Back in 1947, when India was finally free from British rule, it faced several challenges. Firstly, the British had disrupted the economy of our country, exploited the natural resources, and the manufacturing sector too was not developed enough to handle the increasing demand of this newly born nation.(AGRI TECH)
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But among all this, one of the biggest challenges was to feed the people of free India. The Britishers had turned most of the cultivated land into cash crops such as cotton, jute, indigo, etc. to meet the demand for raw materials back in England.
Thus, India was suffering from an inadequate supply of food domestically, and it was heavily dependent on imports to meet even the demand for even the primary food crops such as rice, wheat, etc.
It was the introduction of the Green Revolution that helped India grow as an agriculturally intense country, and soon India turned from a food deficient to a food surplus nation. Thanks to the Green Revolution, India was able to achieve its food security goal.
Today, as the world fights to save humans from the rapidly spreading Coronavirus Pandemic, the Indian agriculture sector is hit with yet another obstacle. With both the Central and State governments imposing lockdowns, the farmers are having a tough time getting their harvest to the markets, compelling most of the farmers to sell it locally at a much lower price. It has caused a widespread loss in this sector.
But just like Green Revolution came to the rescue during the days of independence, today, the Agri tech startups have come up to save the agriculture sector from the ongoing pandemic.
What is an Agri Tech Startup?
Agri Tech Startups, as the name suggests, are startups that integrate technology into agricultural practices to improve productivity and make the distribution network more efficient.
Today several Agri Tech Startups make use of artificial intelligence, remote sensing, data science, data analytics, and several other Internet of Things devices to help the farmers keep their supply chains functional.
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As the lockdown situation has paralyzed the transportation network in different parts of the country, traditional farmers have been the worst hit as they do not have the technological advancement or access to the internet to reach out directly to their consumers. It is where most of the Agri Tech startups come into play. Agri Tech startups have both the infrastructure as well as technological advancement to bridge the gap between the producers (farmers) and the buyers.
Some Agri Tech Startups of India
AgriBazaar
https://twitter.com/AgribazaarA/photo
This startup has replicated the concept of a physical mandi and turned it into an e-mandi. Here the farmers can register their products online, and the buyers can place orders for purchase. After the order is confirmed, AgriBazar takes care of the logistic, from picking from the farmer to delivering it to the buyer’s doorstep.
Unnati
Photo: https://twitter.com/unnatiagri/photo
Unnati is a fintech startup that aims to provide financial support throughout the farming lifecycle to farmers across the country. The company feeds the collected data into its predictive farming model to make informed decisions regarding the amount of working capital to be used, purchasing the right seeds, nutrients, and pesticides for crops, predicting market conditions, etc.
Arya Collateral
Photo: https://twitter.com/arya_cma/photo
A Delhi-based Agri Tech Startup realized that the storage of crops restricts cash flow for farmers, and most of the farmers are unable to take their harvest to the market as they do not have sufficient cash and cannot afford to take loans due to high rates of interest.
So, Arya started their own NBFC (Non-Banking Finance Company) to provide loans at an interest rate of 13.5%. Way lower than any other NBFC or MFI charges. Next, they also help the farmers to connect with agri-corporations such as ITC Ltd, Britannia, SAB Miller India, etc.
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The Role of the Government
The agricultural sector is still one of the largest employment generating sectors of our country, and any difficulties faced by this sector hurt the national economy.
Realizing this and recognizing the potential of Agri Tech Startups to revolutionize the agricultural sector, the Government of India has been promoting such startups over the past few years. The govt. of India has been using its Startup India Program extensively to promote Agri Tech Startups.
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