AgriTech Startups: Empowering Farmers to Feed The World While Protecting The Planet

The prototypical equipment of the recent farmer is rapidly expanding beyond conventional implements such as tillers, plows and tractors. Nowadays, one can include sky and space initiated cameras to the list, and sensors that examine microscopic nutrients. Most important of all these new tools is artificial intelligence. AI takes the ample amount of data that is gathered by those advanced equipment pieces which can turn it into insights that powers farmers for reduction of costs while increasing productivity and sustainability. This revolution in agriculture is timely. Producing enough food to feed a growing population while preserving land and safeguarding natural resources is becoming increasingly difficult due to climate change. The most crucial tools for the modern farmer are quickly replacing traditional tools like tractors, ploughs, and tillers.

Technological Innovation with innovative startups

As technology of agriculture scales to a multibillion-dollar sector, with innovative startups they are at the forefront of developing cutting-edge solutions. While working with several young companies through our renowned companies for Startups program, individuals been particularly inspired by founders who combine passion for agriculture which are needed for solving complex problems with digital technology. According to a study, post-harvest complex project damage for Indian farmers totals a startling Rs 93,000 crore. For the benefit of farmers ultimately, the startups in agriculture technology are playing a critical role in reducing waste and improving agricultural practises. The technology-based agricultural solutions are created in such a way that by reducing yield loss and wastage, they increase farm productivity and profitability. The world's population is projected to grow to 8.5 billion people by 2030, and in order to meet the unavoidable increase in food demand, players in technology-based agriculture are making significant contributions to achieving agricultural scalability.

Major Developments that accelerated Large-scale Tech Adoption

By using technology to improve the supply chain, particularly the inward supply chain, startups in the technology-based degree today have accelerated widespread tech adoption and removed many bottlenecks. By connecting them to online marketplaces, the producers were able to make the best use of their produce, expand the market for their agricultural products, and boost sales by exposing them to a large customer base. Agritech also made it possible to grade products, brought online labelling and tracking into the supply chain, and decreased leaks, damages, and losses during transportation by creating a much more effective supply chain. Moreover, building scalable business with fresh produce or perishable commodities like fruits and vegetables was a big challenge and blocked companies from expanding. The agritech startups here with the help of technology-enabled warehouses and collection centers not just enabled the organisations to build scalable businesses but also resulted in delivering of the products through hyper-delivery apps to end-users in record time. Procuring from farmers wasn’t a tedious task anymore, delivery to the end-user became hassle-free and the market gained steam, benefitting all the stakeholders, majorly farmers.

With the introduction of technology-based agricultural solutions, transactions became more transparent, and middlemen who cheated farmers and created excess inventory and huge losses were completely eliminated. Farmers were able to sell their goods online at competitive prices thanks to transparency and efficiency, and they were also able to determine the exact market demand for their products. Farmers who were unable to obtain better prices for their produce benefited greatly from this. They not only made processes easier, but they also guaranteed no compromise in quality and produced better results. The overall agritech ecosystem experienced a revenue growth of about 85% during FY 2019–20 due to the significant growth prospects. This potential is estimated by a Bain & Company study to be worth US$35 billion by 2025. Agritech will undoubtedly be important in making sure that farmers benefit to the fullest in the bright future that lies ahead. Agriculture is undergoing a digital revolution, and startups based on technology will undoubtedly close the gap between farmers and job opportunities.

Final Words

Dependence on imports is risky. This was realized during the Covid-19 pandemic when supply chains were disrupted as a result of lockdowns. The disease and its consequences acted as a wake-up call for the Middle East, which has since increased investment and focus on tackling the issue of food security to ensure it remains independent and able to rely on its own agriculture industry moving forward. Just a few of the ways that cutting-edge technologies, like AI, might usher in sustainable agriculture on a global scale are demonstrated by these firms. Their advancements are timely because the companies require innovative answers to the cascading issues of a growing population, dwindling land resources, the ongoing crisis of food insecurity, and increasingly dangerous climate risks. Due to inefficiencies in the field and inadequate logistics systems, we currently waste more than half of our potential food output. The good news is that more food can be produced on less land in a more sustainable manner. As a result, we predict that startup founders will drive the boldest ideas and business alliances.