Singh was addressing a conclave-cum-exhibition on agri-tech and food-tech in the Mysuru
Union Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Earth Science; MoS of Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh said that agri-tech start-ups are critical to India’s future economy.
Addressing a conclave-cum-exhibition on Agri-Tech and Food-Tech in the Mysuru, Dr Singh said, a new wave of agri-tech startups has come up in India in the last few years due to enabling policy environment to address the problems of Indian agriculture such as supply chain management, use of outdated equipment, improper infrastructure, and inability of farmers to access a wider range of markets with ease.
The minister noted with satisfaction that young entrepreneurs are now quitting their jobs in IT sectors and MNCs to establish their own startups and these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise the fact that investing in agriculture is one of the very few safe and profitable businesses.
Dr Singh said, “Agritech startups are providing innovative ideas and affordable solutions to a number of challenges faced all across the agricultural value chain and it has the potential to change the face of Indian agriculture sector and eventually raise farmers’ incomes.”
He said, these startups and budding entrepreneurs have become the missing link between the farmers, input dealers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers connecting each of them to each other and providing strong marketing linkages and quality produce on time.
Dr Singh added, “The third edition of TechBharat on the theme “Transforming India’s FoodTech, AgriTech & Agronomic Landscape is a timely one as agriculture is one of the important pillars of the Indian economy as 54 per cent of Indian population depends directly on agriculture and it accounts for around 20 percent of GDP.”
Dr Singh strongly advocated the use of modern and new technology in Agricultural sector and pointed out that countries like Israel, China and the US have transformed several agriculture practices in their country with the use of technology. He said, these countries have demonstrated that assortment of technology like hybrid seeds, precision farming, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, geo-tagging and satellite monitoring, mobile apps and farm management software can be applied at every stage in agriculture process to increase productivity and farm incomes.
