Agritech and how it is helping serve the social cause
India is a unique country from an agricultural point of view because of its vast expense of level land, rich and fertile soil, wide climatic variations suited for a variety of crops, and ample sunshine. Agriculture is the backbone of Indias economy through its share in GDP has economy and employment declined from 1951 onwards. The contribution of agriculture to the national economy can be explained by the fact that Agriculture contributes 23 of the GDP of India and 67 of the Indian population earns its livelihood from agriculture. It supplies raw material to numerous industries and ensures food security for the country.
CHALLENGES FACED
1.NO TRANSPORTATION
As there was no transportation, this results in a gap in Demand-Supply Chain. There were plenty of products available to the farmers but they had no medium to sell those products.
2.UNAVAILABILITY OF LABOURS
Since laborers migrated to their native place after lockdown have been imposed, one of the major concerns was the unavailability of laborers. Due to heavy indebtedness, Crop failure, Insecure life, Agriculture costs very high, uncertainty in regular income.
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Each problem can be solved by some technological advancements and it is proved by startups. Some leading Agri-tech Startups are- NinjaCart, AgriCart, Cropin, AgriNext, etc, which are trying their best to solve all these problems.
1.NINJACART
NinjaCart is B2B company to improve the supply chain. They connect food producers directly with retailers, restaurants, and service providers having in-house applications that drive end to end operations.
Services Provided by NinjaCart
It controls the Supply Chain by using technology and analytics. On the one hand, farmers get consistent demand and better prices while on another hand retailers get a fresh product at their doorstep.
2.AGRICART
Agricart is an online shopping business platform for agriculture and gardening needs. It provides seeds, Tools, Chain saws, Lawnmowers, Brush cutters, manure, etc.
Services Provided by Agricart
Agricart provides an Online Shopping platform related to agriculture products. It offers Cash on Delivery Services for those farmers who are not frequent users of digital transactions. It provides Tools and Machinery along with different kinds of seeds( vegetable, fruit, plants). It also provides technologies for the Drip Irrigation System.
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3.CROPIN
It enables stakeholders to adopt digital technology such as IoT( Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), Machine Learning, Remote Sensing, and Satellite Imaging.
Services Provided by CROPIN
CROPIN is committed to providing a robust and flexible system for Farm Management with great features including traceability output Predictability. It involves Alert Log management (pest infestation, disease, etc.) with Satellite and weather input based advisory.
4.DEHAAT
DeHaat is an AI-enabled organization to revolutionize the supply chain.
Services provided by DeHaat
DEHAAT is aimed to provide technical support to farmers which includes Soil Testing, Forecasting yielding, Use of AI, ML Analytics. It also provides Agri Solutions to farmers along with seeds, nutrition with advisory and support.
5.CROFARM
Croform is also a Startup aiming to improve Supply Chain. They deliver fruits and vegetables both online and offline after taking them directly from the farmers. It depends on an AI-based prediction system to keep tracking of its procurement.
All these Startups are giving hopes that, apart from being a prominent country in the field of IT, India will also conserve its traditional occupation with the use of new technologies. With the new era, Farmers will become managers and Robots will do all the work. Advanced Technologies like Market linkage, digital agriculture, better access to inputs are attracting large tractions. Surely, these Startups will help local farming become a sustainable and revenue- yielding enterprise.