Based on technology, regulation, investment and other related interests, India’s agricultural sector is set to face rigorous transformation. As per a report by consultancy firm Bain & Company titled “Indian Agriculture: Ripe for Disruption”, agribusiness, agricultural supply and related businesses in India will be valued at around $30-35 billion by 2025. The report is based on in-depth correspondences with different stakeholders, including industry experts in agriculture, farmers, and agritech start-ups.

The Indian agricultural sector is passing through a critical phase where it can overtake the traditional approach and develop, process and market food with the help of new technologies. Conventional farming practices will change and improve over time, and the entire agricultural value chain will build a unique value pool of $ 30-35 billion in the years to come.

The agriculture sector is the backbone of India and it holds a great responsibility of feeding over 1.3 billion population. Agriculture is also an integral part of internal and external trade. It has been positioning the country as a significant agri-exporter, with the sector contributing 12 per cent to India’s exports. Despite the recent outbreak due to the coronavirus and lockdowns crisis, the sector remained operational for every single day when most of the big manufacturing and other corporates were forced to put their shutters down.

The agriculture industry has radically transformed over the past 50 years. The traditional way of working from the past many decades had pushed the sector in the back burner. Some of the reasons for this backlog is low landholding, lack of modern technology and high-interest rate loans from the informal lending sector. The country has been taking agricultural self-sufficiency since its independence. While achieving food sufficiency in production, India still faces concerns of resource-intensive agriculture and low farmer productivity, which is resulting in poverty and undernourishment.

On the other hand, agriculture employs around half of the country’s workforce and uses three-fourth of the country’s fresh water resources. Despite all these efforts, it contributes only one-sixth of the GDP (gross domestic products). This indicates a low worker productivity and an inefficient use of resources in the agricultural sector in India. This is also due to the fact that a majority of agricultural production comes from small family farmers and stock breeders, who mostly do not have the capacity or necessary technological support to improve farm efficiency.

Connecting The Dots

But now technology is revolutionising the term agriculture to agritech, a combination of agriculture and technology. These issues are now getting addressed with the use of technology and innovative models of underwriting loans. Technology is the enabler that is now steering the Indian farming towards an inclusive and sustainable farming to meet the agricultural requirements of the future. In the past, numerous efforts have been made to make the agriculture sector adopt and implement technology. However, an impactful difference has become visible now in the past 6-8 years. This is mostly driven by the mobile revolution, which is actually empowering the farmers to connect with the rest of India.

On the same side, start-ups and entrepreneurs in the country have also played a vital role in this agritech revolution. New technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), farm and data analytics, aerial image-based analytics etc. are being introduced by agritech companies in India. This is making the farming processes more resourceful and leading its way in better decisions for improving yield and productivity.

Advances in machinery have expanded the scale, speed, and productivity of farm equipment, taking a lead in more efficient cultivation of more land. Seed, irrigation and fertilisers also have vastly improved, helping farmers to increase yields. Now, agriculture is in the early days of yet another revolution, at the heart of which lies data and connectivity. Artificial intelligence, analytics, connected sensors and other emerging technologies could further intensify yields, improve the efficiency of water and other inputs. Similarly, it can build sustainability and resilience across crop cultivation and animal husbandry.

Ideas can come from anything around you, be it a taxicab, retail stores or even farm tractors. Drawing inspiration from farm machinery and tractors, Pravin Shinde and Vishnu Dhas founded Khetigaadi.com; the world’s pioneer website for buying, selling, renting, comparing and reviewing tractors and farm machinery. Established in 2016, KhetiGaadi is headquartered in Pune and aims to induce the use of technology and hi-tech products in agriculture to maximise yield with less labour and more farm mechanization. 

How does KhetiGaadi work?

Being an agritech company, KhetiGaadi is built on high-tech angular technology with high safety measures to ensure trust within farmers who are often doubtful of engaging with such online platforms. As most farmers are usually well versed in their local languages, KhetiGaadi has made their app available in 10 different languages and their website in 3 different languages which include English, Hindi and Marathi. This leads to more belief in the company and results in more traction as the farmers feel more connected and secure with the company making the platform user friendly. The concept is compatible with iOS as well as Android. The ag-tech start-up has created a one-stop platform for farmers, tractor manufacturers, contractors, dealers, brokers, service providers and agricultural experts to connect and trade in an agricultural e-commerce marketplace.

Through the app, farmers can compare and review different types of farm machinery, especially different tractors. Farmers can read reviews by other farmers and experts on various brands and make an informed decision. Farmers and producers can also sell old and new tractors and rent out tractors and machinery. The platform also helps in terms of loans and insurances by matching farmers with agri-lenders and farm insurance providers. Their mobile app has recorded 3.5 lakh installs across platforms. The app and website both provide information related to dealerships, service centres, agricultural universities and farm mechanisation centres near them. Via their KhetiGuru app, they keep farmers up-to-date with agricultural news, methods of farming including land preparation and crop protection. They also provide updates on weather changes that affect harvest season, etc. The website also publishes useful blogs in 3 different languages that supply farmers with an abundance of information primarily related to new technologies and fresh methods of farming. 

What can one learn from KhetiGaadi?

KhetiGaadi provides a unique one-stop solution for farmers across India when it comes to farm mechanisation from creating awareness about farming technology, creating a market for tractors and a platform for agricultural financial aid and insurance. Instead of going for a large client base, they focused on the farming community as their target audience and optimised on the same. The founders understood the lack of access to technology experienced by their clients and thus provided a niche platform where they could review and compare and understand from fellow farmers and experts. The multilingual app and website provide an added advantage of reaching out to a larger audience. Knowing your audience and their problems and needs is very important when it comes to starting a venture. Research deeper into the area you wish to set your business in, comprehend your clientele’s issues and come up with unique solutions to tackle the obstacles in an easy yet sustainable manner. 

When we think of technology, we think of robots, automation, artificial intelligence, etc. that make our life easy and convenient. Little do we think about the intervention of technology in the field of agriculture. Agritech is the application of technology and technological innovations in agriculture. With the world population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, agritech is going to play a crucial role. But before we talk about the new product development in agritech, let’s understand some of the challenges in agriculture and how technology plays a crucial role in solving those challenges.

Challenges in Agriculture

Land management: As the population keeps increasing, farmers have been engaging in intensive farming to the growing population of the world. This means that more synthetic pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers are used on the soil, which reduces soil fertility. Hence, more fertilizers are needed to be added to restore the soil quality. Additionally, all the synthetic fertilizers that are used in agriculture, seep in slowly in the nearby water sources.

Effect on the climate: As we embrace intensive agriculture to meet the growing population’s demand, more forest lands are being reclaimed. Along with reducing forest cover, it also increases the greenhouse effect, thus increasing the temperature. Climate change not only affects us, but it affects crops too.

Change in biodiversity: With forest land transforming quickly into agricultural lands, there has been a major impact on the local flora and fauna, thus creating an imbalance in the biodiversity.

How Technology is Solving Agricultural Issues

Drones and satellites: Drones and satellites have a lot of roles to play in solving agricultural challenges. For example, drones can provide food security to the growing population of the world. It helps to maximize crop production by promoting pollination, replicating the activities of bees. Drones can fire seeds into the ground, thus helping to sow seeds at a much faster rate than any other existing devices or human efforts.

With the help of thermal cameras, drones can keep track of remote livestock pastures, watch for predators, and keep a check on the livestock’s health. The Near Infra-Red (NIR) sensors are capable of determining the plant’s health based on light absorption. This helps farmers take preventive measures and intervene on time to restore the plant’s health, resulting in better and higher yields of crops.

Drones also help to keep crop diseases at bay. For example, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can evaluate crop diseases and thus provide critical information to the farmers. It can also spray herbicides where needed instead of covering all the crops with herbicides.

Big -data and blockchain in agriculture: Blockchain has been revolutionizing various industries, and the agriculture sector is not left behind. Leveraging blockchains, consumers can now know how the produce originated that they are going to consume. Blockchain also helps to reduce the intervention of middlemen, thus reducing the price of the goods.

Technology in farm maintenance: Robotics and automated farm maintenance machinery play an essential role in locating the produce precisely, optimize irrigation, select the right crops to harvest, and more. Traditionally these processes are done manually, which takes a lot of time and effort, while with a little bit of technology, the whole process can be speeded up.

IoT-based sensors: Different IoT-based sensors are used in agriculture that helps farmers with critical information about weather, soil condition, thus allowing them to optimize crop yields.

Smart farming: One of the most prominent uses of tech in agriculture is smart farming. Smart agriculture is a method where farming is optimized by previous research, inspection, and data. Some of the common techniques used in smart agriculture include:

Precision farming: To make precise farming decisions on the nature of the crop or the farmland tract, drones, sensors, satellites are used to gather data.

Automated irrigation: Automated irrigation helps to have better yield while at the same time it helps save cost on energy, and at the same time conserves the environment.

Hydroponics: Hydroponics is the method of growing crops without involving soil. In this method, the exact amount of water and nutrients are provided in precision. Since there is no soil needed to grow produces, the hydroponics method can help grow crops anywhere, especially on a vertical farm.

Vertical farming: This is another modern concept of farming where crops are grown in the vertical layer. Lighting supplements and appropriate water irrigation systems are used to water the plants. Vertical farming is popular in places where farming lands are scarce. The method is easy and encourages farmers to adopt it.

Leveraging weather forecast systems: Different crops thrive under different weather conditions. Knowing the weather in advance with the weather forecast system’s help, farmers can choose the right time for sowing seeds.