The 2022 Agtech Scheme: How Prosperous Has It Been?

The government is said to be considering boosting agriculture through agritech schemes that help improve farm yields, efficiency and profitability. Budget 2022-23 launched a number of agritech schemes. Now ask the agtech founders themselves if the government’s agtech plan for 2022 has paid off.

“Government policies on the agricultural sector have been instrumental in bringing about positive change across the agricultural value chain and have helped increase the incomes of farmers. Modern and effective use of technology and The work being done by agritech start-ups is helping solve a problem for farmers. It has contributed to the overall expansion and overall industry growth,” said Piyush Jindal, Director of Safex Chemicals, sharing an overview on the topic.

From education to financial literacy, from agritech to skills development, the Indian government has implemented plans and policies for millions of people living in rural areas. Federal Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in August 2020 that the government would ensure that plans and programs created for the rural sector reach people by plugging leaks. In November 2022, the Minister also launched a portal on the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) with the aim of improving farming communities.

“It is commendable that the central and state governments are working together to improve rural India. Connectivity and digital knowledge will improve job markets, educate people and build economic independence. Rural growth prospects have given place to innovation, and policy makers will support reforms beyond subsidies and sector-specific strategies,” said Hesa ​​Technologies Pvt Ltd Founder and CEO Udayagiri said.

He also said, “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana and Prime Minister Rural Development Fellows Scheme have been working in various fields by providing short-term assistance to district administrations in less developed and remote areas of the country. It has helped our organization grow, providing more employment opportunities for rural youth by providing income potential for rural families.”

But Dvara E-Registry co-founder and interim CEO Tharakeswar G mentioned a different policy. In his words, “We have benefited extensively from the formation of the Central Sector Scheme and the promotion of 10,000 new Farm Producer Organizations (FPOs). Through these FPOs, we have reached out to small and marginal farmers so that they have better collective power for better access. I have provided it in a timely manner.”

2022 is already expected to be much bigger than 2021 for agritech in terms of investment, innovation, growth and impact. India’s agritech sector is on the cusp of transformation in 2022, but policy-driven government support, especially at the grassroots level, is critical to truly realizing the growth potential of agriculture and agritech. . Complementing this perspective, Sanket Mehta, co-founder of Nutrifresh Farm Tech India Pvt Ltd said, “The Government of India has implemented several initiatives such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Package of Incentives Scheme (PSI – 2019). Subsidies have been introduced.), the introduction of the National Horticultural Board (NHB) and a few others to boost the agricultural ecosystem. Unfortunately hydroponics is not classified as horticulture/mainstream agriculture It has not been able to benefit from most of the policies introduced by the Indian government.However, the Indian government will soon ensure that hydroponics is classified within the horticulture/mainstream agriculture sector.”

“Our main focus is the Cluster Development Program (CDP) initiated by the Government of India, which brings together farmers to improve their livelihoods and enable them to generate better incomes. We focus on grants to projects, which does not change the scale of profitability for relatively large organizations like ours.However, such grants are offered on a larger scale In that case, we are much more interested.We are benefiting from various schemes introduced by the Indian government after this classification,” said Mehta. Added.

The agtech sector is poised to grow to a $30-$35 billion market by 2025, according to a new report by Bain & Co. agricultural sector. When it comes to technological encroachment in the agricultural sector, drone technology plays an inevitable role. Schemes like PLI only reaffirm the government’s trust in the indigenous drone manufacturing community, leading to investors and VC funds gaining that trust, so the drone industry will see a big boom in the next three years. We are ready.

There is an important statement from Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace on this matter. The PLI scheme promises all service providers and student entrepreneurs who want to use drones to deliver drones – drones will become cheaper and cheaper as many drone manufacturers compete to offer the best products. It will be of much higher quality. ”

In a recent development, the Government of India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Welfare (Ministry of Agriculture and Welfare) has issued a Gazette Notice updating the Pesticides Regulations, 1971. Sell ​​pesticides to farmers’ doorsteps on e-commerce platforms.

“This is a huge boost for the agritech sector and the Digital Bharat Initiative,” said Shardul Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO of AgroStar. It is inherently recognized that it is both essential and essential: farmers can increase their productivity and double their incomes.”

Ankit Alok Bagaria, co-founder of Loopworm, an insect farming biotechnology startup, also argued: But we Loopworms were supported and benefited from government grants such as the RKVY RAFTAAR grant and his BiRAC BIG grant. ”

Referring to recent statistical trends, GrowiT founder Saurabh Agarwal said: From 2022 to 2023, he was allocated 64,514 kroner for the ministry’s programs, including interest subsidies and crop insurance. The mentioned financial contributions by government authorities have brought many benefits to agriculture in 2022. ”

CEO and co-founder of BioPrime Agrisolutions, Renuka, from the perspective of a deep-tech Ag biotech startup that makes crops climate resilient and secures yields for farmers by discovering new molecules and microbes: says. Early support from the government with a plug-and-play incubation system, proof-of-concept grants, start-up registration, and an accelerated patenting process helped us a lot. ”

In his opening remarks when presenting the 2022-2023 federal budget, the finance minister said the government would promote chemical-free, natural farming across the country. Dr. Ezhil Subbian, co-founder and CEO of String Bio, revealed that this is one of his policies relating to them. In his words, “As a first step, this policy has focused on a pilot basis in the UP along the Ganges. In addition, agricultural colleges have revised their syllabuses to include natural and organic farming, technology, and more. It is encouraged to revise it, based on modern or precision farming, value addition and management.”

Subbian also noted the introduction of a domestic carbon market. He further added, “India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has presented a draft blueprint for the phased introduction of a national cap-and-trade system in India, providing for the introduction of a voluntary market in the first phase. 2 On 29 July 2022, the Indian House of Representatives (Lok Sabha) adopted the Amendment Bill to the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, providing a legal basis for establishing a voluntary carbon credit trading scheme. is an important policy framework that could benefit from widespread implementation.”

The government will launch a scheme to provide farmers with digital and hi-tech services in a PPP (Public Private Partnership) model. This brings together public sector research and extension agencies, private agritech players, and stakeholders in the agricultural value chain.

According to the report, India’s agricultural sector accounts for about 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 40% of the rural net domestic product (NDP). Indian agri start-ups are providing farmers with information, technology and efficiency. According to a recent market research report, the global agritech market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.0% between 2020 and 2027. India also competes in this segment alongside China and the United States.