grains particularly from USA, when used to arrive at the port, we did not even have the time of storing it because millions of people would be starved to death if Government had not fed their people just in time. With such a frightening history that could make anyone's blood run cold, India is now the 2 nd largest producer of rice and wheat and is a net exporter of agri products since the economic reforms in 1991. As per various reports India's food economy is estimated to be more than 380 billion $ industry which forms nearly 16% of the nation's GDP and gives employment (direct and indirect) to almost 55% of the population.
Despite having this transformation and its importance to the economy, agriculture sector is still plagued by several issue - fragmented supply chain, inadequate farm equipments, lack of credit, and erratic monsoons etc. In fact, a simple google search of agriculture problems in India would open hundreds of articles elucidating many such challenges. One reason for this problem is the lack of adoption of technology that agriculture sector has experienced.
It was only a decade ago when it started with some young entrepreneurs quitting their IT jobs establishing their enterprises that uses technology in agriculture which are commonly known as agritech startups
There are a number of budding startups who are leading a way to giving a new shape to Indian agriculture system.
There are around 3116 start ups registered in food and agriculture sector in India which is frying to solve various challenges From 2012 onwards these startups have been able to raise Capital from Venture Capital who have invested equity to the tune of 3 Bn I which further fortifies the fact that agritech has the potential of disrupting the āgriculture sector in the country.
Challenges of Indian agriculture System and the role of technology to overcome them with these regular investments flowing Agritech has demonstrated that it has an answer to solve myriad of challenges faced by the sector The major challenges that comes across agricultural value chain are mentioned below.
Small tand holding more than 85 of the farmers based in India have small and holdings Tess than 2 hectares which is significantly less as compared to other countries as that of USA Brazil and some European nations where and holding sprawls more than 100 of hectares Small farmers face challenges like access to quality inputs and marketing of products They are usually dependent on targe farms to access Water fechnology and the market.
Low Farm mechanization and hence Tower yield Mechanization has been identified as a key tool to increase the agricultural production Ii Saves time and labor reduces drudgery cut down production cost in the long run reduces postharvest Hosses and boosts crop output and farm income India despite having the second Targest arable yola stol land after the USA jsoutshined by China in terms of productivity per hectare.
Fragmented Supply Chain Indian agriculture supply chain is quite complex where there are more than 56 layers between a farmer and a consumer Aggregator Traders Processor Distributors Wholesalers and Retailers Demand aggregation and quality assaying thus becomes a challenge in this tong and fragmented Supply chain which results in inefficiency and food wastage.
Water stress More than 55 of Indian agriculture produce is dependent on monsoon Indian farmers rely on good Crop produce during Monsoon to earn their living There is a study which suggests that more than 50 of the borewell will go dry by 2030 that would further aggravate the problem.
Post Elarvest challenge India is the second Targest producer of fruits and vegetables but because of inadequate Togistics Support tack of refrigerated storage and bottlenecked market channels 25 30 of the produce is wasted And on top ofitwhat follows is the exploitation of traders agents who knows that a Farmer Cannot hold the produce for long and doesnthave any option of storing its either has to sell ifoff at a very meagre price of 56 Rs akg which retail customers is ready to buy at 20 25 Rs a kg.
Lack of institutional credit this estimated that 70 of farmers in India are not able to borrow money from formato credit sources Scheduled commercial Banks RRBs and NBFCs. They depend on local money lenders who charges exorbitant prices to which small and holding farmers usually do not have the capacity to repay and hence cannot get out from the circle of indebtedness.
Agritech Solutions
From last few years we have come across budding entrepreneurs who are trying to solve all the complex issues listed above by providing relevant and innovative solutions with the help of technology.
Access to quality inputs and Information Entrepreneurs working in this domain are trying to enable timely and quality delivery of inputs seeds fertilizers and agrochemicals to the last mile with the help of apps that uses power of AIML startups are developing a cutting edge technology which prescribes farmers the kind of inputs that are required to improve the situation of a farm.
Post Harvest Solutions This can be divided into two sub solutions I one that increases shelf life and reduce wastage of the produce by providing temperature controlled supply chain such as Ecozen and Tessol and the other that provides market fo the farmers Tike Big basket Ninjakart Waycool and Challenges of Indian agriculture System and the role of technology to overcome them Jumbotail.
Startups are figuring out different ways for delayering of the supply chain with the help of technology. Because of small land holdings the obvious challenge that entrepreneurs face bere us that of aggregation and quality assaying Enterprises are frying to go closer to farms and building relationship with OFPOs Cand aggregators.
Access to Einancing A few of the startups are trying to develop farmers database with historical yield and a estimated income per annum that could serve as a recipe for financial institutions to tend to small and marginal farmers in present scenario access to financing has not really taken off well in comparison to other domains because of obvious Challenges like cost of on boarding high risk of default and limited scope of assessment of farm income.
Mechanization of Farming Startups working in this domain have a core focus on improving conventional farming practices through design intervention.
It involves judicious use of inputs and natural resources for improving the productivity Some of these enterprises are creating smart devices that brings in precision in farming while others are building a model around Überization where farming is used as a service Faas Cand makes it affordable for small and marginal farmers Start ups are also involving farming model of Singapore the country which does not have significant land area but is involved in techniques like vertical farming.
Data Artificial Intelligence With an umpteen number of variables affecting Indian agriculture and a kind of volatility on these variables agriculture research as a heaven for data scientists Startups Working in this domain are trying to build a robust assimilation model that helps generate farm level insights.
They are also exhibiting risk Categorization of different areas and deploying weather advisory Services the data that is quite beneficial for insurance companies and financial institutions.
To sum up indian food sector is a booming industry and there is an Ocean of opportunities for entrepreneurs to enter into agritech sector It is also one of the sectors that can absorb shocks against the headwinds of recession However despite the momentum Indian agriculture is far from realizing its holisticpotential that could act as a demand driver in rural economy and also contribute in India SGDP growth ambition of 780.
