a short report on technological advancement in indian agriculture
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Rashmi Ramesh Sep 14, 2015
This section on Social Innovation is made possible with the support of Deshpande Foundation India.
The Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar had said that as per estimates by the Central Statistics Office, the share of agricultural products/agriculture and allied sectors in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was 51.9 per cent in 1950-51, has come down to 13.7 per cent in 2012-13. That contribution is abysmally low for a sector that employs about 50 per cent of the country’s population. However, this is mainly due to the farmers’ inability to generate income from their crops and curb their growing debt.
What can we do about it? Some startups came up with an innovative answer to that question. Here are ten notable innovations such companies have produced:
1. Barrix Ago Sciences

The Bangalore-based startup offers eco-friendly crop protection methods after much research on products that support organic farming to increase crop produce and quality with minimal expenditure.
Products:
Barrix Catch Fruit and Fly Lure + trap: Toxic pesticides contaminate water, soil and leave behind harmful residue, besides being expensive. Barrix’s pheromone-based pest control traps have artificially synthesised smelling agents that attracts and traps pests. Instead of eating the crops, the pests are attracted to the pheromones in the traps.Fly pest sticky sheet: Barrix uses bright yellow and blue coloured recyclable sheets of wavelengths between 500 nm to 600 nm, proven to effectively attract and trap at least 19 high-risk pests from a long distance.
2. Anulek Agrotech

Set up by Mumbai-based entrepreneurs, Anulekh focuses on increasing soil fertility to achieve higher agricultural productivity and crop yield with lower resource use.
Product:
BIOSAT: BIOSAT (Biochar based organic Soil Amendment Technology), a soil additive, is made of biochar mixed with different organic nutrients. The product preserves soil fertility, traps carbon emissions, maintains the topsoil strength and increases crop production, thus reducing dependency on chemical fertilizers.
3. Mitra

A Nashik-based startup, MITRA (Machines, Information, Technology, Resources for Agriculture) aims to improve mechanization at horticulture farms with the use of R&D and high quality farm equipment.
Products:
Air blast sprayers: Developed for fruits and vegetables in general, and grapes and pomegranates in particular, the sprayers, used to add hormones that help the growth of crops, reduce the expenditure on manual labour and are less time-consuming.
4. CropIn Technology Solutions

A farming technology solutions startup founded by a Bangalore software engineer, it provides agri businesses the technology and expertise to create a smarter and safer food supply for consumers around the world.
Product:
CropIn offers information on a cloud-based platform, integrated with a mobile app for Android. Called Smart Farms, it allows large food companies to track the growth of crops on farms around the country with details about what the crop is and the conditions it is grown in to help companies remotely monitor farms, interact with farmers and make every crop transparents and traceable. It also aids farmers in adopting global agricultural practices and improves productivity by offering productivity insights and harvest forecasts.
5. Eruvaka Technologies

An organisation based in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, its mission is to accelerate the use of technology in aquaculture, an area where farmers face problems due to unavailability of adequate technology to measure and control water health.
Product:
Eruvaka Technologies, to help farmers monitor aquaculture ponds, develops solar-powered flouting buoys that measure different water parameters, such as oxygen levels, temperature and pH range, crucial for the growth and survival of fish and shrimp. The collected information is uploaded on the cloud and transmitted to individual customers through an Android app, SMS, voice call or the internet. Farmers can also remotely control automated equipment such as aerators and feeders.
This section on Social Innovation is made possible with the support of Deshpande Foundation India.
The Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar had said that as per estimates by the Central Statistics Office, the share of agricultural products/agriculture and allied sectors in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was 51.9 per cent in 1950-51, has come down to 13.7 per cent in 2012-13. That contribution is abysmally low for a sector that employs about 50 per cent of the country’s population. However, this is mainly due to the farmers’ inability to generate income from their crops and curb their growing debt.
What can we do about it? Some startups came up with an innovative answer to that question. Here are ten notable innovations such companies have produced:
1. Barrix Ago Sciences

The Bangalore-based startup offers eco-friendly crop protection methods after much research on products that support organic farming to increase crop produce and quality with minimal expenditure.
Products:
Barrix Catch Fruit and Fly Lure + trap: Toxic pesticides contaminate water, soil and leave behind harmful residue, besides being expensive. Barrix’s pheromone-based pest control traps have artificially synthesised smelling agents that attracts and traps pests. Instead of eating the crops, the pests are attracted to the pheromones in the traps.Fly pest sticky sheet: Barrix uses bright yellow and blue coloured recyclable sheets of wavelengths between 500 nm to 600 nm, proven to effectively attract and trap at least 19 high-risk pests from a long distance.
2. Anulek Agrotech

Set up by Mumbai-based entrepreneurs, Anulekh focuses on increasing soil fertility to achieve higher agricultural productivity and crop yield with lower resource use.
Product:
BIOSAT: BIOSAT (Biochar based organic Soil Amendment Technology), a soil additive, is made of biochar mixed with different organic nutrients. The product preserves soil fertility, traps carbon emissions, maintains the topsoil strength and increases crop production, thus reducing dependency on chemical fertilizers.
3. Mitra

A Nashik-based startup, MITRA (Machines, Information, Technology, Resources for Agriculture) aims to improve mechanization at horticulture farms with the use of R&D and high quality farm equipment.
Products:
Air blast sprayers: Developed for fruits and vegetables in general, and grapes and pomegranates in particular, the sprayers, used to add hormones that help the growth of crops, reduce the expenditure on manual labour and are less time-consuming.
4. CropIn Technology Solutions

A farming technology solutions startup founded by a Bangalore software engineer, it provides agri businesses the technology and expertise to create a smarter and safer food supply for consumers around the world.
Product:
CropIn offers information on a cloud-based platform, integrated with a mobile app for Android. Called Smart Farms, it allows large food companies to track the growth of crops on farms around the country with details about what the crop is and the conditions it is grown in to help companies remotely monitor farms, interact with farmers and make every crop transparents and traceable. It also aids farmers in adopting global agricultural practices and improves productivity by offering productivity insights and harvest forecasts.
5. Eruvaka Technologies

An organisation based in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, its mission is to accelerate the use of technology in aquaculture, an area where farmers face problems due to unavailability of adequate technology to measure and control water health.
Product:
Eruvaka Technologies, to help farmers monitor aquaculture ponds, develops solar-powered flouting buoys that measure different water parameters, such as oxygen levels, temperature and pH range, crucial for the growth and survival of fish and shrimp. The collected information is uploaded on the cloud and transmitted to individual customers through an Android app, SMS, voice call or the internet. Farmers can also remotely control automated equipment such as aerators and feeders.
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