The presentation takes us through the most pressing challenges being faced by the Indian agriculture today. It also suggests probable solutions to overcome the problems and opportunities being created by social impact organisations.

1. Challenges and
Opportunities in
Indian
Agriculture
Tribes For Good
A case study on the current Social Impact
organizations in Indian Agriculture

2. Outline
» Major Challenges
• Productivity
• Sustainability
• Energy
• Supply chain and logistics
» Understanding the Value Chain
» Opportunities
» Organisations in the Agribusiness sector with a social impact
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3. Major Challenges
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•Productivity
•Sustainability
•Energy
•Supply chain and logistics

4. Sustaining consistent agricultural produce with growing population
» Major food security challenge is to tackle the problems of
hunger and malnutrition
» According to FAO estimates in ‘The State of Food Security
and Nutrition in the World, 2019' report, 194 million people
are undernourished in India. By this measure 14.5% of the
population is undernourished in India.
» “The long-term average growth of just under 3.0 percent has
improved almost imperceptibly over the past six decades “
» The plot in the right clearly shows that there’s a vast
opportunity to scale up the productivity when compared to
the trends of our neighbouring countries
» Source: Report No: 88093-IN Republic of India Accelerating
Agricultural Productivity Growth
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Source: Based on data available at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-
products/international-agricultural-productivity/

5. Sustaining the environment for future agriculture productivity
» India will be required to produce more from less resources,
which would require us to move towards sustainable
agriculture methods.
» In parts of India, the over-pumping of water for agricultural
use is leading to falling groundwater levels. Conversely, water-
logging is leading to the build-up of salts in the soils of some
irrigated areas.
» In rainfed areas on the other hand, where the majority of the
rural population live, agricultural practices need adapting to
reduce soil erosion and increase the absorption of rainfall.
Overexploited and degrading forest land need mitigation
measures.
» Large annual fluctuations in agricultural growth in India are a
direct outcome of variable rainfall, as over 60 percent of
cultivated area is still rain fed .
» India is facing a freshwater crisis. India has just 4% of the
world’s fresh water — but 16% of the global population.
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Source: Report No: 88093-IN Republic of India
Accelerating Agricultural Productivity Growth

6. Energy for Sustainable agriculture
» India's energy policy of subsidized power supply to the agricultural sector has significantly contributed to a high
level of dependence on ground water supply for irrigation in rural areas.
» In November 2015, the Government of India (GoI) launched the Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), a
scheme for operational and financial turnaround of power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs). Documents
pertaining to this scheme estimated the total accumulated losses of DISCOMs in March 2015 to be Rs 3.8 lakh
crores (MoP, 2015)—3.3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for that year (MOSPI, 2017).
» Electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) have been reeling under massive financial losses for a long time.
The central government has implemented three bailout packages in the last 15 years to relieve their financial
stress
» Subsidised or free supply of electricity is also said to lead to an over extraction of groundwater resulting in sharp
falls in groundwater levels and related problems of higher pumping costs and deterioration in groundwater
quality.
» http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=130261
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7. Challenges in Storage, Logistics and Supply chain
» Poor infrastructure: India has the second longest Road Network in the
world. But less than 2.7% of the entire road length is covered by
National Highways. This 2% of the road handles 40% of the Cargo
» Cold Storage Facility: India, the world’s largest producer of milk and
the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, is also one of the
biggest food wasters in the world –wasting INR 440 billion worth of
fruits, vegetables and grains every year. The most susceptible food
category to a lack of cold storage is fruits and vegetables where annual
wastage is estimated to be 18% of the total production (Source: Food
Wastage and Cold Storage Infrastructure Relationship in India by
Emerson Climate Technologies)
» Logistics Challenges: “India's spend on logistics activities - equivalent
to 13 percent of its GDP is higher than that of the developed nations
The key reason for this is the relatively higher level of inefficiencies in
the system, with lower average trucking speeds, higher turnaround
time at ports and high cost of administrative delays being just a few of
the examples” (Source: Skill gaps in the Indian Logistics Sector: A white
paper- by KPMG)
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Source: Central Institute of Post Harvest
Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana

8. Understanding
the value chain
and
opportunities
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9. Understanding the complex value chain
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Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/de/Documents/consumer-industrial-
products/Deloitte-Tranformation-from-Agriculture-to-AgTech-2016.pdf

10. Opportunities towards sustainable agriculture
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Source- Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand challenge for development
• The opportunities are towards creating a
sustainable agriculture with a lasting social
impact and less carbon footprint
• The challenges would need an innovative
approach wherein lies the opportunity towards
an integrated systems design based approach
towards problem solving
• The image on the right explores the insights
on various clean energy solutions being
developed to power the agriculture

11. Organisations creating an impact in the agri business sector
» Oorja Solutions
» Bombay Bijlee
» New Leaf Dynamic: Biomass powered cold storage
» Delectrik: Storage systems based on redox flow battery chemistry
» Krimanshi : Dairy input innovations to manufacture high quality animal feeds from surplus agriculture and food
residues
» Farm Harvest: Business of producing sweet corn and popcorn through farm harvest
» Krishi star: Improving farmer livelihood by selling products through a farmer owned supply chain
» Nubesol Technologies: Precision farming services for sugar companies
» VIMPL/ Villfarm: Marketing agriculture sustainable through holistic products
» Flybird Innovations: Affordable smart irrigation controller that helps farmer improve yields
» KamalKisan : Affordable agricultural implements for small farmers
» Promethean Power: Rapid milk chilling machine deployed in villages
» Skymet: Delivers forecast to farmers via mobile phones
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12. Thank You
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Extra slide ahead

13. About the contributor
“I am a mechanical engineering undergraduate from NITK Surathkal
currently working in the Energy Industry.
Having versatile interests, I love working towards conceptualising an
idea, designing, analysing and putting things into action. I am
passionate about working towards creating technologies focused
towards solving social challenges.I believe that a combination of
technology and an empathetic lens towards social problems could
help solve crucial challenges”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/giriraj-heda-9498b999
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