Global warming is threatening harvests. Given that the global population is predicted to touch 10 billion by 2050, sustainable agricultural practices are the need of the hour to secure food supplies and protect resources. That’s possibly the only way through which we can safeguard the future generations.

With the expansion of digital avenues across the country, including rural India, and availability of cheaper smartphones and data, scaling business models has now become easier.

Going tech-savvy

Even farmers are shedding their inhibitions. They are taking advantage of technology and managing pre-harvest to post-harvest processes. In particular, the rural youth is more open to the idea of embracing technology as they are tech-savvy and willing to try new things, which will help this sector flourish faster.

Also, community farming initiatives are emerging and many digital platforms and apps are being introduced to cater to farmers. The aim is to provide input support, improve yield quality and simultaneously reduce the cost of production.

The opening of virtual market spaces has rescued farmers who couldn’t sell their produce to the real markets during the pandemic. Now they can sell their produce at competitive rates and that too to customers across the country, thanks to the recent policy reforms.

Technology push

The growth in agriculture sector is expected to be driven by new technologies, which are not only user-friendly and cost-effective but are also in sync with the climatic conditions of India. Technological avenues can help with data gathering which can be used for in-depth research and better planning; facilitate market access, risk mitigation and promote rapid dissemination of information, which will help farmers in the long run.

Tech-enabled farmers will be able to access reliable and timely market information and rely upon supply and demand forecasting, which will help generate higher income for them.

The advent of digital tools in agriculture will help farmers produce optimally with the existing resources and undertake real-time decisions backed by data precision. For example, tech-savvy farmers will be able to rely on drone technology, which is revolutionising farming across the world.

It is especially beneficial for smallholder farmers as drones can help identify weeds, pests and diseases and additionally get feedback on application of pesticides and fertilisers.

In fact, IoT (Internet of Things) applications can help farmers in pre-harvest process like monitoring irrigation system, soil health and crop yield.

From the post-harvest point of view, technology-enabled cold storage chains can help prevent harvest losses. Similarly, automated grading and sorting of crops can also reduce wastage in the supply chain.

Potential investors are in fact infusing capital in agtech start-ups as they see a huge growth potential in the sector given that farming is a $400 billion industry in India. Hence tech-savvy farmers will be the driving force in doubling India’s economic growth.

Tech training

Some of the local farmers who aren’t well-versed with Internet or are unable to operate smartphones must be especially trained by volunteers at the grassroots level. Online training of farmers on a weekly basis will also immensely help them in utilising technology for better outputs and create a steady, profitable flow of revenue.

The writer is Co-founder and CEO, Agri10x