for the first part i will stress on is digitization of rural/villages of India ,that is digital India impact on agricultural sector since it is the main source of livelihood in villages and rural areas.
The occupational structure of India is divided into “agricultural sector” and the “manufacturing sector” and the “service sector”.
India is predominantly an agricultural economy and hence it requires strongest protection and development of its “agricultural resources”.
The major challenges to “Agriculture Sector in India” are:
1. Insufficient agricultural infrastructure and support facilities,
2.Insufficient institutional capacity to deliver farmers specific services,
3. Lack of awareness regarding suitable agricultural methods among the farmers,
4.Agricultural content development and its up-gradations,
5. Inadequate use of Public-Private Partnerships in India,
6. Lack of “Common Platforms” for the farmers in India,
7. Absence of a powerful and empowered “Agricultural Think-Tank” in India,
8. Insufficient use of ICT for agricultural purposes, etc.
Some of the benefits of ICT (information and communication technologies) aka digitization for the improvement and strengthening of agriculture sector in India are:
1.Timely information on weather forecasts and calamities,
2.Better and spontaneous agricultural practices,
3.Better marketing exposure and pricing,
4.Reduction of agricultural risks and enhanced incomes,
5.Better awareness and information,
6.Improved networking and communication,
7. Facility of online trading and e-commerce,
8.Better representation at various forums, authorities and platform,
etc.
basically we are talking about farmers using technologies like gps and remote sensing systems and also geo-imaging services like google earth to obtain information related to crop failure patterns, assessment of drought patters, and impact on crop cover due to pests so as to use it to improve farming techniques.
Using internet and other electronic forms of communication, farmers can be alerted about the weather and storms or heath waves if any before hand so that they can prepare themselves better.
Agriculture can greatly benefit from first-rate and online extension services, weather information, advice, and crop and input prices.This will also correct the unequal relationship between small farmers and the middle-men who buy their produce.
modern training and practices, in conjunction with entrepreneurship and digital marketing, can transform the rural economy through rural production for all-India (even global) markets, while creating rural employment.
some innovations which hopefully will lead the way and encourage more participation
1.cropin technology solutions
A farming technology solutions startup founded by a Bangalore software engineer, it provides agribusinesses the technology and expertise to create a smarter and safer food supply for consumers around the world.
CropIn offers information on a cloud-based platform, integrated with a mobile app for Android. Called Smart Farms, it allows large food companies to track the growth of crops on farms around the country with details about what the crop is and the conditions it is grown in to help companies remotely monitor farms, interact with farmers and make every crop transparent and traceable. It also aids farmers in adopting global agricultural practices and improves productivity by offering productivity insights and harvest forecasts.
2.FrontalRain technologies
The Bangalore-based agri-tech startup seeks to deliver affordable advanced technology solutions for emerging companies and take technology to remote corners of the country.
The company’s offering Rain+, according to their website, is a comprehensive suite of products on the cloud for food and agribusinesses. Rain+ can help companies at every stage of the value chain starting from growing, processing, logistics, wholesale trade, retail trade and exports. This technology, accessible through desktop, tablet and mobile devices, is used by companies dealing with commodities like spices, herbs, basmati rice, seeds, animal feed, sea food, dairy and edible oil.
3.Agrostar
A Pune-based ‘direct to farmer’ m-commerce platform, Agrostar strives to provide quality agro inputs at the farmers’ doorstep.
AgroStar enables farmers to procure a range of agricultural goods such as seeds, crop nutrition, crop protection and agri-hardware products by simply giving a missed call on the company’s 1800 number or through their mobile app to eliminate unavailability of products, substandard products, duplication and adulteration.
4.Ekgaon
A Gujarat-based venture started in 2001, Ekgaon Technologies is an IT based network integrator that provides a technology platform and offers a range of services to farmers in rural areas including financial, agricultural inputs and government assistance.
Financial: A mobile phone enabled financial services delivery platform, it provides information on micro-finance institutions and banks for delivery of door-step services such as credit, savings, remittance, insurance, investment and mortgage.
Agricultural: Offered in Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil languages, the system uses mobile, voice recognition, interactive voice response system (IVRS) and web technologies to provide information on weather, commodity market prices, soil nutrient management and crop management.
Citizen: The web and mobile applications help citizens monitor the delivery of government programmes and services entitled to them.
Modi government has taken the initiative to the setting up of an
Online National Agriculture Trading market to help farmers of India and jump start the agricultural sector . but this will take time however proper public, government and private participation and collaboration will surely make it successful.
and the fun part is this
as i already said The occupational structure of India is divided into “agricultural sector” and the “manufacturing sector” and the “service sector”.
this digitization initiative for the agricultural sector will boost both the service sector and the manufacturing sector also (if the agricultural sector takes off ) . that is we will be simply tapping into our core strengths and expertise to strengthen our agricultural base.
plus we can export the technical know-how and services globally.
credits :
http://www.thealternative.in/busine...novations-revolutionizing-indian-agriculture/