Agritech business in India has the potential to reach $24 billion: NITI Aayog

In the month of March 2022, there was a reduction of up to 20 percent in the production of wheat due to the scorching heat. Due to climate change, the production of crops is expected to be affected even further. NITI Aayog believes that Agritech (a technology company providing agricultural solutions) can prevent the reduction in crop production due to climate change and weather. Agritech is even more important for India because the size of the farms of more than 85 percent of the farmers in India is very small.
NITI Aayog believes that where Agritech will help farmers, there is also a huge potential for Agritech business in India. Currently, the agritech business is only $204 million, while this business can be taken up to $24 billion. But, Agritech can be fully utilized only when there is internet service till the last end of the country and the farmer is fully digitally literate.
States like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have started taking the services of Agritech for their farmers. Agritech Incubation Center has been set up at IIT Kanpur with the help of the Government of Uttar Pradesh and Tata Trusts. Similar efforts are being made in other states as well.
According to the commission's report, agritech can help in pesticide management and supply of other factors necessary for the crop along with agricultural advice to increase the yield. Measures to avoid the damage caused by climate change, such as how to increase the capacity of the soil to what changes should be made in the cropping pattern, can also be helped through agritech. Post-harvest losses can be avoided with the help of Agritech. With the help of Agritech's Artificial Intelligence, farmers can also know how much demand is going to be there for their products and what price they can get in which market. With this, the farmers will be able to avoid the middlemen.
According to the commission's report, agrotech companies monitor the crop planted in a particular area or field with the help of satellite images. According to the report of the commission, after the digital record of all the land is prepared, the agritech companies will be able to get information about the crop of any land and alert its owner farmer about the risk of the crop. With this, insurance companies will also get help in the insurance of crops. Due to the small size of the holding, farmers also face difficulty in getting insurance.