Uttar Pradesh: Agriculture startups can help increase farmers’ income, insist experts

LUCKNOW: UP produces 20% of India’s foodgrains. It is number one in wheat, number two in paddy and ranks fourth in pulses production. It also accounts for 36% of sugarcane, 34% potato and 30% vegetables grown in the country. But when it comes to number of agriculture startups, the state needs to devise a proper policy framework.
On the sidelights of these facts that came to fore on the closing day of World Bank and UP government conclave on putting UP on the path of sustainable and equitable growth, stakeholders in the sector deliberated on the need to enhance the knowledge of farmers through effective policy changes and interactions so that they open up to ideas that reduce input cost, increase return of money invested and simplifies their work.
In one such session, experts and agri-startup champions from Uttar Pradesh discussed challenges that prevented farmers of UP from reaping the benefit of the startup ecosystem in a session moderated by Gaurav Srivastava, consultant, World Bank.
The panel comprised Shayam Kumar, manager, incubation IIM, Lucknow, professor of economics and dean academics, Jaipuria, Lucknow, director, food and agriculture foundation, Amity Lucknow and Onkar Pandey, manager, programmes and partnership, Social Alpha.
They listed farmers’ skeptical mindset towards new technology as a primary problem.
Then they noted that the role of farmer related organisations was limited to availing subsidies and advantages of available schemes rather than sensitising farmers.