Message - S. Rajendra Prasad

In India agriculture is more a ‘way of life’ than a ‘mode of life’. More than 50 per cent population of the country are engaged in Agriculture, thus making it as the single largest source of employment. Agricultural start-ups in India are still at a nascent stage, with > 300 agripreneurs trying to solve multiple emerging problems in the Indian agribusiness ecosystem. Globally, agricultural technology start-ups are prevalent in agriculture biotechnology, online farm-to-consumer, farm management software, sensor based farming and IoT, robotics, mechan

ization equipments, food safety, phyto remediation’s, biodegradable materials (plastics), bio-energy and traceability, etc. Enormous amount of innovative solutions are required to overcome the challenges in Indian agriculture and to make it globally competitive and to sustain profitably. New inventions are required to reduce the drudgery of farm women, make operations more effective, efficient crop management, post-harvest management, value addition and chain management. The machinery, equipments and technologies must be used by small & marginal farmers so that they are able to double the production and their income. Several opportunities are there for developing innovative solutions using IoT for farm management, dissemination of market information and marketing. Taking cognizance of all these avenues. UAS (B) established the Agri. Technology Incubation Society to facilitate the interested clientele with innovative ideas, to interact with experts and convert their ideas into products, commercialize them by initiating start-ups and contribute to agriculture development and welfare of farming community. I request all the aspirants to make use of the services of AIC to innovate, promote agricultural development and prosper.

Dr. S. Rajendra Prasad
Vice Chancellor, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore