Agritech Sprouts Start Ups
Way back in 2010, Krishna Kumar, a Bengaluru based electronics engineer, wanted to start an agri tech company that would address some of the challenges farmers faced in rural Karnataka. Kumar's aim was to provide a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for farm digitisation and enable farmers take data driven decisions on yield prediction, pest control, disease prevention, newer varieties of seeds to maximise production, and others.
However, finding funds for his startup, CropIn, was tough. "Most investors didn't think agriculture could become a viable business model, especially if it revolved around technology. There weren't any parallel models," says Kumar. His team also found it difficult to get customers for their first product, SmartFarm, a farm management solution. So, to build credibility, they approached big and small agri businesses to use and then validate their product, which they then marketed with endorsements. Things started looking up in 2014 15, in part also because of "the digital transformation, smartphone boom and favourable ecosystem that developed for entrepreneurs", notes Kumar.
Industry experts say agri tech companies have a lot of potential in India considering that the country has the second biggest agricultural land mass (140.1 million hectares of net sown area and 198.4 million hectares of gross cropped area, according to the 2017 18 annual report of Department of Agriculture) in the world. Most of the area remains untouched by technology. Tech driven solutions can help in areas such as pre sowing plans, enhancing
