India is one of the major player in the agriculture sector worldwide and it is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population. India is the second-largest producer of fruit, vegetables, tea, farmed fish, cotton, sugarcane, wheat, rice, cotton, and sugar. Agriculture sector in India holds the record for second-largest agricultural land in the world generating employment for about half of the country’s population. Thus, farmers become an integral part of the sector to provide us with means of sustenance. The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32% of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. In total agriculture contributes 19.9 per cent to the national GDP and 10 per cent to the total exports from India.

 

With farmers being on the top of the priority list of the government, innovative agriculture is fast acquiring greater space in public talk. The way robots and drones are replacing traditional farm operations such as picking fruits, killing weeds, spraying pesticides and fertilizer on crops, with imagery from drones and satellites coupled with GPS technology providing a high-resolution and location-specific view of the field, the definition of agriculture is getting new meaning and dimensions. The innovative technical interventions pushed in by the government in recent years, India has become one of the most prominent countries in the field of agriculture globally.

 

Start-ups play a key role in promoting innovation in a society. Start-ups are revolutionizing Indian agriculture from weather forecasting to drone use, from inputs retailing and equipment renting to selling fruits and vegetables online and from farm automation to protected cultivation, assaying and grading. Agri start-ups are booming in the areas of Big Data Analytics, Supply Chain/Market-linked Model, FaaS, IoT Enabled, Engineering-Led Innovation etc. It can provide constant innovative solutions to the plethora of challenges faced by farmers like vagaries of weather, looming threat of climate change, small and fragmented land holdings and lingering technology adoption etc.

 

AGRI TECHNOVA 2023 conference aims to bring together all stakeholders; budding agriprenuers, industrialists, farmers, business incubators, research institutions and Farmer Producer Organisations on a single platform to present and share their innovations, technology experience, expertise, business models and success stories of Agri Start-ups. AGRI TECHNOVA 2023 is expected to offer a unique opportunity for bringing knowledge about potential technologies, recent innovations, agripreneurial ecosystems for Agri start-ups, technology commercialization, export guidelines and social entrepreneurship.