National Youth Day: Krishi Jagran Organizes Webinar on ‘Influence of Youth in Agritech Space’

Swami Vivekananda’s birthday is commemorated as National Youth Day in India to honour one of the country's foremost philosophers & spiritual leaders. He was a renowned spiritual philosopher credited with popularising Vedantic teachings & philosophy. This special day also recognizes the contributions of young people to the advancement of society & technology.

To realize the importance of the day, Krishi Jagran organized a webinar on “Influence of Youth in Agritech Space” today at 11 Am. As India is an agricultural economy, and qualified young people play an important role in it. Youth are enthusiastic about technology, and Agritech is their favourite field. Many young people have launched new agritech startups that have the potential to transform the face of Indian agriculture.

Many startup leaders and a Progressive farmer attended this webinar to share their perspectives on the importance & impact of youth in Agritech, as well as the challenges they face. Krishi Jagran's Prachi Vatsa-Content Writer (Hindi) welcomed all guests & started the session. M C Dominic, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Krishi Jagran moderated the entire session. He believes that via technology & innovation, young people have the potential to transform the agriculture sector.

Viewpoints Shared During Webinar:

Agri-technology, according to Rohit Ray Singh, a Progressive Farmer from Agera Diwas, Madhya Pradesh, is the best approach to cut production costs. He also urged that farmers employ contemporary farm equipment to earn more money because the government is already subsidizing the purchase of such equipment. He advised the farming community to practice organic farming in the end.

Hema Yadav, Director, Vakunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management, thanked MC Dominic, Editor-in-Chief, and the entire Krishi Jagran Team for hosting the webinar and allowing her to voice her thoughts. He emphasized that young people are typically uninterested in this field of work because they believe farming is unproductive. Therefore, we must encourage today's youth to pursue careers in agriculture. She also recommended the following suggestions to farmers in order for them to earn more money:

• Proper Post-Harvest Management is important for farmers to get better prices for their produce.

• Financial Inclusion is required for a farmer to access the market from sowing to harvest.

• Farm produce branding is crucial, therefore get in touch with FPOs and Co-Operatives, as well as other connected stakeholders.

Anindya Patra, Business Head, Outgrow Digital Waycool Foods & Products Pvt. Ltd. emphasized youth as a significant portion of the population, with 58 percent of them working in agriculture and so having the potential to contribute key ideas for our country's agricultural development.

He also mentions the ability of youth to be receptive to new ideas. Because youth is associated with various technology and IT fields. With their involvement, they can contribute to the success of Indian agriculture. He went on to say that there are over 1300 Agritech businesses expanding and striving towards a sustainable and profitable market.

"Outgrow" App from WayCool Foods & Products Pvt. Ltd. is an agri-tech initiative based on Artificial Intelligence and can be used to quickly detect any diseases in crops with just one click. Outgrow is also working towards personalized farming advisory & soon be coming up in agri-inputs.

Ashish Mishra, Chief Executive Officer, Krishi Network, begins his speech and informed that there are thirteen and a half crore of farmers & six and a half villages. In these villages there are many numbers of people, who went to the city in search of a job, they are now returning to their respective villages to start their own start-up. All we need is around 5 to 6 lakhs of young/young role models to change the landscape.

As the old farmers need the confidence & energy from the young farmers, that will definitely lead to greater success in the field of agriculture. The young farmer can help the old farmers in using the latest Agri technology, this will definitely lead them in getting help & support from the latest Agri technology. To help the young farmers who are starting their own venture in the agriculture sector, we should empower & support them.

The next speaker of the webinar was, Sharayu L, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Krushi Seva, she started her speech by explaining how important technologies are, and how a farmer can get great help from technologies in a simpler way. For this, the Bharat Krushi Seva has created a platform for farmers called “Farm Monitoring Solution”. This platform will provide the farmer with the advance alert option, which can guide them in minimizing their cost and providing them with an effective solution. This platform also has a frequent weather alert system before, these alerts will help the farmers to take care of their crops beforehand.

She assures that Bharat Krushi Seva would provide farmers with appropriate & proper technology use, as well as how this application will make farming easier.

Anshumali Dwivedi, Founder (Krishika), Sacred River Agri Technologies Pvt. Ltd, greeted the entire Krishi Jagran team and stated that while we previously saw the role & impact of youth primarily in urban areas, but technology penetration has now brought it to rural regions of the country.

He emphasized that youth-led organizations are rapidly developing due to their increased enthusiasm and fresh ideas and that all they need is proper guidance to lead to revolution.

Sudhanshu Gupta, Founder SNL Innovations Pvt. Ltd, described how SNL Innovation developed a technology that will assist young farmers and offer them employment, preventing them from moving to the city in search of work. Even during the time of pandemics, this technology will assist them. Farmers can take advantage of a variety of offerings, including a buyback offer. Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh are among the states where they are now operational.

Swapnil Jain, Founder & CEO of Aamol Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd, began his address by giving us an overview of his startup company. "Amotrade is a Price Discovery Software as a Service Platform that connects Agri-businesses with Credible Partners in Real-Time for all Commodity Buying/Selling, Information, and Inventory Management," he explained. We want to be the global procurement platform, making international trade processes more efficient and effective, and setting a precedent in agro commodities trading in the process."

"We connect with farmers all across the world." Farmers' biggest issues include trustworthiness, product quality, and an unorganised market. By creating a secure Community, you can now manage commercial interactions. Amotrade allows you to keep track of all critical information at your fingertips. Our Strong Broker’s Network lets you Trade with surety of Payments and Quality”.

Umang Kalra, Founder & Director of Octaflyte Technologies Pvt. Ltd., began his address by providing background information on his company. "I'm from Jammu and Kashmir, where farmers do traditional farming," he explained. I used to be concerned about traditional farming. I used to wonder how I could have an impact on technology. I made the decision to launch a company named Octaflyte. OctaFlyte is an interdisciplinary team dedicated to using deep technologies to create groundbreaking innovation. Our goal is to bring to market technologies that will help with the widespread adoption of advanced automation and mechanization in a variety of fields, as well as the integration of artificial intelligence-driven drones into industries including agriculture, healthcare, and surveillance."

"In partnership with the competent agricultural scientists of SKUAST-Jammu, our ready-to-fly drones (UAVs) are equipped with low-cost multispectral imaging sensor specifically suited for agricultural tasks," he added.

"We can make certain that your technological needs are not only met, but exceeded." We work closely with our clients to provide them with the most cutting-edge technology.' He came to a conclusion.

Amod Anand, Co-Founder & Director of Loom Solar said, "I launched this company with my brother in 2018," said. Loom Solar is a start-up based in Faridabad, Haryana, that produces solar panels and lithium batteries. It is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company as well as a government-approved startup in India.

"Agricultural productivity relies heavily on energy. Solar energy may be used in agriculture in a variety of ways, reducing input costs significantly. All of these agricultural tasks can benefit from solar energy. It has the potential to increase self-sufficiency, reduce pollution, and lower fuel and power costs, all of which will lower manufacturing costs." He came to a conclusion.

Rajneesh Khare, Sales Head, Innoterra Tech India Pvt Ltd, was one of the esteemed speakers. In his address, he highlighted the scope of Agritech startups & the role the youth will play in it.

He said “India has a large of young & energetic people and youth has a big role to play in the social & economical development of our country. Unfortunately, these young & energetic people are losing interest in agriculture. In a survey, it was found that only 1.2% of the people involved in agriculture want their children to pursue it further. Therefore, it is our responsibility to guide & encourage them to stay connected to Agriculture and help the agriculture sector of India reach new heights.”

 He further stated, “Agri-tech Startups have been playing a big role to attract more and more youngsters towards agriculture. In a study, it was found that Indian agritech sector has received a funding of $1 Billion till now & is expected to grow to 25 Billion till 2025.”

Amar Singh Patil, Founder of Green Revolution, was supposed to grace the live session but couldn’t due to some other engagements. Pratik addressed the webinar on his behalf. He explained the reason why young people are running away from agriculture is because of the high-risk factors associated with it. The chances of suffering loss due to pest attacks and other weather uncertainties are very high.

He also explained how Green Revolution specializes in Agriculture Insect Pheromone Lures and Pheromone Traps as a part of substantial Organic Farming. They also manufacture, research, and develop more effective, economical, and environmentally friendly Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools which help reduce the loss suffered due to pest attacks.

Suyog Kulkarni, Founder, Khet Aadhaar Private Limited started his address with a quote by PM Modi that “A Farmer is an Entrepreneur of the Finest Order”. He went on further to explain the importance of precision agriculture to attract the youth to this industry. He also suggested that the Agriculture universities should come up with incubation centers where the students can solve real-world problems and develop an understanding of them.

Further, he explained about his organization “Khet Adhaar” It is the first attempt to recognize the dynamics of Agriculture farms and their stresses with practical and hands-on DATA and Advisory services.

Yogesh Sharma, Vice President, Nano Bee Bio Innovation emphasized on “Decentralized Development” meaning that there should not be a large center to depend on. He further added that youth con contributes in a constructive manner to scale up Indian Agriculture.

He emphasized using economical and effective products while adopting advanced agriculture farming technology such as hydroponics. There’s enough technology, what we need to do is that “Use them in the right way”.

Raghuchandra K R, Co-Founder & Chief Technical Officer, Agrifi talked about the farmers and their condition when they need to apply for loans. They wait for the clearance of loans and their crops get destroyed within a huge time span. Youth is playing a defining role in building India he further added.

With this, the programme was concluded by Shruti Nigam, Content Manager, Krishi Jagran with the vote of thanks.