The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director-General Himanshu Pathak said there is an immediate need to strengthen start-ups to address the challenges facing the agricultural sector in the country.

“Start-ups can play a vital role by tackling micro-level problems that existing agencies have struggled to resolve. While generic solutions exist, customised solutions tailored to specific farmers, products, and regions are necessary,” Pathak, who is also the Secretary, Union Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), said.

He was addressing the valedictory of a national conference on ‘Building sustainable agricultural startups in India’ held at the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) at Rajendranagar near here.

“Start-ups can address the micro-level challenges faced by Indian agriculture. Although there are agencies in place to address these challenges, they remain unresolved. Start-ups can provide customised solutions that vary from farmer to farmer and region to region,” he said.

“There are many generic solutions available, but customised solutions are needed to meet the specific needs of different stakeholders,” he felt.

Stating that the Union Government has recognised the importance of start-ups in this space, he said ICAR will provide technical support that start-ups would require. “Our support would include access to technological solutions, training and incubation opportunities,” he said.

Additionally, ICAR can leverage its network to connect start-ups with other agencies that can provide support. To benefit from these resources, Pathak encourages startups to maintain close communication with ICAR. 

S Sivakumar, Group Head (Agri and IT Business) of ITC Ltd, has called for individualised, end-to-end solutions to solve the problems faced by farmers.

“They want solutions for weather information, marketing and several other issues. They can’t gather different solutions and aggregate them in order to get benefit from them,” he said.

“It is the key since farmers can’t aggregate several solutions and use them. Farmers prefer not to have a general best practice in farming. What they want is one solution that solves that one particular problem that they face,” he said.

“We need to foster a critical mass of end users and build a robust digital public infrastructure,” he said.

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