SMART FARMING IN INDIA

The central government of India takes care for developing the agri-tech sector and aims to empower Indian farmers. The Indian government supports smart farming because they want to reduce their effort and enhance their productivity. At present, they are working to double the farmers’ income by 2022. They want to increase farmers’ income with minimum efforts by implementing smart farming.

Supports, initiated from the government of India, are for example: digitalization of the PACS (Primary Agricultural Credit Society), MANAGE (Management of Agricultural Extension in Hyderabad), mentoring the agri-tech start-ups, PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana), and One Nation One Market.

Are smart technologies affordable for the farmers? 

Hi-tech and technologically advanced products indeed provide comfortable work with high productivity. If smart farming is not affordable for the farmers, even if they want to adopt smart farming, they won’t. Most of the Indian farmers have limited income that prevents farmers from using the digital revolution in farming. Therefore, start-up agri-tech must prepare their products and services based on the farmer’s budget to get the full benefits.

Indian people are traditionalists and believe that the methods used from ancient times are the best for agriculture. But the growing population and the fast global changes are prerequisites for the fact that farming methods should also change. To do that, Indian farmers have to apply innovative technologies to their work.

Here are some technologies which should be enhanced:

• Product Innovations: As everything else, products also need to undergo innovation. For this pupose, there should be new technologies available on the market which create fully new kinds of products.
• Digital Markerplaces: eNam (National Agriculture Market) is an electronic portal for trading, provided by the government of India to the local farmers. This digital marketplace aim to promote equality in the agriculture market and to give farmers the opportunity to lease equipment, connect to local customers, or pool together for superior insurance. 
• Operations Software: It will support farmers in making decisions, in saving money and in tracking resources or productivity.   
• Skills-building Tools: In Indian farming, there is a need for skill building. Farmers has inherited their way of work from their parents or ancestors. They should be trained to use the newly introduced technologies. For that, skills-building tools should be introduced in the market for the farmers. Such tools offer hotline voice services, videos, mobile apps and others. These tools help farmers to share experiences and learn new and innovative things.
• Resources: Resources shoul be fully utilized. New irrigation systems in India provide highly targeted fertilizer and water. The applied methods need to aim to use less water and soil, which reduces pesticides too. 

These techniques of smart farming come with enormous benefits and can help to improve farming productivity. Check out our article about the advantages of Smart Farming here.


Credits: https://www.tractorjunction.com/blog/smart-farming-in-india/#:~:text=The%20Indian%20government%20supports%20smart,the%20farmers'%20income%20by%202022.&text=For%20these%20farmers%20get%20real,financed%20to%20increase%20crop%20productivity.