New Doorways Open in AgriTech

It's been two months since Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman presented the first budget of Amrit Kaal, a period deemed to ignite an environment of socio economic prosperity in the country. The budget implies a great vision, taking an inevitable step into the futuristic dimension of deeper digitization in the agriculture sector. Interesting to note that rather than a few subsidies and freebies, the budget allocation was built around inclusive and comprehensive development of the farmers and making agriculture a more appealing entrepreneurial domain. Setting up the Agriculture Accelerator Fund (AAF) is an excellent example of this approach. With a

starting chest of Rs.500 crore, AAF will encourage agri startups in the country by facilitating young entrepreneurs in rural areas and will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers.

However, the government alone can't win this game. It takes immense support and initiative from the private sector. In truth, it's an excellent opportunity for agritech entrepreneurs as automation and digitalization have opened new doorways to build a successful business in the domain. But they must capture this opportunity with both hands by getting down to the ground and understanding the truth of the soil. In a recent interview with us, Siddharth Dialani (Co-Founder, BharatAgri), a passionate young entrepreneur who made his way to Forbes India's 30 Under 30 index in 2020, shed light on some unique insights. He says, " It is crucial for entrepreneurs to introduce low touch and easy to implement solutions to farmers. If a solution leads to heavy investment by farmers or involves a lot of operational efforts, it is less likely that farmers will adopt it. However, if your solution is easy to implement, farmers would want to try it and pay for it as well." Couldn't agree more with him.