Technology and funding have helped Indian Agri-tech start-ups and farmers to grow at a faster rate. According to the report, every ninth agri-tech startup in the world is originating from India, adding that there has been a 1.7 times increase in average farmer income in last decade, enabling farmers to try new tech solutions. Compared to 3,103 global agritech start-ups, there are 450 agritech start-ups operating in India, which are growing at 25 per cent annually. The investments are directly creating employment in the farm sector, as per the reports 90 lakhs jobs will be generated with the current funding pattern.
As per NASSCOM’s report, in the first six months of 2019 the sector has received 300% more funding when compared to 2018. The total amount raised until June 2019 is $248 million. The stakeholders are now interested more in market linkage, digital agriculture, Farming as a Service (FaaS), easy access to inputs. The Indian Agri-tech companies are looking to spread their territory and focussing on South East Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.
The current rise in investment in the agriculture sector surely brought relief to some extent on ongoing issues like high price volatility, climate risks and indebtedness. Both investors and entrepreneurs could help in the growth of farm sector.
Out of 3103 global agritech startups, 450 startups are operating in India and constantly growing at 25% annually. Lately, Government has also initiated many programs in the agriculture sector. Maharashtra's “Agri-tech: scheme for digitally tracking agriculture management”, Karnataka’s funding of $2.5 million for more than 20 start-ups, NITI Aayog’s pilot project on precision agriculture using AI in 10 districts from seven states, are a few examples showing Government participation.
India economy is widely depending on agriculture and the aim to make farm sector more stable will definitely benefits the nation in coming days.