Agro digitisation paving way for sustainability

Hyderabad: By providing real-time data on soil health, crop conditions, and weather patterns, farmers can make more informed decisions, and the entire agricultural value chain is impacted, paving the way for a sustainable future, said GC Shivakumar, Country General Manager, East-West Seed India, headquartered at Nonthaburi in Thailand.

He was speaking in a webinar titled ‘Digital Agriculture Economy - Propelling the New Growth Curve’ organised by East-West Seed India, World Trade Center (WTC) Shamshabad, and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands.

On the occasion, Shivakumar said: “We have collectively envisaged this series of virtual webinars that aim to foster progressive thinking and dialogues around pivotal issues in agriculture. The theme highlights the integration of advanced technologies into the agricultural sector to increase productivity, efficiency, and sustainability.”

This transformative approach is reshaping the traditional agricultural landscape. Shijo Joseph, Group CIO and Head of Strategy & Transformation at East-West Seed Global, moderated the session, in which, nearly 300 persons actively participated from across India and Thailand. Dr.Venu Madhav Margam, Vice President, Kalgudi, said, “The power of digital has immense potential to revolutionise rural social commerce including benefitting small scale producers and rural women. Digital enablement, especially of rural collectives such as Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Women Self Help Groups (SHGs), is an effective means to reap collective benefits by achieving scale. Forward and backward market linkages through e-commerce can potentially decrease their operating cost and better price realisation on their outputs, ultimately increasing their incomes significantly.”

Prof Prakash Nagabovanalli B Dean, College of Agriculture, GKVK, Bengaluru, said: “The Digital Agriculture Economy is a dynamic and rapidly evolving sector that is revolutionising how we produce, manage, and distribute agriproducts. We need to orient our students to be future-ready in digital agriculture technologies, which leverage data analytics, satellite imagery (image analysis), and sensors to enable farming. Farmers can now make data-informed decisions about inputs, soil fertility status, sowing/planting, irrigation, fertilisation, and pest control. This leads to optimised resource utilisation, increased crop yields, and reduced environmental impact.”

Deepak Pareek, CSO of Suumaya Corporation Limited, said, “Digital technology empowers smallholder farmers, cultivating innovation in agriculture. It bridges knowledge gaps, boosts productivity, and transforms livelihoods. Embracing it, they reap a digital harvest of prosperity."