After experiencing highs and lows in microfinance business, Mr Vikram Akula is back in business again. This time he is associating himself with an agriculture initiative that builds solutions around efficient use of agriculture.
He has joined as a Director of AgSri, the firm founded by Dr Biksham Gujja. He made some angel investment in the two-year-old firm. “It is not a great sum. But what is important is his experience and understanding of things at the grassroots,” Dr Biksham told Business Line.
Dr Biksham spent years in enhancing water productivity for major crops such as sugarcane that consume a lot of water.
Dr Biksham has developed measurable models around Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) and System of Rice Intensification (SRI). While working on a project with Icrisat (International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) two years ago, he built a cropping model for sugarcane industry taking cues from SRI cultivation.
He claimed that increased yields by 20-25 per cent. He tested this model with farmers in the North, South and in Orissa.
“Our approach increases rural employment and converts labour to more productive gains. Our crop and water management technologies impact soil fertility, water saving and climate change without any extra investments,” an AgSri executive said.
The firm, based out of Hyderabad, would help in building crop management systems to produce ‘more with less' and customising it to different climatic zones. It also offers advice on earning carbon credits and getting seed certification.
It would also take up classes to improve capacities of public sector employees in implementing innovative and sustainable agricultural approaches.