Agenda

AgroSpectrum Technovate 2026

March 12-13, 2026
CIDCO Exhibition & Convention Centre, Navi Mumbai

Suggested Themes: "Transforming Agriculture through Innovation and Technology"

Day I – 12th MARCH 2026

Registration

Inauguration

Inauguration at the hands of - Hon’ble Shri. Adv. Ashish Jaiswal, Minister of State for Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra

Chief Guest - Vision Talk: Prof Ramesh Chand, Member - NITI Aayog
“Leveraging Advanced Technologies to Revolutionize Indian Agriculture”

Dr. C. D. Mayee, Chairperson - Conference Committee, AgroSpectrum Technovate 2026

Dr. Sharad R. Gadakh, Vice Chancellor - Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola

Dr. T R Kesavan, Group President - Corporate Relations & Alliances, TAFE Ltd

Mr. Ravi Boratkar, Publisher & Managing Editor, AgroSpectrum India, MD, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications Pvt. Ltd

Tea Break

Session 1 – Panel discussion

AgriTech for Atmanirbhar Bharat

(Focus: Role of agro technology in self-reliance, food security, supplychain digitization, and policy alignment)

Moderator- Dr C D Mayee, Chairperson - Conference Committee, AgroSpectrum Technovate 2026

  • Mr. Prashant Sharma, CTO - Sohan Lal Commodity Management Limited, (SLCM)
  • Mr. Rajesh Shirole, Co- Founder & COO - MapMyCrop
  • Mr. Azhaan Merchant, Co-Founder & CEO, Bharat Intelligence
  • Mr. Prashant Nandargikar, Founder, Isha Agro and Inventor of PMPD technology

Session 2 - Panel discussion

Satellite Data for Crop Insurance & Credit Access

(Focus: Improving PMFBY and agri-finance risk assessment)

Moderator - Ms. Suchetana Choudhury, Deputy Executive Editor, Agrospectrum Asia & India

  • Mr. Pushan Sharma, Director - Crisil Intelligence
  • Mr. Bharath Settipalli, Head - Development & Chief Solution Architect, LeadsConnect Services Pvt. Ltd.
  • Mr. Tushar Patil, Managing Director - Planeteye Farm-AI Ltd.
  • Mr. Prashant Mishra, Founder - AgriPilot.ai
  • Mr. Arshad Ul Islam, Dy GM - Crop Loan, SBI
  • Mr. Jobin Jacob, Senior Enterprise Account Manager, SatSure

Lunch Break

Session 3 – Presentations

Carbon Credits & Measurement, Reporting & Verification (MRV) Technologies

(Focus: Measurement, reporting, and verification at scale)

Chair – Mr. Karthikeyan B, Executive Director - Human Ventures

  • Mr. Shailendra Singh Rao, Founder and MD - Creduce
  • Mr. Parin Turakhia, CTO – Growindigo
  • Mr. Harshal Sonawane, Head – Sustainability - UPL SAS

Session 4 – Presentations

Gene Editing, Seeds & Policy Readiness in India

(Focus: CRISPR, regulation, and farmer adoption)

Chair – Dr Paresh Verma, Director General - Federation of Seed Industry of India

  • Dr. Preeti Sawairam, Dy. Director- Seed, Agri Dept, Govt of Maharashtra
  • Prof. K. C. Bansal, Member, Board of Directors, Global Plant Council, Fellow, The World Academy of Sciences
  • Mr. Ajay Kumar, Head (R&D) - Shriram Bioseed Genetics

Coffee break

Session 5 - Panel discussion

Next-Gen Biofertilizers & Biostimulants

(Focus: Scaling biologicals with data and diagnostics)

Moderator- Ms. Sandeepa Kanitkar, MD, Kan Biosys

  • Dr. Satilal Patil, MD – Green Vision Life Sciences
  • Mr. Vipin Siani, CEO – BASAI
  • Dr. Sawan Kumar, Deputy Director, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance - Sea6Energy
  • Mr. Shanmugam Sambanthan, Head-Agriculture, Middle East, South Asia and Africa, Novonesis

Session 6 – Fireside chat

Digital Krishi – Technology empowered Indian farmer

(Focus: AI, IoT, drones, fintech, and digital platforms transforming Indian agriculture)

  • Mr. Deepak Pareek – Founder, HnyB (Technology Pioneer – World Economic Forum)
  • Mr. Prataprao Pawar, President, Sakal Media Group

Session 7 – Panel discussion

CEO Conclave -

Topic- Future of farming: technology, innovation and the role of industry leaders

Moderator- Ms. Komal Shah Bhukhanwala, Director, R&D, SML Ltd.

  • Dr. T R Kesavan, Group President - Corporate Relations & Alliances – TAFE Ltd
  • Dr S K Shukla, Director CIRCOT
  • Ms. Sandeepa Kanitkar*, Managing Director, Kanbiosys
  • Mr. Prashant Mishra, Founder - AgriPilot.ai

Networking dinner

Day II – 13th MARCH 2026

Session 8 – Presentations

Smart Farms, Sustainable Future

(Focus: Climate resilience, water efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable agri-tech)

Chair – Dr. Y G Prasad, Former Director, Central Institute for Cotton Research

  • Dr Bhupendra Bahadur Singh, Scientist – -E- IITM, CCCR
  • Dr. Raju Kapoor, Director – Public & Industry Affairs, FMC India
  • Mr. Jayesh Khade, Founder, JK Startup Support Incubation Centre
  • Mr. Manish Daga, President, All India Cotton FPO Association (AICFA)

Coffee Break

Session 9 – Presentations

Public Digital Infrastructure for Agriculture

(Focus: AgriStack, DPI, data governance, and privacy)

Chair – Prof. Sudhirkumar Goel, Former Additional Chief, Secretary - Agriculture & Marketing , Govt. of Maharashtra

  • Mr. Sanjay Deshmukh, COO, Findability Services
  • Mr. Tryambakeshwar Vatsa - CTO, NeML
  • Dr. Mahesh Patankar, Managing Director, MP Ensystems Advisory Pvt. Ltd.

Session 10 – Panel discussion

Moderator - Ms Drishti Kumar, Agritech Specialist World Economic Forum

  • Ms. Keya Salot, Co-Founder, Farm2Fam
  • Ms. Dhanashree Mandhani, Founder & CEO, Salam Kisan | Co-Founder, PRYM Aerospace AI, Climate-Tech & Systems Innovation Leader
  • Dr. Chaitra Narayan, Founder & Director, Kodagu Agritec Pvt Ltd
  • Ms. Seema Singh, Marketing and Communication Strategist & Social Impact leader

Lunch Break

Session 11 – Panel Discussion

Biopesticides and Green Chemicals

(Focus: Behavioral insights, trust, and last-mile delivery)

Moderator – Dr. Shailendra Singh, Chief Operating Officer - Zydex Group

  • Dr. Rahul Mirchandani, CMD – Aries Agro
  • Dr. S Ganesan, VP – UPL Ltd
  • Dr. Alok Srivastava, Director, ICAR, National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms.
  • Mr. Srinivasakumar Karavadi, President - INERA
  • Padma Shri Prof. (Dr.) G. D. Yadav, Former Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai

Concluding remarks and Vote of Thanks

High Tea

**Please note that the agenda is tentative and may be subject to confirmations