Food and agriculture sector is witnessing several challenges with respect to production as well as meeting the growing demand for food in the country. Demand for healthier food option and traceability require continuous technological as well as supply chain innovations. New institutional arrangements like FPOs are addressing some of these challenges by way of collectivizing the activities, improving their bargaining power, providing access to markets inputs and farm outputs, and providing necessary infrastructure for value addition and primary processing at the farmers’ doorsteps. However, these FPOs also face some challenges such as lack of awareness about modern technologies, inadequate working capital, and limited access to markets. On the other hand, agri-startups are using emerging technologies to improve farm productivity and making agriculture more sustainable. Digital technologies, data analytics, AI-based predictive model, image sensing, IoT devices, sensors, satellite imagery, machine learning, blockchain, etc., are used by many of such agri-startups. However, they have constraints in making these technologies accessible to individual farmers due to their small land holding and technology affordability. A synergistic approach of “Full-Stack Farm-to-Fork Model” is suggested where agri-startups collaborate with FPOs to leverage their grassroots understanding and established networks, while FPOs get benefit from the technological advancements brought in by these new-age entrepreneurs. Such synergy would have multi-pronged benefits in the farm-to-fork value chain by reducing the transaction cost, improving the productivity, and also cutting down the carbon footprint in the value chain.

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From Farm to Fork: Role of FPOs and Agri-Startups in India

  • Ranjit Kumar,
  • K. Srinivas,
  • Sanjiv Kumar

摘要

Food and agriculture sector is witnessing several challenges with respect to production as well as meeting the growing demand for food in the country. Demand for healthier food option and traceability require continuous technological as well as supply chain innovations. New institutional arrangements like FPOs are addressing some of these challenges by way of collectivizing the activities, improving their bargaining power, providing access to markets inputs and farm outputs, and providing necessary infrastructure for value addition and primary processing at the farmers’ doorsteps. However, these FPOs also face some challenges such as lack of awareness about modern technologies, inadequate working capital, and limited access to markets. On the other hand, agri-startups are using emerging technologies to improve farm productivity and making agriculture more sustainable. Digital technologies, data analytics, AI-based predictive model, image sensing, IoT devices, sensors, satellite imagery, machine learning, blockchain, etc., are used by many of such agri-startups. However, they have constraints in making these technologies accessible to individual farmers due to their small land holding and technology affordability. A synergistic approach of “Full-Stack Farm-to-Fork Model” is suggested where agri-startups collaborate with FPOs to leverage their grassroots understanding and established networks, while FPOs get benefit from the technological advancements brought in by these new-age entrepreneurs. Such synergy would have multi-pronged benefits in the farm-to-fork value chain by reducing the transaction cost, improving the productivity, and also cutting down the carbon footprint in the value chain.