India’s Challenges with Sustainable Farming

In agriculture, sustainable farming is becoming the need of the hour the world over. India is still struggling with food security. According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 190 million of the Indian population remains hungry on a daily basis.

India’s yield per hectare of rice at 2,177 kgs is behind China at 4,263 kgs and Brazil at 3,265 kgs. While the challenges for the required dramatic improvement lies in the inept rural transport system, need for awareness regarding crop treatment, dependence on irregular monsoons, and the receding agricultural land giving way to urbanization. The Indian farmer’s access to modern farming technology is also limited.

Sky is the Limit for These Drone Startups

Currently, in countries like the US, map labelling has become a part of efforts in sustainable farming. It is a method of studying satellite images to identify whether sustainable practices are implemented efficiently or not. The method recognizes and marks visible evidence of practices, for example, the presence of filter strips and riparian buffers. Filter strips are tracts of vegetation, while riparian buffers are land mounds used to protect water sources.

Map labelling can help with collection of geospatial data for sustainability practices over time, and the data can be analysed by experts to improve practices or identify areas that need specific help.

Seeing that map labelling is handled manually, utilising much time and energy of conservationists, Microsoft has now partnered with Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN to automate map labelling tasks, focussing on labelling waterways, terraces, water and sediment control basins, and field borders. The initiative helps farmers improve sustainability outcomes by applying the latest best practices, especially the ones laid down by the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS).

Such technology in Indian agriculture could enhance production in farming while protecting farmlands. Still, efforts for sustainable farming are on the right track in India, albeit at a slower pace.

BASF India is offering seed treatments to protect crops from disease and enhance plants. BASF has also developed a certified compostable biodegradable mulch film from its ecovio bioplastic, to save the soil from contamination.

The company also trained farmers and spray-men across India in sustainable and responsible use of crop protection products through their farmer outreach programmes, Samruddhi and Suraksha Hamesha.

In Maharashtra, A Climate Smart Village Programme for the tribal regions of Maharashtra was launched in 2016 to infuse practices like zero-till farming, integrated nutrient and water management, and proper harvesting and storage.

‘Technology and Globalization is on Tata Chemicals’ Radar’: R. Mukundan on Indian Agro-Tech

Currently, the Tata Group is running an innovation tech programme on the use of drones for monitoring and improving farm productivity. R. Mukundan, MD of Tata Chemicals told The Tech Panda, “A critical element in Agrotech is not just digitally connecting farmers for better data like soil, seeds, etc., but also improving on storage, logistics, and transportation, since farmers are very scattered and remote. Things are improving, but I think a lot more can be done there, and I think agrotech companies are doing terrific work.”

The agtech scene in India has been warming up to fill the gaps in farming in the country. Several ideas have been brewing to help with precision agriculture, farm-related intelligence, farming gadgets, etc. Upcoming agtech startups in India include the Farm to Business (F2B) venture Crofarm, the IIT-incubated drone startup Aarav Unmanned Systems, the ICT-based CropIn, farm equipment aggregator Gold Farm, and the supply chain managing Ninjacart.