Madhya Pradesh launches the NAVAAS initiative
Start-ups should become the pivot of agricultural transformation as India works to build a “Cyan Revolution”, moving on from the successful six-decade old “Green Revolution”, according to experts who see AgriTech eco-system with emerging technologies and innovations for building more efficient business models.
“We need to create a single platform of agricultural institutions and compile their technology to make it available to the Agri start-ups. There are numerous incubation centres in the country that run entrepreneurship development programmes. This needs to be made available through a single window system,” said Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
Speaking at the third edition of ‘FICCI Summit and Awards for Agri Start-ups’, Dr. Dalwai also called on government departments and stakeholders to come together and set up a one-stop-solution for data collection.
“Agriculture should not be seen as just a food producing sector but as a major contributor to building the nation’s economy. While every nation will compete to becoming a global hub for certain commodities, India need to reorient and redesign agriculture to generate more productive employment and gain rightful position in global market.”
He also highlighted the importance of collaborative partnership between Start-ups, Farmer Producer Organizations and MSMEs to drive holistic growth in the sector.
Further, Dr. Dalwai said that it is important to promote capacity building and enhance skills. “Secondary agriculture should be brought forward as a main activity for agricultural start-ups to explore” he added at the summit held 9 Feb 2021.
As it is, India has around 600 start-ups working in the agriculture sector that could play an important role in increasing the income of small and medium farmers, according to Hemendra Mathur, Chairman, FICCI Task Force on Agri Startups and Venture Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund.
“The next decade will be the period of Agri start-ups with a huge transformation in the food economy,” Mathur told the summit.
He further added that the Agri start-up ecosystem will not only create value, but also improve farmer access and take innovative solutions to rural areas.
Mathur singled out Madhya Pradesh, as an example for other states, for promoting ‘MP Incubation and Start-up Policy’.
Elaborating, Madhya Pradesh Cooperatives and Public Service Management Minister Arvind Bhadoriya shared how the state enables AgriTech ecosystem equipped with emerging technologies and innovations that have the capabilities to develop new and more efficient business models, and make food systems more productive, sustainable, efficient, transparent and resilient.
Bhadoriya assured that his state government is committed to the sustainable agriculture for prosperous future of its farmers.
“We believe, India now needs to move from Green Revolution to the Cyan Revolution, that represents the fusion of agriculture and innovations for future-fit growth,” he told the virtual session of the FICCI organised summit.
Further, Bhadoriya said that to build the foundation for the Cyan Revolution, the Madhya Pradesh government has launched the NAVAAS initiative that focus on developing self-help technologies that support small and marginal farmers.
“The tools and techniques developed under NAVAAS will ensure livelihood security, reduce input costs, improve productive value of yield, generate value from crop residue, reduce weather change vulnerability and conserve natural capital. We want our community and stakeholders to become innovators and researchers rather than being consumers of technology and knowledge that is developed in the western world,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of argi start-ups in the sector, Bhadoriya said that an enabling AgriTech ecosystem equipped with emerging technologies and innovations have the capabilities to develop new and more efficient business models, and make food systems more productive, sustainable, efficient, transparent and resilient.
“Towards this initiative of boosting innovation and introducing technologies in agriculture and allied sector, Madhya Pradesh government is promoting MP Incubation and Start-up Policy,” he emphasized.
“Considering conducive environment in the state, we welcome all start-ups and innovators to participate in NAVAAS initiative and develop an ecosystem for transformative change in rural India. We are committed to provide a platform for working jointly and demonstrating solutions at scale,” he elaborated.
Bhadoriya said that Madhya Pradesh is leveraging the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund under the Atmanirbhar Bharat program to build post-harvest infrastructure in the rural areas. This infrastructure will support farmers as well give opportunities for entrepreneurs too.
The state, he said, has robust food processing infrastructure with two mega food parks, six food parks, five agri export zones, 45 Industrial areas, six inland container depots, 226 large scale industries, 206 medium scale industries.
Complementing FICCI for working on the development of the agriculture sector, Bhadoriya said that FICCI Agri Start up Summit and Awards will help to develop a strong agri Start-up ecosystem at national as well as state level.
FICCI Secretary General Dilip Chenoy believes that the state government’s Incubation and Start-up policy will take Indian agriculture start-ups to next level. But he emphasized on the need to create a dedicated cell for agri-tech start-ups at the state level for facilitating continuous dialogue between the states and the start-ups.
FICCI is well connected with Agri Start-ups, added T R Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE Ltd.
He said that compared to start-ups in other sectors, the main constraint that Agri start-ups face is that of not being able to scale. “While the agri start-ups bring in brilliant ideas and get into a mode of action on the ground, one of the areas that they get stuck in is ‘how to expand?’ and we need to address this issue,” he said.
Also, Kesavan mentioned that FICCI had put profound focus on development of agri start-up ecosystem and creation of single unified digital agri-database infrastructure.
The FICCI-PwC Report: Agri-startups: Heralding Next Level of Agricultural Transformation was also released at the event. The report identifies the status of Indian agriculture and the resilience of start-ups during COVID-19 and beyond. The knowledge report also strongly suggests strategies to build globally competitive and robust Agri ecosystem. #technology #startup #agriculture #food #processing #investment /fiinews.com
