The 10 most valuable agro solution provider companies

www.insightssuccess.in January 2018

The way of business solutions Expert’s View Signicant Elements of Innovation and Trends in Agro Business

Go Green Let’s do something Environment friendly

Editorial

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gricultural development depends on innovation. Innovation is a major source of improved productivity, competitiveness, and economic growth throughout advanced and emerging economies, and plays an important role in creating jobs, generating income, alleviating poverty, and driving social development. If farmers, agribusinesses, and even nations are to cope, compete, and thrive in the midst of changes in agriculture and economy, they must innovate continuously. Investments in science and technology are a key component of most strategies to improve and maintain agricultural productivity and innovate. Research, education, and extension investments are necessary components but have not been sufficient for agricultural innovation to occur. Other conditions and complementary interventions are needed.

Agriculture Industries: A Sustainable Key Driver of the Nation

This fact may shape the agricultural markets in ways we have never witnessed before. Farmers will be needed to increase the crop production, either by enhancing productivity on existing agricultural lands through fertilizer and irrigation or by increasing the amount of agricultural land to grow crops and adopting new methods like precision farming. Emerging markets—and in particular the most advanced developing economies—are at the forefront of this movement. In recent years Brazil, Russia, India and China, among others, have had a major influence on changing global food production and consumption patterns. While, on the other hand, they have also been some of the world’s most successful food producers over the last two decades.

There’s a significant need for long-term private investment and public spending in the agricultural sector. A lot of large institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, have already made major commitments to support the global agricultural production and trading in recent years—not least because agricultural (land) investments have historically delivered increased diversification, outpaced inflation, and strong returns.

Still, over the last 30 years, there’s a steep decline in the investment in agriculture and much less is spent on R&D compared to developed countries—resulting in low productivity and stagnant production. Particularly, investments by farmers and large corporations are very less since the banking sectors in developing countries give fewer loans to farmers (compared to the share of agriculture in GDP). To attract more financing and investment in agriculture, the risks need to be reduced by governments. Regulators need to redevelop the policies that limit inclusion of rural, small-scale farmers into the financial system— for example, soft loans (i.e., lending that is more generous than market lending) and the interest rate caps also discourage bank lending.

More supportive laws, policies, and public spending on infrastructure would help build a favorable investment climate for agriculture.

The Indian government is aggressively pursuing a farmer-centric development approach with bottom up planning to achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income over the next five years. This will hopefully drive rural demand and give industry and economy a boost.

Moreover, Global policy makers, businesses, and consumers must put the global food balance at the top of the agenda. International business leaders need to better communicate the need for policy changes and for developed countries to incentivize investment in regions where there is the best potential for growth.

Our food security is ought to be dependent on it.

Poulami Das

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Shraddha Deshpande Managing Editor Poulami Das Co-Editors Sachin Bhandare Chidiebere Moses Abhinav Chandrayan Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Savita Pandav Picture Editor Alex Noel Art Editor Shweta Ambilwade Visualiser Shweta Shinde Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Ashwini, Meera, Tarun, Divya Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Database Management Prashant Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com

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Tech Powerded 32 Fraternization of Technology and Agriculture Go Green

ZUARI AGRO CHEMICALS Innovation and Tech-Infusion to Cultivate Indian Farmer’s Life

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Articles 18

Let’s Do Something Environment Friendly

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Editorial Desk Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

The Developing Era The 4 Disruptive Trends to watch

N T S EDGE INDIA AGROTECH: Providing High Quality Turnkey Agro Economic Solutions for High Margin Crops Under Shelter Farming

C XO S TA N D P O I N T

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KISANRAJA: Delivering the IoT Hi-Tech Solutions in the Arena of Agriculture

Expert’s view Signicant Elements of Innovation and Trends in Agro Business

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36 VIVAM AGROTECH Anticipating a Cleaner Tomorrow with the Art of Waste Management

Tech Revolution Managing User Expectations in Rapidly Changing Technology Market

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THE

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Most Valuable

AGRO SOLUTION Provider Companies

Synthesizing the Sustainable Development in Agro Industries

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griculture is the backbone of Indian economy as the economic development of this country is very much relied upon the agricultural activities. Agriculture provides not only food for the nation’s population but also provides opportunities for employment generation, saving, contribution to industrial goods market and earning foreign exchange. Marketing of agricultural products means a series of activities involved in the movement of agricultural produces from the point of production to the point of consumption. Agriculture production system in India is characterized by small-scale production and seasonality of production and demand and many more. After the tech revolution in the agro sector, it becomes a talk of the town. Not only Indian investors but also this sector drags the attention of foreign investors. The current scenario of Agro-industries it reveals the truth that India is expected to achieve the ambitious goal of doubling farm income by 2022.

In the issue of “The 10 Most Valuable Agro Solution Provider Companies”, we have presented the pioneer Agro solutions providers, who have accomplished trademark by providing best-in-class agro solutions and are well equipped for continuing the Agro-industries future. These organizations sponsored the diverse industries in changing their approach to business work with excellent strategy execution and customer satisfaction as the best priority. Doubtlessly, all organizations are continuously playing a vital role in Agro modernization.

The journey of our magazine begins with Cover story Zuari Agro Chemicals, which is a single-window agricultural solution provider, which believes in progress and prosperity of Indian farmers.

We have enlisted; EDGE INDIA AGROTECH is a leading solution provider for protected cultivation and Agro consultancy. KisanRaja is a GSM-based controller that allows the farmer to control the agricultural motor using his mobile or landline from the comforts of his own. Vivam Agrotech thrives in the field of solid waste processing such as Composting, Vermicomposting, Mechanical Compost and Biogas since a decade and in City Solid Waste Management for last five years. Eltee Fertilizers is highly appreciated in the national and international market for its premium quality fertilizers. The company has set up a benchmark in the market with its fertilizers of International standard. Krishna Grain System, they have been able to cater many rice mills, sugar mills, granaries and refineries, food processing industries, grain processing & handling industries etc. Our robust R&D structure enables us to design and develop precision and metallurgical stable fabrication equipment.

Dhanuka Agritech, manufactures a wide range of agro-chemicals like herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, miticides, plant growth regulators in various forms – liquid, dust, powder and granules. Excel Crop Care, started manufacture of crop protection products using indigenously developed processes. Asian Fertilizers has a focused, innovative corporation having core competency in the area of sulphuric acid and fertilizers. Our growth has been empowered with steadfast and distinctive adherence to business ethics, transparent governance and commitment to highest standards of social responsibility. Rallis India enhances their value for customers by providing Agri-Solutions and Chemistry led Businesses.

We have also covered expert view on, “Significant Elements of Innovation and Trends in Agro Business” by Mr. Sat Narain Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Group of Companies.

So flip through our magazine and explore interesting insights into the world of Agro revelation!

Saroj Kumar Poddar Chairman

Cover Story

ZUARI AGRO CHEMICALS Innovation and Tech-Infusion to Cultivate Indian Farmer’s Life

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We are a single-window agricultural solution provider

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THE

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Most Valuable

AGRO SOLUTION Provider Companies

t was the late Sixties. India was recovering from a severe food shortage and the government’s single-point agenda was to overcome poor productivity and reduce the burden of grain imports on the Indian exchequer. A call for a Green Revolution went out, a desperate need for novel methods of farming was felt and a completely new perspective was emerging in the sector.

It was in these trying times that Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd (ZACL) led the way, actively participating in fulfilling the needs of the Revolution. Set up in 1967, Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd went about producing high-quality agri-inputs, helping new India take the first steps towards self-sufficiency in food grain production.

Much water has flown under the bridge since then, and Zuari Agro Chemical Ltd has emerged as one such fertilizer conglomerate in India, not just producing high-quality complex fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, micro nutrients, and specialty fertilizers, but also as a key importer of fertilizers and farm nutrients that have greatly helped in making the country selfsufficient in foodgrains.

For the past 50 years, Zuari Agro Chemical Ltd has been firm on the path to not just help Indian farmers in their toil but also ensure that they, in spite of being the single largest community in the country, don’t remain underserved. With the guiding principle of ‘Farmers First’, the flagship company of the Adventz Group led by its Chairman, Mr. Saroj Kumar Poddar, has been endeavoring to support and nurture the Indian farming community.

From the onset of Green Revolution in the 1960s to the change over to the new Millennium, Jai Kisaan – the brand name under which ZACL sells its products – is a name readily recognized within the Indian farming community and trusted for its quality. What pulls the Indian farmers to Jai Kisaan is that more than being a provider of agri-inputs, the brand betters their lives with customer-centric services, sustainable solutions and assistance in their daily life.

Today, the brand Jai Kisaan that has completed 50 glorious years of its inception, has spread its wings to proffering technology-enabled solutions to the farming community in India. Recently launched Jai Kisaan App, for example, is a digital platform. At the core of such free-of-cost services to farmers is the Farmers First approach of Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd, providing information that is singularly useful to the community. The system of technology dissemination is further backed by access to advanced labs and training facilities.

Chairman Saroj Kumar Poddar is the Trailblazer of Adventz One of those few entrepreneurs in the Indian business landscape who can mark his career with the growth pace of the country, Mr. Poddar has steered Adventz to what it is now – a conglomerate with a turnover in excess of US$3 billion. Apart from agriculture, Adventz comprises other businesses, including heavy engineering, real estate and lifestyle, sectors that drive the Indian economy. Under Mr. Poddar, Adventz has also emerged as a custodian of companies that together leverage the Group’s exemplary equity in knowledge, best practices, and technical expertise.

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Our Jaikisaan Junction enhances the ability of farmers to take right decisions to secure quality and productivity

Mr. Poddar exhibited his entrepreneurial bent of mind early in his youth and his acumen in forging joint ventures made numerous global brands accessible to the Indian masses. After Gillette formally entered India in 1984, came the revolutionary Singer India JV, ushering the new-age technology in the home appliance market. In the dynamic 1990s, thanks to the Adventz Group Chairman, US-based Duracell made an entry in the growing Indian FMCG market. He was also instrumental in the success of the clincher of a dream deal (50:50 JV) with Hettich of Germany in 2000.

A man known for his straightforwardness and respect for mutual growth, Mr. Poddar’s ideals of Total Transparency gives Adventz an edge in forging business relationships in the new Millennium. A gold medalist from Calcutta University, the Adventz Group Chairman is an aficionado of art, culture, and sports and is also involved in their promotion and development.

Creating Technology Awareness and knowledge Diffusion Mr. Poddar says: “At Zuari, we understand every Indian farmer’s need for effective, affordable and easily available fertilisers.”

Thus, the Farmers First approach has been so cemented in the psyche of Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd that the Company goes beyond providing agri-inputs and closely works with farmers in not just bettering their yield but also their lives. Be it educating them on scientific techniques, skilling them in new-age farming techniques, agricultural development laboratories, toll-free help lines, farmer training schools and demonstration farms, Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited – the Adventz Group flagship company – has had a leading role to play. Moreover, the company regularly organizes farmer meetings, farmer training programmers, crop seminars and field days at farmers’ fields to showcase use of new technology to the community. The company also understands its responsibility to give back to the society by way of undertaking projects that improve the lives of not just the farmers but also their families.

Adventz Agri Innovation Centre (AAIC): With a vision to create technology awareness and knowledge diffusion, the Center facilitates the adoption of best agricultural technologies at the farmers’ level and help increase income from the farm. The only way to counter shrinking arable land is to enhance yields per unit of land. The AAIC – a 106-acre facility near Solapur in Maharashtra – not only facilities integrated diagnostics, skill enhancement and demonstration of innovative technologies to benefit the farmer but also functions as an advisory centre for him.

Hello Jai Kisaan: Toll-free lines, available 24x7 between 10:00 pm and 5:00 pm are operated by agri-experts well equipped to advise farmers on scientific agriculture. This initiative was started with an aim to help farmers across India resolve their queries within

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We play a signicant role in the betterment of farmers and the agricultural sector across

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The laurels and positions Mr. Poddar has been honored with include Rashtriya Samman Award from the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and, presidentship of FICCI and International Chamber of Commerce in India. He also serves on India’s Board of Trade -the highest trade body in the country – as well as on the court of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Mr. Poddar has been a member of the IIT-Kharagpur Board of Governors and on the local board of the Reserve Bank of India for over a decade.

India

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We focus on generating world-class, cutting-edge technologies for the benet of our farmers and consumers while maintaining global competitiveness

Scientist-Farmer Interface: Given that agriculture is a knowledge-driven arena where technology and innovation work together for best results, Adventz provides the platforms for farmer to interact with scientists and learn the latest scientific techniques and methodology available in their profession. Swift transfer of knowhow from the laboratory to the field can be accomplished by facilitating direct interaction between the scientists and farmers. To meet this objective, the Scientist-Farmers Interface was launched by Zuari Agro

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24 hours of a call. An added value of the service is the availability of Jai Kisaan Krishi Salahkars, advisors who can be called to fields/sites in select regions to provide expert help.

Chemicals Ltd which gives the beneficiaries an opportunity to interact directly with subject matter experts.

Zuari Agro Chemicals also initiates special situation-based projects – Goa Agriculture Initiative (GAIN) has been implemented in Goa to address the problems of the stressed mining dependent population.

Manufacturing Strategies of Adventz The Adventz agri-business has three manufacturing companies that have strategically located plants to meet the requirement of Indian fertilizer market. Zuari Agro Chemicals supplies quality fertilizers (Urea, DAP and NPK fertilizers) to Western and part of peninsular India. Similarly, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers supplies Urea and Phosphatic fertilizers to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Paradeep Phosphates produces Phosphatic (NP and NPK) fertilizers for Northern and Eastern India.

Additionally, ZACL’s SSP plant at Mahad in Maharashtra produces granulated and powdered single super phosphate and its specialty fertiliser plant at Baramati produces high-quality Water Soluble Fertilizers. The Adventz agri-business is one of the largest

private sector fertilizer producers in the country, where the emphasis is given to the highest degree of safety and energy consumption norms.

Jai Kisaan Junction: One-Stop Agri-Solution The Jai Kisaan Junction chain of retail stores function as agri-solution hubs for fulfilling all cultivation needs of the farmer.

Additionally, these stores provide free agri-consultancy services ranging from sowing to harvesting of crops. The objective of such stores is to empower farmers to make right decisions, thereby ensuring high income and productivity. Every store is equipped with audio-visual aids to exhibit scientific crop management practices. Besides selling fertilizers and wide array of agri-inputs, these multi-utility outlets provide other value-added services such as soil testing, market information, crop insurance, and agronomic expertise.

Innovation and Initiative for the Future Expansion By 2050, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion, 34 percent higher than today. Nearly all of this population increase will occur in developing countries. Urbanization will continue at an accelerated pace, and about 70 percent of the world’s population will be urban (compared to 49 percent today). Income levels will be many multiples of what they are now. In order to feed this larger, more urban, and richer population, food production (net of food used for biofuels) must increase by 70 percent. Annual cereal production will need to rise to about 3 billion tonnes from 2.1 billion today and annual meat production will need to rise by over 200 million tonnes to reach 470 million tonnes.

According to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, by 2030, most developing countries will be dependent on imports from developed countries for their food requirements. India is the second largest consumer of fertilizers after China.

Understandably, conglomerates such as Adventz Group and their companies hold the key. The Group, via Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd, has shown the way that it’s the Farmer First approach that makes the priorities clear. Mr. Poddar says: “As a responsible corporate citizen, Zuari Agro Chemicals and Jai Kisaan, under the aegis of Adventz Group, is partnering with Indian farmers in the quest to ensure Vision 2022 of Government of India.”

The Vision 2020 in agriculture is focused on enabling the India farmer to prosper through timely supply of reliable, high quality agricultural inputs and services in an empowering environment. It is also focused on generating world-class, cuttingedge technologies for the benefit of their farmers and consumers, while maintaining global competitiveness.

Adventz – led by Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited – can claim that it is working in that direction.

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THE

1 Company Name Asian Fertilizers asianfertilizers.com

Management

Mr. A. K. Matanhelia Managing Director

Most Valuable

AGRO SOLUTION Provider Companies

Brief Asian Fertilizers has a focused, innovative corporation having core competency in the area of sulphuric acid and fertilizers. Our growth has been empowered with steadfast and distinctive adherence to business ethics, transparent governance and commitment to highest standards of social responsibility.

Dhanuka Agritech Limited dhanuka.com

Mr. C. M. Gupta President

Dhanuka Agritech, manufactures a wide range of agro-chemicals like herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, miticides, plant growth regulators in various forms – liquid, dust, powder and granules.

EDGE INDIA AGROTECH edgeindiaagrotech.com

Mahesh Sood Planning & Operations Expert Nalin Sood Marketing & Business Development Vivek Sharma Technical and Production Management

Edge India Agrotech is a leading solution provider for protected cultivation and Agro consultancy.

Eltee Fertilizers elteefertilizers.com

Mr. Lalit K Periwal CEO

Eltee Fertilizers is highly appreciated in the national and international market for its premium quality fertilizers. The company has setup a benchmark in the market with its fertilizers of International standard.

Excel Crop Care Limited excelcropcare.com

Mr.Chetan Shah Managing Director

Excel Crop Care, started manufacture of crop protection products using indigenously developed processes.

KisanRaja kisanraja.com

Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Dinnepu CEO

KisanRaja is a GSM-based controller that allows the farmer to control the agricultural motor using his mobile or landline from the comforts of his own.

Krishna Grain System krishnagrainsystems.co.in

Mr.Jayesh Shah Director

Krishna Grain System, they have been able to cater many rice mills, sugar mills, granaries and refineries, food processing industries, grain processing & handling industries etc. Our robust R&D structure enables us to design and develop precision and metallurgical stable fabrication equipment.

Rallis India Limited rallis.co.in

Mr. V Shankar Managing Director & CEO

Rallis India enhances their value for customers by providing Agri-Solutions and Chemistry led Businesses.

Nirmala Kandalgaonkar Founder

Vivam Agrotech, thrives in the field of solid waste processing such as Composting, Vermicomposting, Mechanical Compost and Biogas since a decade and in City Solid Waste Management for last five years.

Saroj Kumar Poddar Chairman

Zuari is a single-window agricultural solution provider, which believes in progress and prosperity of Indian farmers.

Vivam Agrotech

vivamgroup.co.in

Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd

zuari.in

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he use of plastic has been increasing at a tremendous rate for the last few decades, which plays a major role in all facets of modern lifestyle.

Plastics are used in the manufacture of a great number of products such as mobile phones, domestic appliances, furniture items, medical devices, protective packaging, lightweight and safety components in cars, and insulation materials in buildings, etc. Plastics are used because they are effortless and saving costs to make it and can be durable. Destruction of plastic waste has come out as a major environmental challenge and its recycling is facing obstacles due to its non-degradable characteristic. The amount of plastic waste in our surroundings is continuously growing because plastic does not decompose biologically.

However, so many articles showed the situation on the ‘sea beaches contain plastic’. Plastic waste is often the most objectionable type of litter and could be viewable for months in landfill sites without degrading.

Reuse of plastics and recycling is obtaining as major as a sustainable method for plastic waste disposal. Unluckily, plastic is one of the difficult kinds of material to recycle than aluminum, glass or paper. What is the common problem with recycling plastics? it is that plastics which are often made up of more than one type of polymer or there may be some kind of fibre added to the plastic, can be a composite. Plastic polymers need a sustainable amount of processing to be recycled as a different type melts at different temperatures and has different properties, so be alert separation is very necessary. Moreover, most plastics

|January 2018 |

are not greatly compatible with one another. Except for familiar applications such as industrial packaging film and recycling bottles, there are also new developments, e.g. The Recovinyl initiative of the PVC industry.

Lots of construction firms are using plastic materials. The components used involve everything from plastic screws and hinges to enlarge plastic parts that are used in electric wiring, decoration, flooring, water proofing, wall covering, etc.

Humans create 660 billion pounds of plastic in a year, and the manufacturing process produces three times as much carbon dioxide by weight as actual plastic. “That’s an insane amount of material,” states Newlight Technologies CEO Mark Herrema. “Wouldn’t we be better off using plastic as a conveyor belt for capturing and sequestering carbon emissions instead?” That’s exactly what his company does.

Typically, plastic is made by exposing hydrocarbons from fossil fuels to tremendous pressure and energy. Newlight’s first commercial plant, in California, captures methane generated by a dairy farm’s waste lagoon and transports it to a bioreactor. There, enzymes combine the gas with air to form a polymer. The resulting plastic, called AirCarbon, performs identically to most oil-based plastics, but costs less—creating a market-driven solution to global warming.

Companies have already signed on to use AirCarbon in their products, including KI desk chairs (pictured), Dell computer packaging, and Sprint smartphone cases.

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‘ Mahesh Sood

Vivek Sharma

Planning and Operations Expert

Technical & Production Management

Nalin Sood Strategy, Marketing, Business Development

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DGE INDIA AGROTECH, a leading solution provider for protected cultivation and Agro consultancy has executed a large number of greenhouse projects in North India and is involved in crop management for self and clients. It further plans to extend its footprint across key regions of India by bringing back focus to farming and farm life by using sustainable and modern farming techniques, which improves commercial yield for the farmers, thereby contributing to both humanity and the environment.

EDGE INDIA AGROTECH’s Unique approach to serve their Clients The organization is proffering some ground-breaking services which help their clients to stay ahead in the area of Agro-tech. EDGE INDIA AGROTECH provides some innovative solutions that attract their treasured clients.

These solutions include Construction of Net Houses, Poly Houses, Poly Tunnels, Natural shade houses, Irrigation solutions, Climate control solutions and Crop management (including production and selling) through its sister concern Himalayan Eco Farms. They also offer Consultancy including Govt. Liaising, Project report preparation for

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Bank funding and for obtaining subsidies from concerned Govt. departments.

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Protuberant Leaders of the Organization With the diverse expertise, EDGE INDIA AGROTECH, the company is directed by three intellectual leaders.

Mahesh Sood, Planning & Operations Expert, is a Dreamer & Visionary with ground experience of more than 25 years in different streams, like Poultry, Inverter systems, RO water, and Agro sector. He has focused on creating a sustainable generation of next agro modules in diverse climatic zones, challenging status quo and designing methodologies to shape future growth in the agro sector.

Nalin Sood, Strategy, Marketing & Business Development, is a seasoned-FMCG Professional with diverse experience across the globe. He completed his B.tech and MBA from Delhi University. He has more than 20 years of rich international experience in marketing, strategy, and operations across developed and developing markets and across multiple consumer categories. Nalin has held senior level position including Global Brand

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Marketing Director (Reckitt & Benckiser U.K), Executive Vice President - Foods (PepsiCo India), and CMO for South Asia (S.C.Johnson). His deep desire to do something more “purposeful” and “fulfilling” has led him back to agriculture.

Vivek Sharma, Technical and Production Management, is a young idealist and a hardcore workaholic. Vivek has a degree in B.Tech and has ventured a few years in the unorganized agro sector with zeal to understand and challenge the wave of change towards secure sectors and urban migration. Vivek, a national level cyclist, worked with Firefox and discovery before venturing into the agro sector.

Analysis of Existing Agro Scenario The agro-industry is still underdeveloped, undervalued and largely fragmented. India is far behind than many other countries in terms of productivity per unit resources. EDGE INDIA understands that creating a larger scale commercially viable agro modules and growing residue free food is the future potential that can develop rural terrains and generate rural employment. According to the company, following structural changes are required.

Financing: • Bank funding for sheltered farming projects is unfriendly.

Despite Agro being a govt. of India priority sector, bank funding for such projects still attract huge interest to the tune of 12-14 % under the category of term loan and with huge collaterals. Instead it should be treated as agro loan with reasonable interest rates and easier collateral norms.

• No support from Financials institutions like SIDBI and no coverage under programs like “Stand up India” or “Start-up India” Taxes and Subsidies • Setting up of Green Houses involves 18% GST, which is a big deterrent. This adds up to the already high cost of protected cultivation.

• Process for getting State or NHB (National Horticulture Board) subsidies is cumbersome and time consuming.

Moreover, even after getting approvals / LOI (Letter of Intent) the subsidies are credited after long delays sometimes as much as 2 years. The interest cost for already burdened farmers keeps escalating.

Some Innovative Steps which helped the Company to Stay Ahead The first foray by the team was in 2008 with the biggest Polyhouse project in Himachal covering nearly 25,000 sq.

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meters. It failed due to misguidance on project execution and commercial viability. The team was dependent on 4 different partners (infrastructure / irrigation / planting material/ consulting) each having different interests. Agro economics and ROI made by Edge India was least priority for any entity. This failure pushed the team to go deep into the subject and manage this first hand with the aim of developing a future concept of one window solution with accountability.

Initially, the team faced many problems mainly 1) funding, 2) unreliable crop economic data, irrigation & pesticide schedules and 3) lack of Govt. support. Thanks to the following initiatives, the team revived their projects from failure to the biggest success story in Himachal Pradesh: • Inputs from the best global consultants from Israel, Holland, Italy, Japan, and California.

• Created more than 60 acres of protected cultivation projects for in different states.

• Educated farmers, using different private and government forums.

• Organized educative seminars, workshops and Participation in agro fairs • Partnered with Govt. agriculture and horticulture boards to work out ways to advance and support protected cultivation and agro economics.

Diverse Strategic Approaches Edge India offers end-to-end agro solutions including consultancy, project execution, and crop management. The organization manages its own playhouses and cultivated land and thereby has an extensive experience in farming (including floriculture and horticulture) and therefore, relies on ground experience and not just academic knowledge.

Future Aspects Given lack of government support, dwindling farm holdings and lack of viable financing, farmers in India continue to struggle as modern farming techniques are still being adopted at a very slow rate. By understanding these core issues, EDGE INDIA AGROTECH will focus on using a highly innovative approach that includes: Import Substitution of Key Agro Inputs, Commercially viable & sustainable high end modern farming techniques, Focus on high margin crops, Diversification into more agro services & products (including e-commerce), Processed food, Cold chains solutions and Agro-tourism. This will allow EDGE INDIA AGROTECH to develop the agro solutions industry holistically.

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Editorial Desk

Entrepreneurial

COS STEM T

he craft of entrepreneurship is observing creative avenues for success. People are finding their path towards entrepreneurship in new ways. Entrepreneurs put their “art” into the startup. There is no right way formulated to succeed as a startup, and that is why the people who start startups are characterized by flexibility, adaptability, and the ingenuity to do business out of an idea. Entrepreneurship does not occur in isolation or silos, but by collaboration and community and may require more than that.

Entrepreneurs throughout the world seek supportive environments that through contiguity provide collaboration, culture, and resources that encourage entrepreneurial pursuit and reward innovative mindsets.

The administration of new ventures gets strongly influenced by something much higher than the business itself: the surrounding ecosystem. Essential constituents which are fundamental for a start-up success encompass appropriate talent, solid marketing strategy, funding of startup and the most important is the supportive government ecosystem with better policies, laws, and regulations. Without them, it's uncannily difficult to start a business. To thrive, entrepreneurship needs a supportive ecosystem of compromising factors ranging from infrastructure to financial access to supportive government policies. A government is the single biggest enabler for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, play a vital role in ease of doing business and supporting companies to start and expand.

The big question is, what exactly is an entrepreneurship ‘ecosystem’, a perfect blend of attitude, resources, and infrastructure? An article published in 2010 by Professor Daniel Isenberg from Babson College helped to boost the awareness of the concept. Isenberg outlined various constituents for the totality of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. According to Professor Daniel, ecosystem should be built on regional conditions.

Expand existing industries and build on their foundations, capabilities, and skills instead of trying to launch high-tech industries from scratch.

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Beginning a new company is the easy part, and successfully expanding it is the challenge. The primary focus should be on encouraging sustainable, growth-oriented and innovative firms not just cultivating more start-ups.

At the center of an entrepreneurial ecosystem typically there is at least one, and usually many,’large established businesses,’ with important management functions as well as undertaking R&D and production activities.

These firms will also be rich in technology.

They play important roles in strengthening the ecosystem. They are ‘talent magnets,’ hiring large numbers of skilled employees, and many of them are recent graduates, irrespective of their field. They provide necessary training to their workers and allow them to advance up the corporate hierarchy. It is through this procedure that staffs who were initially hired for their technological know-how acquire management skills to become technology managers.

This exemplifies a propitious resource for small firms. They are also a source of new businesses as few of their staff will leave to start their own company.

Government plays a decisive role in cultivating enterprise and innovation.

Their role is to direct the public departments and agencies to focus on the problem and develop effective policies. It makes a good economic reason for governments to implement policies that encourage business growth since most of the business being conducted by new entrepreneurs. The major five ways in which government can have the highest positive effect are by making capital more accessible, promoting entrepreneurship, facilitating business education, protecting intellectual property, and reducing regulatory burdens.

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Banks never directly engage or interact with entrepreneurs, and they help ďŹ nancial markets mature and indirectly impact the entire value chain of investing which makes them relevant for the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Bankers make a lot of money investing in somewhat later stage technology companies, which in turn increases the conďŹ dence of early stage investors that if their investments grow, they would obtain the capital to fuel their expansion.

Most of the leaders are unsure about exactly how to start creating the programs, policies, and culture to draw out the entrepreneurial spirit that almost always is lurking beneath the surface. Leadership programs like BEEP are must in every region. The Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project is directed by Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice Daniel Isenberg, a renowned authority on entrepreneurship around the globe, and a former Harvard and Columbia Business School professor, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. It stimulates and supports entrepreneurship, fostering an entrepreneurship ecosystem in which development oriented entrepreneurial businesses can thrive.

Today, it’s crucial to understand the best practices in fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems, which helps inform the participatory and democratizing potential of technology. In turn, that can lead to widespread adoption of digital technologies and services accompanied by a global surge in economic development.

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Expert’s view

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he irony of Indian Agriculture is evident from the fact that 59% of the population is engaged in Agriculture and its allied industry and contribution of Agriculture and Allied sector to GDP is only 16%. Low yield, quality of output and profitability are the biggest challenge among farmers in India.

Despite having the highest cropped area in the world, our productivity in key crops continue to be far behind average global productivity.

The green revolution increased the productivity considerably but the yield have become stagnant in recent years, resulting in a significant decline in the income of farmers. Most farmers have poor Crop production knowledge due to non-access to dependable sources of information. Resource Constraints are also increasing - Land is becoming more fragmented & Water is becoming scarce. Out of 190 Mio Ha cropped area, only 89.3 Mio ha area is having irrigation facility, remaining 100.7 Mio Ha area is still dependant on rains.

Availability of Finance is another

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issue. A Large chunk of farmers are still dependent on unorganized finance sector leading to high interest rate on credit. This reduces farmer's profitability to large extent.

Usage of Crop protection chemicals is low in India. Average consumption of pesticides in India is only 0.6 Kg/ ha which is far below average consumption of pesticides in various countries like UK & France -5 kg/ Ha, Korea & USA - 7 Kg/ Ha, Japan, China and Taiwan 12, 13 and 17 Kg / Ha. This leads to huge amount of losses to pests. Another issue is post harvest losses. Upto 16% of Fruits and Vegetable production gets perished after harvest during transportation, storage, handling and never gets consumed.

The Govt. has taken up the initiative of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022.

If we want to boost stagnated agricultural growth a shift has to be made, as finance minister Mr Arun Jaitley said in parliament, from food security of the nation to income security of the farmers.

A transition is happening in India from a production-led agriculture to demand-driven agriculture. Agriculture in the past primarily catered to shortages because there was not enough food, but now we are moving to a multi-consumer segment based, demand-driven agriculture. To cater to this type of agriculture, number of innovations are happening in Agriculture which will give boost to production, quality and also to farmers’ income. These are also providing opportunity to Agro-businesses.

Custom hiring It addresses the issue of farm mechanization for the small scale farmers at an affordable cost thus contributing to high yield, low labor cost, timely cultivation and higher income. Instead of buying the equipment, the farmer can rent it as per his need and convenience. Huge costs are incurred by small farmers to buy farm equipment, which put them in huge debt. Most of the equipment are not used regularly, hence purchasing those blocks the cash flow of the farmers. Zamindara farm solutions

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Mr. Sat Narain Gupta Chairman & Managing Director

About the Author S.N. Gupta is the Chairman of “BHARAT GROUP” comprising of Companies viz. Bharat Rasayan Limited, Bharat Insecticides Limited and BR Agrotech Limited. The Turnover of group Companies is more than Rs. 1400 crores.

He completed his post-graduation in the field of Economics and his areas of specialization are International Business, Overall Marketing Strategy and Corporate Planning.

He is well known for his in-depth knowledge of agriculture, agri-business and agricultural-input markets in India. He is armed with an extensive experience of four decades in the field of manufacturing of pesticides and led the group to achieve unprecedented growth and profits. He is one of the pioneers in this arena in India.

Moreover, Mr. Gupta is a Trustee and an active member of Managing Committee of various Institutions run by Maharaja Agarsen Society. He is also on Board of Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) and Member of Managing Committee of Pesticide Manufacturer and Formulators Association of India (PMFAI). He is also actively participating and contributing a lot to several other social activities.

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operates a large equipment bank which brings together the equipment suppliers and farmers. It operates on a Radio taxi model - an expert is sent with the equipment to get the farm work done as per the requirement.

Mobile platforms A revolution is going on in Rural India with ownership of Smart phones going up exponentially. This has provided opportunity to companies and Govt. to use digital platform to start host of initiatives. Combination of technology and advanced analytics create timely and useful information. Cropin’s cloud and mobile applications equip agribusiness & farmers with tools for datadriven farm management. This includes 100% farm visibility and forecast on Production, monitoring & managing crops pest & disease issue in real time, ensure quality production, procurement, compliance & traceability.

TCS has developed mKRISHI® platform to help farmers benefit from technology interventions in agriculture and allied sectors 99mKRISHI® mobile agro advisory system is a patented mobile based personalized service delivery platform. Currently, mKRISHI offers a bouquet of agricultural services such as agro advisory, best practices, alert services, weather forecasts, agricultural input aggregation, agri supply chain management services etc.

Bharat Insecticides Ltd has also launched an App called ‘Bharat Kisan App’. Farmers can get information on Safe Use of pesticide and solution to pest problems in this App. They can also contact Crop Advisor for solution to their queries.

Per drop more crop Only 47% of cultivable area is irrigated

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in India. Significant amount of water used in conventional irrigation practice is wasted as it is not utilized by plants.

Drip irrigation leads to judicious use of water resources as it is applied close to root zone of plant. It also helps in placing the nutrients at the right time in right place which leads to better utilization and significantly increasing productivity. Govt has realized the potential of drip irrigation and is encouraging farmers by providing subsidy to farmers under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana.

Linking the Markets Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched National Agriculture Market portal (eNAM) to connect mandis at pan India level. eNAM is an online inter-connectivity of e-mandis and provides farmers an electronic medium to sell their produce anywhere in India.

It is aimed at ushering in much needed agriculture marketing reforms to enable farmers to get better price of their produce.

Bhavanter At times Govt is not able to procure the produce at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Market prices fall below MSP. To avoid financial loss to farmers, Madhya Pradesh Govt has come up with Bhavanter scheme wherein farmers get the difference between their selling price and MSP on producing the receipt. This scheme is expected to protect farmers earning and reduce uncertainty.

Cold Chain include broadening focus not just on storage but on end-to-end cold chain process, modernization of existing stores, better and more sophisticated machinery and equipment, setting up of multipurpose cold storages, modern pack houses and ripening facilities, energy efficient and sustainable new storage technologies.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare have been actively involved in incentivizing setting up of new cold chain infrastructure across the country. The pan-India focus across perishable segments will ensure actualization of the Government’s commitment of doubling of farmers’ incomes and also addressing the demand-supply gaps in markets.

Made in India Agrochemicals Many Agro-Chemicals used by farmers are imported. Inspired by ‘Make in India’ initiative many Indian companies are getting into production of Technical (active ingredients) in India. More Agro-Chemicals manufactured in India will help Indian farmers get good quality Agro Chemicals at reasonable price. Bharat Rasayan Ltd (BRL) is one of the leading Technical manufacturing company in India and has a vision to provide high quality Agrochemicals at affordable price. It is adding capacity gradually.

Post-harvest India is the 2nd largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.

Upto 16% of produce is wasted across various commodity value chains on account of inefficient storage, inadequate logistics and poor postharvest management. Some emerging trends and areas of innovations in the

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Our vision is to make agriculture a farmer-friendly occupation with an ultimate objective of bringing food security

Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Dinnepu CEO

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isanRaja is a growing Agri-Tech Company, delivering innovative solutions based on Smart Farming and Automation Solutions. It helps us in energy and water conservation also provides environmental benefits in farming through their innovative solutions.

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completed his Master’s Degree from IIT in Computers Science and Engineering. Further, he entered into this career through top MNCs like Intel and Cisco. Vijay has a passion to contribute his bit to India, especially for Agriculture and Education with his technical experience.

He is a true leader with clear vision and a risk taking attitude.

KisanRaja is India’s first and the only Company that offers Climate Smart Agri Solutions, by IoT technologies under the one roof. They are working to mitigate issues like erratic power supply, reducing water table, unpredictable weather through their intelligent solutions. They are also helping farming community to reduce costs by automating irrigation, drip, fertilization and enabling the clients to access all digitalization through their mobile phones.

Vijay belongs to a remote agricultural family and has closely observed the challenges involved in framing. He envisions the benefits of taking global technology solutions to the farmers. His dream is to get the best use of his technical experience to bring in a change in the lives of farmers.

The Protagonist of KisanRaja

Unique Services Provided by KisanRaja

Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Dinnepu is the CEO of KisanRaja.

He is transforming the Internet of Things (IoT) for Agriculture industry through KisanRaja brand. He

All advanced products and solutions of KisanRaja helps to monitor and control pumps, sensors in the farms, sensors below the ground by forming an IoT network. This network

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helps Agri-ecosystem to take well-informed and intelligent decisions to conserve energy, water, and environment and to show a direct impact by reducing their operational as well as the labor costs.

“Our competitive advantage is our strength”, says Vijay Vijay says, “We were amongst the first few to enter into the agri-tech industry when mobile adoption in rural areas was not as deep as it is today. But during last 6 years of our existence, it has seen increased adoption of technology in the Agri-sector.”

• Product Leadership The team of KisanRaja has a strong product background with a wide variety of industrial experience, which helps them to build, deploy, and scale their operations much faster. The vision of the organization is to digitize Agri industry through advanced support of mobile motor controller. Their IoT solutions provide an end-to-end cloudbased solution, which is a true IoT for Agriculture.

• Channel Leadership The organization is already reaching multiple states and looking at expanding in the overseas market. They have built a network of partners through whom KisanRaja is distributing their groundbreaking products and solutions.

The company believes their solutions are unique and they provide competitive benefit for several years towards their clients. In addition to developing a distribution channel, KisanRaja is in talks with TELCO and with Government towards developing more innovative means to reach out to Farmers.

An Inspiring Journey In India, farmers are not aware of the facility of internet so it was a big challenge for the organization to introduce the IoT solution in front of the farmers. KisanRaja has designed their products to enable minimal human interaction so that it’s easy for end users to operate. Collection issues from farmers are one of the other main challenges for the organization. KisanRaja is introducing a model such as prepaid approach, tying up with other local business operators to overcome this challenge.

Vijay added, “Agriculture outputs are seasonal based and with service & solution based models that we are coming with seasonal output for farmers will impact our business model as well. On the other hand, IP protection is very critical to any business. Though, Agri-tech is the fastest evolving model, protecting IP and parallel investing in new IP creation is one of the key challenges.” Considering all challenges KisanRaja is still handling all circumstances with innovation and novelty.

The Way Ahead Vijay expresses, “Providing smart-agro solutions across various phases, such as soil nutrient, irrigation and fertilization automation, water quality monitoring and automating the complete irrigation schedule by capturing important data helps to make intelligent decisions to improve productivity, yield, and profitability through our affordable solutions.”

• Organizational Process and People KisanRaja is emphasizing on feeding the knowledge and understanding from channel partner network back into Product development; thereby continuously improving upon their offerings, driven by business objectives and vision. Their experts are striving to bring world-class technology and process excellence.

• Excellent Customer Support They have focused strongly on supporting and retaining their treasured customers, and have slowly conquered new territories, by hiring local talent and tie-up with local partners to influence the larger audience.

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Tech Powerded

Fraternization

Of

Technology &

Agriculture I

n the second half of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century, a technological revolution in farming led by advances in sensing and robotics technologies looks set to disrupt traditional farming. This technology changes forever the way farmers work. Performance of agriculture and modern farms technics work far differently than those a few decades ago, because of advancements in technology, including sensors, devices, machines and information technology.

Today’s agriculture prefers to use advanced technologies such as robots, temperature indicators and moisture sensors and GPS technology. These advanced technologies and robotic systems allow businesses to be more profitable, effective, and secure and environmentally friendly.

Background of the Agriculture Sector The first twin-rotor system combine was introduced in the year 1975. This system allowed to cut crop and separate in one side over the field. In 1994, a widely known scientist introduced satellite; it helped farmers to use this technology to see their farms from overhead and allowing them for better tracking and planning. Year 2000 was a technology revolution year; when people got to know about the use of mobile phone. Likely many people and farmers started using mobile phone which helps them to maintain communication and on the other hand it facilitated farmers to place orders for seeds, fertilizer and it provided information towards new techniques. The data revolution is helping people to take the right decision, and farmers are no exemption. New mobile applications are providing information about the variety of fertilizers, firming process and other resources which help farmers to get knowledge about farming. 2015 was the year when masses introduced with the digital platform that conveys info about data collection, agronomic modeling and local weather monitoring, which gives the idea to farmers about their fields. These tools allow farmers to plan for healthier crops and make firming strategy that is beneficial for the planet. Therefore in the current year, the major breakthrough happened in farming technology which breaks the all previous technics of farming.

Some Breakthrough Technologies are Use of Global Positioning System Mainly GPS technology pinpoints location through satellites. Just like previously tractors replaced draft horse on the farm, GPS technology also replaced eyeballing and guessing process in the farm. GPS can give farmers valuable information about

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“Agriculture looks different today - our farmers are using GPS and you can monitor your irrigation systems over the Internet,” – Debbie Stabenow which areas need fertilizer and which don't. This information can save money and ensure that only the areas that need to nutrients are getting it. GPS guided drones are performing tasks from crop spraying to livestock monitoring and creating 3D maps.

The other technology is Sensor technology; Sensor technology is basically monitoring everything like soil water content, temperature, humidity in grain silos and information about plant health.

Advantages of Smart Phone Now a day’s farmers are using advantages of the internet through their mobile phone. For the purpose to check current marker scenario, Firming related videos, agriculture news, new technologies, and invention. In the other hand, they can easily find out those applications which are specifically developed to help farmers. Not only this but also some mobile applications allow them to ask their quires to the experts and get an appropriate response.

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Harvesting with WIFI In the modern agriculture system, technology helping farmer’s to use the electronic sensor distributed process which helps them to find out different conditions; sometimes the gadgets send data to the farm server about the farm condition. This data gets analyzed automatically.

Then instruction gets passed on to the farmer which includes an appropriate dose of fertilizer, delivering the right amount of water and finding the hole punched in crop rows. These data’s are easily accessible by the farmer in tablet or smart phones, giving real time information. These advanced technologies can also monitor soil conditions i.e. nitrogen level in the soil and when to add fertilizer.

Robotic Formation in Agriculture The self-driving cars one of the latest innovation in car manufacturing industry and impact of this innovation could also be witnessed in farming. Robots and self-driving tractors are becoming very common in farming. Which helping farmer to cut cost and time by automating timeconsuming tasks done by humans.

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There are farming robots for picking strawberries and lettuce, harvesting oranges and pruning grapevines, for mowing hay etc. Many farmers still prefer using human-driven tractors while others are using highly customized and automated tractors attached to sensors and robots. That can perform highly specific tasks, such as detecting where cows have peed and treated the affected grass to stimulate regrowth. Usually, these robots are guided by highly precise GPS tracking that allows them to nimbly navigate through the narrow spaces between crop rows.

Indoor Farming According to research, Vertical farming or indoor farming is gaining popularity because the farms optimize land use in landscarce and it can operate on minimal manpower. This technic helps growers of to produce year-round including specialty crops regardless of outdoor weather conditions. But this is not as easy as indoor farming since it is very challenging to produce an ideal sunlight that optimizes growth in cramped indoor spaces. Full-spectrum fluorescent and energy-intensive technologies provide required lights in indoor farming which is very expensive. But innovations of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in recent years have provided a cheaper and better alternative.

LED has also reduced the growing time compare to the traditional lighting technology because farmers can use different configurations to maximize the wavelengths of light certain plants prefer. Hooking LEDs to timers allows indoor farmers to maximize the ratio of light to dark that can speed up the growing process. For example, certain combinations of red and blue LEDs can reduce the amount of time it takes to grow a head of lettuce indoors by up to 17 days.

The Agriculture sector is the essential sector for any countries, as a stable agricultural sector can ensure food security of a nation. It can generate employment and also contributes on countries economic growth. Technology is a magic touch in farming which can help a country to makes drastic changes in this growing sector. In the past, farmers worked hard for farming seeds but now scientist and developers introduced new technology which can reduce farmer work and make them smart and contribute to country’s economic growth.

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Tech Revolution

R. Gurumurthy Founder 36

| January 2018|

Managing User Expectations in Rapidly Changing Technology Market About the Author R. Gurumurthy is the Founder of Processware Systems and serves as its Chief Executive Ofď€ cer. He has over 20 years of expertise in managing technology projects for complex business applications. He has successfully managed the 'customer' expectations for clients large and small and applications ranging from advanced avionic simulators and aircraft 'indash' applications to helping traditional 'brick and mortar' companies develop a competitive edge by adopting the effectiveness led e-business models. Gurumurthy has extensive experiences in helping big companies and several start-up software products companies has helped to develop an application delivery model that can deliver predictable and high quality results consistently. He has Masters Degree in Engineering Mechanics and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from University of Missouri- Rolla.

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oday, Information Technology Market is changing at a rapid pace. The market has seen too many new entrants without a compelling offering. In addition, user expectations have been rapidly evolving due to extensive use of social media.

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on these platforms. No one vendor will be able to offer products in each of these areas. Hence, a collaboration amongst technology vendors in interfacing their products with each other and providing a comprehensive integrated solution will be the key to success.

The younger generation (Gen Y or the Millennial Generation) has set the acceptability bar very high for all information technology products – be it the hardware or the software. This has resulted in many failed launches of products by leading IT companies world-wide. This generation is extremely fast in adopting to various form factors of the devices and the nuances in using mobile apps or web based subscription services (SaaS). Deeper understanding of the millennial generation is one of the critical success factors.

Market Changes The cloud has been disruptive in many ways. Software companies who enjoyed large license fee for their products are today looking for subscription based revenue.

Subscription revenues dwarf the license revenue. This is evident by looking at the constant decrease in total revenue for Software Product companies.

In this article, we will explore some of the factors which will drive the industry forward in meeting increased expectations from end users.

Customer Centric Design Many companies would develop products in isolation, without really understanding the needs of the customer.

This is more relevant in B2B market, where Enterprise Segment is always difficult to penetrate compared to B2C market. In India, it is difficult to get a true feedback from initial sample set of enterprises. Hence, it is always prudent to get the end customer involved during the development phase of the product. Software products, today are far more complex and needs to interface with a variety of other existing systems in an Enterprise.

Hence, involve the user early in the product development process. Technology, many a times may not be a good indicator of what the user wants. Deeper understanding of customer behavior and their needs are key to a successful product.

Collaborative Approach In the current market environment, no one company can address all the problems faced by the user. Hence, it is critical for enterprises to collaborate with each other, leveraging mutual strengths and complementing their offerings. This approach has been extremely successful in western markets, where even large technology companies collaborate with smaller companies and establish a viable eco system in the market.

Given the pace of technology changes occurring in the market in the form of IoT, Cloud and Mobile devices, every enterprise will be looking for radically new solutions based

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It takes a lot of effort in terms of time and money to keep the cloud going. Round the clock availability of infrastructure comes at a price. With the increased expense on a recurring basis and reduced revenue, Software product companies have entered a new era of reduced income.

Going forward, this will be the norm rather than the exception, since most of the end users are looking at Subscription based access to software. Gone are the good old days of fat license revenue at the time of installation of the product.

The cloud computing era is here to stay and will dictate the future innovations in information technology. The sad truth to this is very few companies in each sector can survive, since it does require a critical mass of customers to support the costs involved in making applications available round the clock. The Cloud also increases the responsibilities for the vendor to manage the data in a secured manner and archive them as per regulatory norms. All these increased activities results in additional expenses.

Challenges Ahead There are many challenges ahead for Information Technology companies. The future solutions will all invariably consists of both hardware and software. The dawn of IoT devices will result in increased interaction between the hardware and software. This will force many new relationships in the market place between traditional hardware players and software vendors.

The increased use of IoT in all aspects of business and life will need a completely new set of solutions which are all real time making it attractive for the millennial population, who loves instant results. The amount of data being collected by IoT devices will run into petabytes. Companies who develop deep skills in mining these vast packets of data and transforming them into intelligence, will see huge success in the market place.

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The Developing Era

The 4

Disruptive Trends to watch

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ndia is a dynamic ecosystem, where every organ of the society is doing one thing or the other to grow the nationhood. The Government is taking bold steps to change how things are done to better the lives of the citizens. The masses are taking up the task to contribute their values either as an already established business or even as a start-up. This makes the nationhood a fertile land for investment. The belowhighlighted are the key areas through which the Government of India has devoted specifically to help her citizens grow in industry values and morals.

Government found it necessary to improve their digital platforms and to enable the people to access resources even from their doorsteps.

The term: E-Governance initiatives are taking a better shape as the leading body believes in continuous growth through the accessibility of the Government provisions.

The Government of India intends to make her services available to the citizens electronically by providing an improved online infrastructure and ensuring that the Internet connectivity attains a greater height. The Government in a shorter note wants an India that is digitally empowered and technically motivated to help the system grow across all industries. The more digital India is becoming, the more economically independent her people will be.

A highly connected ecosystem can be highly innovative and India will set the example right for the world to see in 2018.

Make in India – Make it in India to Make it Better If every organ of the nation grows economically her people and even the government will be motivated to try new things. To ensure that every part and people of India are growing uniformly, especially across the global industry and also to attract foreign investments, the Government of India took the initiative to motivate her people to develop their products from scratch within the nation. This development is believed to gear the growth of India's nationhood and to improve her economy to a high percentage and especially in 2018.

Smart Cities – The Friendly Society for Sustainable Growth Continuous growth is a factor that dignifies innovation. The strategic step to redevelop India, with components such as retrofitting, Greenfield development and large area beautification will make the Indian cities the envy of their neighbours. Smart Cities Mission is going to make India a very citizen friendly and sustainable place to live.

Digital India – A Highly Inter-Connected Ecosystem Equals Seamless Growth The leadership of India and her people are always seeking ways to uplift their society by improving their knowledge of economic strategies. To achieve this and make it a reality, the

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When an environment is pollution-free, oxygen abundant and feasible with transportation amenities, the nationhood will be proud. This will boost the health-state of the citizens with emotional balance and in turn give people reason to work for the better development of their homeland. With such spirit in the people, there is no limit to their abilities and the growth of the nation with fewer burdens on the Government.

Startup India – Working Towards Innovation and Development If you have something new to offer to the industry, the Indian Government is ready to help you. Startup India has been in the market since 2015, as announced by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his 15 August 2015 address from the Red Fort, in New Delhi.

A Government whose plan of action is to help and motivate her citizens to be creative is capable of growing the next world best economy. Since the inception of this initiative, it is obvious that the industry is experiencing a tremendous growth. The most interesting thing about this development is that it is not going to leave the system anytime soon; rather the Government and her citizens are bringing more creativity to the industry. The benefits of this initiative are going to not just innovate

highly in 2018, but it wills revolute how the people offshore see the big picture of India now and in the near future.

The growth of Startup India in 2018 is based on these three principles: Simplification, Handholding and Funding Support, which has the potential to change India far into the future. The Indian Government and her people are working towards development geared by commendable innovation. It is worth the watch after in 2018.

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Converting waste into Energy

Nirmala Kandalgaonkar Founder

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n recent times, the society has been more concerned about the environment and is much more aware about its activities and the impact resulting from these activities on the environment. The issue of Solid Waste Management (SWM) is a challenge throughout the world, in both developed and developing countries. The world’s urban population reached 2.9 billion in 2000 and is expected to rise to 4.2billion by 2020, which will lead to a faster generation of solid waste. The managing of this huge volume of waste effectively is a challenging problem. These wastes needs to be properly managed which means proper storage, collection, transportation, treatment and disposal in a way that minimizes risk to the environment and human health.

For the purpose of city waste management and sustainable development, Vivam Agrotech is a proprietary firm in the field of solid waste processing developing several innovative technologies aid Solid Waste Management.

VIVAM is into the business of converting waste to energy,

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by leveraging processes of Composting, Vermicomposting, Mechanical Compost and Biogas and in Municipal Solid Waste Management for last ten years. The company specializes in Municipal solid waste treatment plants for power generation and has deployed Biogas plants from 4 Kg to 40 tons waste per day. It is also an authorized technology holder of Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai for Biogas Generation Plants. VIVAM is now expanding the technologies in abroad as well, including Kenya and South Africa.

The Fate of the Waste The overall rural set-up was more use of pesticides and chemicals and a total apathy to the Mother Earth. Vivam changed the traditional method of making ‘khad’, modified the whole process and made it user-friendly. The company now deploys solutions for waste management in both the fields – Biogas and Compost. Vivam is capable of manufacturing and providing all capacity waste-

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‘‘

management plants ranging from 500gms to 500tons of wastes per day.

VIVAM has developed a scientific method, “Swarup Vermicomposting System”,for manufacturing vermicompost. It is a very simple and scientific instrument for manufacturing vermicompost from any organic waste such as farm waste, Municipal organic Solid Waste etc.

VIVAM has also developed automatic machines for composting which requires very small place and are most suitable for metropolitan cities for waste processing up to 1000 kg per day. The Biogas Plants are the first portable and ready-to-use plants in the world; molded in tough piece by state-of-the-art process manufactured from LLDP nontoxic material, free from any adulteration, chemically resistant, blended with stabilizers, anti-corrosive and antiacidic, absolutely smooth and sanitary, chemical resistant, blended with stabilizers, designed especially for semi-urban and rural areas to produce Gas from organic wastes.

The Visionary Eco-Feminist In the wake of economic liberalization and globalization, businesswomen in India are proving themselves in every niche of entrepreneurship. Here we talk about the woman, who works endlessly to implement policies and enact change to preserve and protect our environment – Nirmala Kandalgaonkar. Mrs. Nirmala is the Proprietress/Chairperson of Vivam Agrotech founded in 2001. Under her leadership, the company has now become a full-fledged solid waste management company renamed as VIVAM Solid Waste Management Pvt. Ltd., and provides consultancy along with technology solutions such as vermicompost, biogas and mechanical & bacterial composting, and power generation from biodegradable waste.

It was difficult for the housewife-turned-entrepreneur to change the existing ideas and come up with new ones.

Initially she conceptualized a simple combination for the business, which needed less capital and less technology, no education and age limit, less cost raw-material and the nearby market. Today, Mrs.Nirmala has extended her realm and the business is expanding with projects being initiated in six states of India. With a capital investment of Rs. 50,000/- Vivam has today reached the turnover of 5 crores with her able guidance.

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Mrs.Nirmala is actively associated with various industrial and academic associations. Being an active social worker since young age, it’s been her policy to give jobs to social help groups (SHGs), whenever possible and well suited, in Vivam Agrotech’s scope of work.

Mrs. Nirmala’s work has been appreciated by many social institutes as well as corporates by giving her various awards. Most prestigious among them are ‘TATA TiE STREE SHAKTI Award as National Woman Entrepreneur 2009’, ‘Punya Ratna’ 2013, ‘Avani Mitra’ 2010, by Talvalkar Trust, Pune, ‘Chankya Award 2014’ PRCI, Mumbai, ‘Emerging Excellence 2014’ Maxell Foundation, Mumbai, and ‘Women Super Achiever Award 2015’ by World Women Leadership Congress.

Celebrated Capabilities & Accomplishments Vivam’s core competency is in the area of products & processes for environment mitigation measures from MSW, bio-solid wastes, animal poultry & slaughtering activities and contaminated water bodies. The company comes-up with new innovative processes for handling, treatment and processing of MSW through composting, fuel pellets, biomethanation and bio thermal route. It also prepares DPRs on integrated SWM, Tendering process and PMC and executes the detoxification processes of contaminated soils, bioremediation of old MSW dumpsites. Another strongpoint is its alliances for user ship of MSW derived products.

Vivam has also worked with All India Institute of Local Self Government for preparation of project report of city waste management system. The company individually prepared detailed project reports for more than 120 MUNICIPAL COUNCILS and for 3 Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra as per MSW RULES 2000.

Vivam’s approach is focused on project execution and its O&M on sustainable basis, hence pose no extra financial burden on ULBs. Most important thrust area is manpower resourcing, training and development that ensures successful O&M of projects.

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