Government Plans A Dedicated Cell To Promote Agricultural Startups
Agri startups are most essential for farmers in the pre-harvest stage.
The Centre is planning to set up a dedicated cell for agriculture startups and small entrepreneurs, an official said on Tuesday.
Addressing an event organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi, National Rainfed Area Authority Chief Executive Officer Ashok Dalwai said there are numerous areas where startups can help farmers reduce cost and increase income.
He also stressed upon the need to create a platform for standardised and structured data that can be accessed free of cost.
“Biggest problem in getting data is that there is no data standardisation and no structure that can be uniformly interpreted. We need to start looking at building up of database related to all aspects of agriculture and how it can be digitally translated,” he said in a statement.
A platform should be created where different technologies are uploaded and made available to everybody, he added.
Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium Managing Director Neelkamal Darbari said the role of agri startups comes at the pre-harvest stage.
Farmers Producer Organisations are still struggling to do business in traditional ways. The country has around 5,000 FPOs and they can act as a vehicle for innovation, she said.
The interface of technology through FPO mechanism is yet to see some kind of traction, she added.
A FICCI compendium on agriculture startups representing 103 case studies was also released during the event.