How technologies are paving the way for Agritech transformation

India is primarily an agrarian economy. As per a report by IBEF, agriculture serves as the primary source of income for livelihood for about 58% of India's population. Even though agriculture contributes over 20% of India's GDP, making it the economy's backbone, the sector in India has been relatively slow in technological adoption as opposed to most other industries such as FinTech, Ed-tech, etc. 

However, the lockdown and restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic forced the farmers, traders, rural shops, and other major players in the supply chain to turn to “Agritech” platforms for innovative, tech-backed solutions. That boosted the adoption of Agritech by Indian farmers and agribusiness intermediaries, moving them from the traditional way of farming to "smart" farming. This is evidenced by the fact that 2020 saw investments worth a massive USD 300 million poured into Agritech startups in the country, and the industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 32% from FY20 to FY25.

Using technology in agriculture speeds up the process and ensures a positive climate action and a sustainable and profitable future fulfilling the demand for food. The world has been going through severe climate-related challenges in the wake of ever-increasing carbon emissions. Thus, the global transformation of agriculture implementing technologically advanced carbon cropping practices and climate-smart production techniques will help decarbonize the farming and restore carbon to the farm soil. It also holds a good prospect for supporting farmers to increase their productivity and profitability while receiving some additional short term (carbon farming) and long term (soil health) benefits. 

Recent Technologies: Game-changers in India’s Agritech industry

Several organizations are making tremendous progress in deploying tech-enabled farming and innovative Agritech solutions and thanks to skyrocketing smartphone usage, internet proliferation, and digital literacy, even in small and marginal farms. Technology has proven to be a great enabler in overcoming supply chain challenges and in terms of increasing yield, income, and sustainability. Incorporating technology in agriculture will help farmers access markets, inputs, data, advice, credit, and insurance and thus help making smart agriculture decisions to increase farm profitability. 

Timely and accurate data and analytics - both help developing a strong and efficient demand-driven supply chain. With sensors, photographs, IoT devices, drones, and satellite images, agricultural data can be obtained and integrated with weather and soil health card data. 

With big data support, disruptive technologies, such as AI & ML, are revolutionizing Indian agriculture. A growing number of Agritech companies are developing and deploying AI-based solutions that are transformative and sustainable. Novel technologies have the capacity to empower Indian farmers by automating agricultural processes and increasing precision cultivation for increased crop yield and quality while using limited resources. Additionally, technology can cater to the needs of consumers more seamlessly and accurately than ever before.

Fine details of the ground, such as - soil indices, soil moisture at different depths, soil and plant nutrient content, and soil organic carbon, can be gathered using remote sensing and proximal sensing techniques. Furthermore, the mandi pricing can help develop predictive models that can improve pre-harvest and post-harvest decisions about seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.

The lockdowns have proven to be a potent trigger, with more consumers opting for online ordering in search of reliable and healthy products. As a result, there has been a surge in demand for "farm-to-consumer" (F2C) brands that can ensure quality and provide transparency back to the source. Thus, Agriculture's future is more digital, modular, and flexible to ensure traceability of each farmer's grain and transparency in terms of product quality.

The Road Ahead

The Indian agriculture value chain, witnessing rapid growth and evolution, has plenty of potentials for  Agritech platforms with their innovative solutions. These are bringing a revolution and also helping Indian Agritech to become more Atmanirbhar. The technological advancements brought about by startups with the support of the government would undoubtedly transform the Indian agricultural scenario. Technology has the ability to pave the path for a smart agriculture industry that is both sustainable and frictionless, leading the country to a brighter and more self-reliant future. At least for the foreseeable future, technology will play an instrumental role in shaping the agriculture industry, enabling farmers to adopt more sustainable yet profitable approaches. 

The article has been written by Dr. Sudarshan Dutta, Lead Agronomist, India, Agoro Carbon Alliance