Transformations shaping the modern agriculture industry
India, with its vast area of agricultural land, has been witnessing major transformations, especially with the induction of cutting-edge technology and sustainable farming, which will shape the industry for the years to come.
India is majorly an agrarian society with almost 60 per cent of the rural household dependent on farming. The agricultural sector in the country, which mostly comprises small and marginal farmers, contributes a major share in the overall economy; thereby, having a major influence on other sectors as well, indigenously and internationally. According to recent market studies, the agriculture industry, backed by innovations and technology has the potential to grow to approximately $24 billion by 2023 from $204 million now.
Hence, transformations have been rapidly taking place to shape the agriculture industry and give it a new outlook. It is not just about simple farming now; there has been a major revamp in all aspects of advanced farming from simpler things like tractors, combine harvesters and milking machines to the application of cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics or gene-edited organism.
Apart from technological advancement, there had been a major development in other aspects like new vaccinations, the use of global water resources, the transition to organic farming for sustainable growth, etc. Animal vaccination is one area where the agricultural industry has evolved significantly, with researchers coming up with new and more effective vaccines over time.
However, the major factor shaping the modern day agricultural sector is the increasing interest of agricultural start-ups or agri-tech players in transforming the sector. Several researchers have been joining the sector since there is a major scope to exploit the opportunity to advance farming in a country with vast agricultural lands. To bring in a fast-paced transition to increase production in a shorter time span, agri-tech players are supporting the farmers with services ranging from on-ground assistance like soil analysis to using technologies to forecast environmental effects using satellite images.
Farmers across the globe have also been exploring several approaches to address environmental concerns and there is a renewed focus on organic farming, which has proven to be more effective in maintaining an ecological balance since it provides yield stability, improved soil health, no environmental concerns, organic food, and a reduction in the use of synthesized fertilizers.