The Agriculture Accelerator Fund announced in the Union Budget would support startups to bring in efficiency in production of various crops for the small-holder farmers through use of technological inputs such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), blockchain technologies and drones.
According to Prasanna Rao, co-founder and CEO, Arya Collateral Warehousing Services, a startup, the proposed fund will assist in building locally embedded entrepreneurship and bring in efficiency in crop production. “More startups will have presence in the rural areas and hopefully there will be sufficient funds available to startups for creating effective market linkage for the farmers,” Rao told FE.
According to an estimate, there are around 2,000 agri-startups in the country currently engaged in providing technical services for increasing crop productivity and providing market linkages to the farmers.
An agriculture ministry official acknowledged that there are challenges in providing technological solutions to all the 140 million farmers, out of which 67% have an average holding size of less than one hectare.
“The proposed fund would help a large number of startups in ensuring adoption of technologies to reduce input cost and increase crop productivity,” Deepak Bhardwaj, director and co-founder, IoTechworld Aviation, a startup which manufactures and sells drones which are specifically used for farming. The company has tied up with corporates such as Syngenta India, Dhanuka Agritech and others spraying fertilisers and fungicides across agriculture fields using drones would result in uniformity in applications.
Mayank Tiwari, founder and CEO, ReshaMandi, a startup providing farm-to-fashion digital ecosystem for natural fibre said accelerator fund for agriculture will provide a much-needed boost in productivity, besides improving efficiency, and reducing crop failure, to farmers, and all other stakeholders in the supply chain, who will now gain access to new-age technology developed by agritech startups.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech the fund would encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas.
The modalities and financial allocations from the fund are still being worked out.
“The supply and input side of the agricultural value chain is heavily emphasized in the budget which will help the nascent agri-tech industry.” Raj Yadav, founder and CEO, Agrijunction, a digital marketplace that provides agricultural products, equipment and machinery.
Sitharaman also announced creation of digital public infrastructure for agriculture which would enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for growth of agri-tech industry and startups.
“The measures announced in the budget will accelerate technology adoption in the agriculture sector and help farmers in accessing markets,” D Narain, president, Bayer South Asia, said.