Agricultural Technology (Agritech)
Agricultural Technology or Agri-tech for short is the combination of agriculture and technological innovations for bettering output in agriculture. In agritech, technology is used to develop and programme machines that can improve all aspects of agriculture, using fewer resources for higher yields. Agritech encompasses various technologies such as AI and IoT along with many other applications.
Increasing Market And Demand
The global AgriTech market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.1% from $17,500 million in 2019 to more than $41,000 million by 2027. The market potential of AgriTech in India was over $2.4 billion and is expected to hit $24 billion by 2025 with more than 1000 start-ups contributing a GVA of 56% in FY2020. By 2025, experts estimate that it may be worth $35 billion.
It has attracted entrepreneurs, engineers, and venture capitalists over time. Moreover, between 2017 and 2020, this segment has grown at a CAGR of 53%, increasing from $91 M in FY2017 to nearly $330 M in FY2020. The agriculture area (Agri space) is currently building efficient teams and systems, hence generating new employment opportunities. Multiple job roles could be developed by agritech companies to help close the technology gap between farmers and technology.
Several factors make Agritech a non-negotiating industry:
The immediate necessity for innovation:
- Feeding an Expanding Population: Our global population is increasing rapidly, placing enormous pressure on existing agricultural systems. Agritech offers solutions to increase food production and meet the demands of a growing population.
- Resource scarcity: Our resources are threatened by climate change and environmental degradation- water shortage, unpleasant weather patterns, and soil depletion pose considerable hurdles. For example, new forms of farming such as vertical agriculture and precision farming can assist in feeding more people with fewer resources.
- Labour shortage: The agricultural sector is experiencing a declining workforce of on-ground labourers. Startups in Agritech have introduced robots and automation solutions to fill this gap and improve farm productivity.
Technological advancements:
- Ripeness for Disruption: Agriculture has been the most essential sector of all centuries. However, it didn’t receive the technical support compared to the other sectors. Sensors, powerful AI systems, and data analytics are creating an enabling environment for innovations in this industry.
- Technology Convergence: When discussing agritech, we don’t refer to a single technology but rather its fusion from various fields. It’s hard to imagine that just ten years ago converging robotics, AI, big data, or IoT would open doors to life-changing solutions.
Investment and market opportunity:
- Emerging Market: Shortly, the global agritech market is expected to reach trillions of dollars which will be invested hugely by venture capitalists as well as the industry leaders. This fuels the growth of agritech startups that are creating solutions with high commercial potential.
- More Awareness: Today, customers are more worried about food safety, eco-friendliness as well as traceability. This explains why investors and the public have become interested in agritech start-ups that address these concerns while promoting farm-to-table transparency.
Overall, agritech is a developing startup trend due to its ability to provide revolutionary solutions for vital problems using innovation. Entrepreneurs and investors alike thus stand a good chance of making it big in this market since the field has great potential for improving food security, resource use, and farming efficiency.
