Technological Innovations and Agritech Renaissance : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-3: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices, e-Technology in the aid of farmers

Key Phrases: AgriTech Startups, Deeper Internet Penetration in Rural Farming, Agritech Renaissance, Agricultural Technologies, Precision Farming, Data Analytics, Farm Mechanisation & Automation

Context:

The outbreak and aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic led to the hampering of businesses and industries across the globe.
The agricultural sector grew unfettered and emerged unaffected.

Key Highlights:

Technological innovations brought by AgriTech startups provided the agricultural sector a bulwark against the destructions of the global pandemic.
Deeper Internet penetration in rural farming communities and proliferation of digital technologies in tandem with state assistance and investor funding has led to the ongoing digital transformation of the farming ecosystem.
The Indian agricultural sector is gradually adapting the AgriTech.
The agritech sector is thus, forecasted to surpass $24 billion in revenue by 2025.

Problems/Challenges of Indian Agriculture Sector in Short

Dependency on Monsoon: Agriculture in India largely depends on the monsoon.
Land Ownership: Inequality in land distribution has led to the concentration of land holding. Moreover, most holdings are small and uneconomic.
Fragmentation of Holding: Breakdown of the joint family system; continuous sub-division of agricultural land into smaller and smaller plots, making the cultivation uneconomic.
Insecurity of land tenancy.
Poor conditions of Agricultural Labourers.
Disguised unemployment.
Issues related to agricultural prices, agricultural credit, agricultural marketing etc.

How Agritech is helping to bring Agricultural Renaissance?

Precision Farming & Data-driven Farm Management:
- Technological innovations in agriculture are changing the way crops are grown.
- Spurred by climate change, unsustainable farming practices, increased pests, and decreased soil quality, the agriculture sector is now moving towards data-driven farm management that influences the flow of technology and information between farmers and farms.
- These practices capture data such as soil moisture, temperature, pH, and weather using wireless sensors, drones, and satellite imagery.
- The holistic data is reviewed through data analytics and algorithms to provide farmers with recommendations to improve yields and control costs.
- By adopting such advanced agricultural practices, farmers and agronomists can make decisions on facts, rather than intuition.
Farm Mechanisation & Automation:
- The advent of precision farming has paved the way for farm mechanisation and automation.
- Increasing agricultural power and adopting automation technologies imply that maximum farming chores can be completed in minimum time.
- It also ensures that larger areas can be cultivated efficiently to produce higher yields while conserving natural resources.
- By deploying eco-friendly modern machines and technologies like agricultural drones, seed-planting robots, electric tractors etc., farmers can maximise their output and income.
- Farm mechanisation and automation can transform seeding, material handling and harvesting and unlock the true potential of every farm and farmer.
Pre- and Post-harvest Market Linkages:
- The agricultural value chain in India is plagued by intermediaries who prevent farmers from getting the actual market value for their produce.
- With the advent of AgriTech, players in market linkages and farming inputs are seamlessly blending technology with physical infrastructure to provide farmers with direct access to input and output markets.
- Consequently, farmers’ dependency on intermediaries can be significantly reduced, and they can reap the benefits of what they are sowing.
- Several startups in this space are connecting farmers to distant markets, processing units, wholesalers and even exporters using digital technologies.
Water Conservation & Management:
- Constantly depleting groundwater and erratic rainfall patterns have necessitated technological intervention to conserve and manage water.
- The use of modern technologies for rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharging and irrigation scheduling can help farmers save huge quantities of water and make efficient use of existing resources.
- Technological innovations such as drip products, automatic valves, controllers, and low discharge sprayers, can curtail water wastage.
- Additionally, these solutions can introduce more sustainable farming practices that benefit the living and coming generations.
Access to Financial Services:
- On account of lack of financial inclusion, farmers have to turn to informal lenders and the unorganised sector despite exorbitant interest rates.
- The technological innovations in the FinTech and AgriTech sectors are removing financial roadblocks from the Indian agriculture sector.
- Financial services solutions leverage technologies such as mobile banking, micropayments, real-time market prices and remote monitoring, to ascertain farmers’ creditworthiness.
- Moreover, several startups are assisting farmers in getting small-ticket loans to meet their short-term farming needs.

Do you know?

Agriculture Sector in India:

Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihood in India.
70 percent of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal.
India is the largest producer (25% of global production), consumer (27% of world consumption) and importer (14%) of pulses in the world.
India's annual milk production was 165 MT (2017-18), making India the largest producer of milk, jute and pulses.
It is the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and groundnuts, as well as the second-largest fruit and vegetable producer, accounting for 10.9% and 8.6% of the world fruit and vegetable production, respectively.

Government Initiatives:

National Centre for Management and Agricultural Extension (MANAGE) –It has been set up in Hyderabad with a focus on accelerating agritech start-ups by providing mentoring, networking, and investor guidelines.
Innovation and Agriculture Entrepreneurship Development– Program by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare (DACFW) under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to promote entrepreneurship in agriculture.
Initiative for Development of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture (IDEA)– by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region to assist in the establishment of agri-business and make them profitable.

What are Initiatives Launched for Agri-Startups?

In 2020, the Reserve Bank of India directed banks to treat loans up to ₹50 crore to agri-startups under priority sector lending.
In the Budget 2022, the Finance Minister of India also announced a fund for agri-startups and rural enterprises. The exclusive fund will be launched through NABARD in order to give a fillip to the farm produce value chain.
The International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has called for applications from agritech start-ups under the NIDHI-Seed Support Scheme (NIDHI-SSS).
- The selected start-ups will receive funding up to ₹50 lakh. The seed fund will enable them to accelerate their commercialisation activities.

Conclusion:

A wave of technological innovations spurred by the AgriTech sector is helping India unleash its true potential to become the world’s food bowl.
By revolutionising the conventional market systems and replacing unsustainable farming practices, AgriTech can drive the next leg of growth of the agriculture sector and build a more efficient, safer, sustainable farming system.
Consistent digital transformation efforts along with government incentives and intervention can strengthen the agricultural model in India. The combination of an influx of investments, AgriTech startups and innovations have the potential of changing the dynamics of Indian agriculture and paving the way for a futuristic model.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. AgriTech can drive the next leg of growth of the agriculture sector and build a robust farming system. Discuss.