!-Agri

In their own words

Agriculture plays a vital role in Indian economy. 58 percent of rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. Agriculture is one of the largest contributor of GDP. Year on year from 2004-05, the Demand- Supply gap in agriculture labor in India has been broadening. Since then, on an average 6 million workforce from low-productivity agriculture sector have migrated to the high-productivity manufacturing sector. As per KPMG - FICCI agri report for 2015, a comparison across two time periods, 2004-05 and 2011- 12, indicated that while there was an increase in the size of the total workforce in the country, the size of the agricultural workforce reduced by 30.57 million people. The share of agricultural workforce in total workforce declined from 56.7% to 48.8% in the same period (1). Some of the reasons for the drift away from agriculture can be attributed to the higher wages and job security in other sectors, defined working hours and guaranteed remuneration, lack of resources and funds for operation and expansion in the agriculture sector, relatively low wages in agricultural occupations etc. In addition, absence of a systematized marketing structure, misconducts in the existing agricultural markets, insufficient knowledge of emerging technologies are some of the many afflictions that obstruct the Indian agricultural sector. If the population in the country continues to grow in the same trend, it is estimated that by 2028 India will reach the 148 billion-population mark and will be the highest populated country in the world. Extrapolation of the agri workforce trends for the last few years into the near future shall bring the labor count down to 140 million by 2028 in the agriculture sector. These estimations accentuate the importance of agriculture in the context of the Indian economy. Not only is the agriculture sector a pivotal component in achieving several of India’s goals - attaining food security, enhancing rural income, increasing rural employability - but agriculture is also the backbone of a conventionally agri-economy like India. Considering the trends, demand for total food grain is expected to rise from 274 Mt in 2020 to 314 Mt in 2030, whereas supply of food grains is expected to rise to 280 Mt by 2030 as per projections of the food grain economic survey 2010-11. This indicates a probable deficit of 34 Mt in total food grains by 2030, which is expected to account for an import amounting to 680000 crores. To meet the food demands and nutritional requirements in the country, essential food grains will need to be imported, thus burdening the Indian economy in different ways. In view of flaring difficulties and challenging across diverse axes, there is an immediate need to fill the labor demand-supply gap in the agricultural sector. Providing incentives, adding commercial value and returns in agriculture, motivating individuals and businesses to join the agri sector, fueling investments and inducing technology in agriculture etc. can help the sector prosper and be self-sufficient in coming times. So the major challenge that !-agri seeks is to use technology to bridge the gap between agri job seekers and job providers with the help of mobile technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning in an effective manner to enable improved agriculture, advanced agribusiness, greater food production and minimum wastage.

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