Future of food production: How agritech can solve the great Indian agrarian crisis?

Contributing to about 15% to India’s GDP, the agricultural sector sustains almost half of the country’s population. With more than 265 Mn people engaged in farming, India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. However, India still has a long way to go in terms of exporting the ‘produce’.

A research by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) revealed that India only exported produce(fruits and vegetables) worth USD 1,342.14 Mn in 2020.

This is alarming because the Indian share in global exports is merely 2% for horticulture produce, and a major constraint being the inability to meet the quality requirements for export.

Non-conformance to Quality

In 2019, the European Union (EU) issued border rejection notifications for 147 Indian consignments while the US rejected a total of 1,674 consignments, citing health risk and pest infestation – a common issue faced by Indian food produce, particularly fresh food products. 

Border rejection of consignments is one of the critical issues faced by Indian exporters. This not only leads to food wastage but also makes India lose market share to exporters from other countries. 

India is the highest producer for mangoes in the world. It produces nearly 40.48% of the world’s total share. However, in 2014 import on mangoes were banned by the EU due to presence of fruit flies. Similar bans were seen on other produces including grapes, okra, peanuts, curry leaves, chillies, rice, and tamarind in global markets such as the US, Vietnam, EU, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Bhutan.

Farmers/ retailers use traditional methods, i.e.,  based on their experience, they judge the quality of the produce and anticipate how long it will take before the produce ripens and rotts. This method leaves room for inaccuracy and errors rendering entire consignments useless by the time it reaches the destination.

Meanwhile, fruits like Kiwi, Alphonso etc., are difficult to judge based on look and feel as they maintain consistent external texture throughout their life. 

Another critical factor here is the World Trade Organization’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that encourages member countries to recognize each other’s conformity assessment systems based on international standards so that products certified in one country are accepted without the need for further testing by other countries. 

Indian exporters are left at the mercy of international regulators, as importing countries do not recognize India’s export inspection and control processes.

India’s Policy to Improve Food Export

It is worth noting that the Indian government has taken steps in this direction in their latest export policy. 

Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 notes that Krishi Vigyan Kendras will be involved to take export oriented technology and create awareness among farmers about export prospects. This policy aims to double farmers’ income by 2022 —by increasing agricultural exports from India and integrating Indian farmers to the global value chain.

Another initiative, Farm Producer Organizations (FPO) is an institutional innovation to help small holders overcome scale disadvantages and extend their reach to modern technology and distant markets. 

Agritech: The Answer to Export Related Issues

Agritech has come up with quick, non-destructive, and accurate testing methodologies. Market has spectroscopy and IOT based handheld devices which enable:

A. Measuring food safety in terms of nutritional value, biotic and abiotic contaminants, moisture and sugar content, acidity, soluble solids, shelf life etc.

B. Measuring quality in terms of external factors like ripeness, texture, appearance, uniformity, firmness, maturity, and freshness.

C. Applications that provide suggestion and traceability and can be used for better and informed decision making.

D. Exporters/Farmers at their end can easily within seconds test their fruits and vegetables without having to transport it to labs.

E. Testing of fruits and vegetables that cannot easily be judged by look and feel.

The ‘lab in a pocket’ kind of solution can be standardized across the globe to achieve consistent quality merits. This will help importing countries achieve faith and recognize the testing procedures of the exporting country. 

Without a clear assurance and proof of quality, a farmer that produces superior variety runs the risk of getting lost in the international market. It is in this context that traceability provided by technology becomes the key to build trust between producer and procurer. A better, more transparent export cycle will also help reduce the entry barriers for new players to enter export market. 

In addition, India should focus on the quality of produce in the domestic markets so there is more incentive for processors and farmers to invest in quality.

In Conclusion 

The Covid-19 induced pandemic has globally strengthened people’s sentiments towards fresh and better quality food. We need to make the most of available technology to be at par with safety and quality standards that importing nations are demanding. 

Agri-tech can be a newfound opportunity to bring back glory to Indian farmers and help them ramp up their contribution to India’s GDP.