Rural India contributes to 64% of our country’s population and heavily relies on agriculture for its livelihood. Out of these, only 20% of farmers have access to irrigation, and all of them are affected by climate change and the losses it brings. Farmland sizes have decreased by 50 per cent in the past five decades, and even though rural youth traditionally pursue agriculture, low profitability has started forcing farmers to rethink their profession.

As a result, around 15 lakh farmers left farming and moved to urban areas in 2020, exceeding the previous year’s migration by 5 lakhs. Financial constraints and a lack of educational infrastructure limit rural India’s access to higher education, resulting in limited career opportunities. Consequently, they are compelled to accept whatever opportunities they can find to provide for their families.

The advent of agritech has revolutionised the Indian agricultural economy and created potential for rural entrepreneurship. This new tech ecosystem can stimulate a variety of novel business models, generating millions of employment opportunities in villages and enhancing the rural economy’s resilience to the extent that NITI Aayog suggests digital technologies in agriculture can double farmers’ income. This growth will be driven by factors like smartphone penetration, rising food demand, and government support for digital technologies in agriculture. Let’s look at a few professions already created by these developments.

Value-addition

Adding value to their crops can alleviate the burden on farmers, as they no longer have to rely on raw crop sales. This diversification of income not only provides them with financial security but also boosts their overall earnings. National Council of Applied Economics Research revealed that value addition led up to a 25 per cent increase in the income of potato farmers. With the emergence of new procurers, such as Ninjacart, Farmizen, FreshoKartz, Crofarm etc, who are willing to pay premium prices for processed crops, farmers can bypass middlemen and reap profits for their products.

Micro-warehousing

Micro warehousing can reduce post-harvesting losses by 20-30 per cent and boosts farmers’ income by 10-30 per cent, as reported by the World Bank. For farmers who can afford to build larger facilities, additional rental income can be generated by providing storage space for others. Moreover, with the rise of e-commerce companies offering last-mile deliveries, having such storage facilities can be a significant advantage, enabling them to transform into dark stores and integrate into a broader distribution network. The benefits extend to farm-to-table startups as well, making micro-warehouses an essential asset. Additionally, micro-warehousing gives the farmers and farming communities independence to sell at an advantageous time so they can earn better profits.

Farm mechanisation

Farm mechanisation is gaining traction, supported by state governments such as Punjab, which has launched schemes like Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM), offering subsidies for acquiring agricultural machinery. Small land-holding farmers find farm equipment expensive and are reluctant to buy it, but they can now opt for affordable rentals, eliminating maintenance costs because village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs) who offer these services handle the upkeep. FICCI’s report reveals that India has around 6 million rental entrepreneurs, catering to over 50 million farmers. This rental market is witnessing an annual growth rate of 8%, reflecting the rising demand for these services.

Other than rental entrepreneurs, the service-based industry is also on the rise. These individuals provide spraying services using farm equipment helping provide uniform spraying and better result for agrochemicals. The high labour-intensive work is hence taken care of effectively and timely manner without the farmer having to rent or buy the equipment.

Dronepreneurs

They are revolutionising the agricultural landscape by harnessing the power of drones to gather essential data on crops, soil health, and weather patterns. This will transform farming practices and create new job opportunities in rural areas. With the rapid growth of such initiatives, a new wave of IT-driven jobs is emerging, driven by the demand for skilled professionals. According to a study conducted by IIM Ahmedabad, drone-based services have the potential to generate an estimated 2.5 lakh jobs in rural India by 2025 in fields such as drone piloting, drone maintenance, and drone-based data analysis.

Micro-Influencers

A new trend is emerging in the farming community, where farmers are turning into micro-influencers, creating reels showcasing best farming practices. They hold the potential to collaborate with brands and monetise their social media channels and pages in the future. This not only offers a unique opportunity for farmers to diversify their income but also serves as a powerful platform to inspire urban youth to pursue farming, shed light on its numerous benefits and dispel prevailing myths about farmers, providing a more accurate and positive portrayal of the agriculture profession. As even celebrities ventures into agriculture, these farmers’ micro-influencers amplifiy, bringing farm life into the limelight.

A new generation of entrepreneurs with exceptional problem-solving capabilities, coupled with rapid technological advancements, has sparked a transformative shift and fostered the development of an ecosystem in rural areas, bolstering the village economy and creating new avenues for the rural youth. This reformative change is further catalysed by the rise of direct-to-customer brands in metropolitan cities. The convergence of entrepreneurship, access to manpower, and technological advancements has empowered farmers, resulting in enhanced income and economic opportunities.

The same is reflected in a report by Bain and Co, Google and Temasek that projects rural growth to be 4 per cent and urban growth of 3.5 per cent in the coming years. This remarkable expansion is facilitated by the efforts of VLEs, who play a pivotal role in bridging the urban-rural divide.

The author is Founder-Director, Safex Chemicals

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