E-Paper
Incubation Network at IIT-K to help raise farmers’ income
India Agritech Incubation Network (IAIN) has been set up at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) to develop technologies that can help in increasing the income of farmers.
India Agritech Incubation Network (IAIN) has been set up at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) to develop technologies that can help in increasing the income of farmers.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Tata Trusts have joined hands to set up the incubation network and launch the ‘Social Alpha Quest for Agritech Innovations’.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, UP principal secretary, agriculture, Amrit Mohan on Monday said the incubation network would speed up the process to double the income of farmers by introducing latest technologies in the agriculture sector.
Mohan also stressed on the need for doing research on climate change that has affected small and marginal farmers the most.
The IAIN is envisioned as a network of incubators across the country to promote innovations for smallholder farmers. An investment of more than ₹100 crore is expected in next five years in the project that could increase further.
IIT-K director Abhay Karandikar said: “IIT Kanpur has a strong incubation programme. As part of IAIN, the institute is going to set up an agritech incubator and will provide its expertise and facilities to companies in the area.”
Karandikar said, ‘’Modern technologies spanning geospatial mapping, input and output management, modern irrigation devices, innovation in agri finance and logistics, development of efficient post-harvest technologies etc have great potential to transform agriculture into an attractive profession. Affordable technology enabled India-centric solutions can help Indian farmers increase their productivity and income levels.”
Purvi Mehta, head of agriculture, Asia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, “For inclusive agricultural transformation, it is important to align the country’s agriculture innovation, incubation and investment ecosystems with the needs of smallholder agricultural and livestock sectors.”
“We believe Social Alpha and IIT Kanpur will provide the right ecosystem and intensive mentorship to startups with the potential to show large-scale sustainable impact. We are hopeful that IAIN will emerge as a collaborative and responsive network that will place special emphasis on technology adoption by smallholders while building a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs to scale their business,” Mehta said.
Manoj Kumar, head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Tata Trusts and CEO, Social Alpha, said, “Venture Investments are gaining momentum in agritech space though mostly limited to Internet of Things, e-commerce and farm to fork logistics play.”
“Deep science and technology innovations in agriculture and livestock are yet to receive similar incubation and investment support, which is necessary to improve productivity, efficiency and profitability of our farmers. The Quest aims to support, mentor and engage missioN driven entrepreneurs to develop solutions that will positively improve the livelihoods outcomes of small and marginal farmers,” Kumar said.
“Through the IAIN programme, we would like to demonstrate agriculture technology innovations for small and marginal farmers. One of our goal statement is to develop regions as drivers of growth and we strongly believe user friendly technology innovations in agriculture will help achieve the goal” said Ganesh Neelam, zonal manager, Tata Trusts and executive director, CInI
