Global tech giants and domestic startups have looked deep into India’s impoverished agriculture. They believe that at a time when the Modi government is relying heavily on private investment to transform the country’s agricultural sector, the sector can offer billions worth of opportunities.

However, this technological push runs parallel to the protests of farmers’ groups against the liberalization of the agricultural sector through three federal laws. The farmers claim that the laws expose them to exploitation by large corporations and gradually withdraw long-term government support. Almost half of the population is dependent on agricultural income.

The Department of Agriculture signed a series of agreements with tech companies, including three American giants, last week to advance a big data project called Agristack, first reported by HT in 2018, when tentative plans were underway. Companies can now access the data of millions of farmers to develop high-tech solutions.

Some of the changes are historical. Amazon India has introduced farm input products on its platform. An algorithm-based handheld device from Trimble Inc, an American company, can read the nutrient content of the soil immediately.

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Crop-in Ltd, based in Bengaluru, offers an AI-based cloud computing solution that can remotely detect crop damage. Agrograde, an Indian startup, uses artificial intelligence and is working to standardize the quality of fresh produce by automating the sorting that can literally sort out bad apples.

On site, agriculture remains a preoccupation with drudgery and risks. According to a recent government survey, farmers’ share of income from cultivation is falling. Farmers receive less prices than they pay for their daily needs, so-called terms of trade. Often they are sold below the cost of cultivation.

“We are excited to partner with the Government of India’s vision to empower farmers with technology. The rapid proliferation of smartphones and the Internet can help Indian agriculture experience a paradigm shift, ”said Amit Agarwal, Country Director of Amazon India.

A recent research note from consulting firm Bain and Company said Agritech will create a “pool of values” of $ 30 billion to $ 35 billion by 2025. India already ranks third in the world in terms of agritech start-up financing, after Germany and the USA.

Technology is vital in a country where farm incomes are low, about a third of the income of non-farm households.

Data shows that high tech has spread rapidly in manufacturing, a process known as technology diffusion. Then-World Bank President Jim Kim predicted so much in a speech in 2016 that automation in non-agricultural sectors would threaten 69% of jobs in India today.

“The technological challenge is that the land holdings are so small that even using a tractor makes no sense on some farms,” ​​said former Tamil Nadu Agricultural University economist K Mani. Second, all Indian technologies are only intended for irrigated land, he said.

Trimble Inc uses a rental model for farmers to rent their farm equipment to make products affordable.

Last month, wholesale tomato prices fell sharply to nearly three-year lows as loss-making farmers in Maharashtra and Haryana dumped the produce or fed it to cattle.

Homegrown startups like Arya.ag, a value chain integrator, promise to solve these problems with artificial intelligence-driven products like “Hermetic Solution”. This is an on-demand storage option for locations where traditional warehousing is not available, said CEO Prasanna Rao.

Recent research by economist Ashok Gulati and his colleagues shows that governments have increased input subsidies over the years, which in turn has practically turned the tap on new public investment. This has stifled agricultural growth, it said.

Over a 33-year period, public capital formation in agriculture, a measure of investment, including in technology, declined from 3.9% of agricultural GDP in 1980-81 to 2.2% in 2014-15. However, the input subsidies for fertilizers, electricity, water and crop insurance rose from 2.8% to 8% during this period.

“For a real revolution, these technologies must be affordable and suitable for smallholders who make up 85% of our total agricultural community,” said Kapil Regen, an economist at Comtrade.

Trimble Inc’s says it targets upper and middle Indian farms. “About 20-30% of large and medium-sized farmers control 70-80% of the land and our original target is these farmers,” the company’s managing director, Rajan Aiyer, told HT on an earlier occasion.