Digital has become a buzzword in post-modern society given that there’s an enormous bandwagon effect owing to the benefits digitalisation of any activity or industry can provide. In light of this, it is conceivable to think how digital technology can empower the marginalised sections of society, especially Indian farmers. 

Digital technology is promising since it is normally laden with artificial intelligence and machine learning application. However, marrying digital with data is the new oilfield as it can help to map out all the various touchpoints that can give greater insights to various institutions such as corporations, government, civil society, etc. 

Keen to adopt tech

Consider the case of Indian farmers, who have been for long under-represented in media owing to sketchy on-ground information and methodologies to understand farmers’ lives and livelihoods. But this trend is set to change with the new-age technologies that organisations are harnessing today.

At present, there are more than 450 agtech start-ups operational in India, many of whom have made SaaS (software as a service) a reality in Indian agriculture. The upside of this trend is that farmers, too, now have become keen to adopt digital technologies of various forms, especially via a smartphone. We are witness to the increase in digital adoption of technologies in the form of precision farming, sensor technology, drone tech, etc. 

In the midst of this growing trend, it makes sense to evaluate the potential of social networking that’s helping farmers reach out to their peers, transcending geographical barriers, and nurturing a sense of communion with them.

Such a form of social interaction that has taken a digital route is helping farmers cross-share knowledge and consult experts and advisors to iron out their farming challenges and queries. Moreover, such interactions aren’t just social but transactional as well.

There is a surge in the number of farmers who engage in peer-to-peer cattle trading via the digital medium that has improved the ease of doing business for them, leading to better economic prospects and cancelling on-ground hassles such as the presence of a middleman who normally teases out profit from farmers’ share-of-wallet. 

Options to order anything

The emergence of social commerce, too, in the agriculture space has brought a rural spin to the civic commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, etc. When common citizens of India have the luxury to order any good or service and make online purchases, then why should farmers be left behind?

Fortunately, this question has many hefty responses given that farmers too now have the option to order any product across the agriculture value chain and get them delivered to the doorstep. Thanks to several agritech start-ups that are bolstering this trend and realising the future of digitising agriculture. 

Digital is inevitable; thus, it is equally important to create mechanisms to help marginalized sections of the society such as farmers, keep up with the pace of change to help them progress socially and economically with the changing times. 

The author is CEO and Founder of Krishify

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