Bengaluru: Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan, IT – BT, Skill Development and Higher Education Minister has emphasised the importance of turning farmers into micro entrepreneurs, claiming that due to technological penetration such as broadband and mobile usage, the next generation of farmers in rural areas will be digital-savvy.
The Minister has made the remark during the first session of the mega agro event of Central India ‘Agrovision’ in Nagpur on Friday December 24. “There is a need to create farmers ‘micro entrepreneurs’ and re-imagine the agriculture value chain from their perspective,” he said.
“In this context, we must consider how to boost yields, productivity, and direct market linkages,” he added.
When it comes to the usefulness of technology in agriculture, he informed that the new technology can provide real-time advice on the inputs needed for certain crops, as well as near-accurate weather forecasts.
He further said that, today novel technology can provide real-time advisory on inputs required for respective crops, near-accurate weather forecast, post-harvest machines can sort 18 tonnes of fruit into different grades in less than 3 hours, enable soil testing and reporting in less than 30 minutes, and AI & Machine Learning can be used to estimate actual crop harvested and assess damage due to natural calamities.
In the last 11 months, more than Rs. 5,000 crore has been invested in agri-tech firms, the Minister added.
Our mantra should be “local efforts, global benefits.” Focusing on post-harvest solutions at the District or Taluk level, for example, can increase farmers’ revenue by 20 per cent,” he noted.
The Minister went on to say that each startup can adopt five to ten villages in a district to raise farmer awareness of technology intervention. The Minister, on the other hand, stated that ten times more start-ups are required because the sector is falling behind despite increased investment.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister for Surface Transportation Nitin Gadkari were present for the event.
