MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

AgriSmart

One-line solution summary.

AgriSmart relies on IoT technology and real-time data to empower farmers with the knowledge to remove information asymmetries, thereby making farmers better informed producers, and opening wider markets for them.

Elevator pitch

What is your solution?

Agrismart relies on IoT technology, AI/Machine Learning, and mobile application software. This comprises of specialized equipment, wireless-connectivity, software and IT services.

IoT technology is being implemented all across India, but there's been little application in terms of educating farmers to make better economic decisions. In a 2020 study (https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/iot-adoption-indian-agriculture-2020-landscape), NASSCOM found that almost 90% of existing IoT solutions focus on pre-harvest operations and not on post-harvest operations, including the transport, sale, and supply chain logistics of agricultural produce.

Agrismart aims to leverage existing smart farming infrastructure, and enhance it through a three-pronged approach that enables real-time harvest and financial insights to drive data-driven decision-making in India’s agricultural sector. This includes:

-AI chatbots (virtual agents) that assist farmers with advice and recommendations on not only crop conditions, but also the best time to sell their products and at what cost.

-Digital collaboration platforms for agricultural buyers and sellers to connect with each other, and a central knowledge database to exchange the latest farming techniques and best practices.

-Digital access to financial instruments including microloans and crop insurance, that give farmers the financial-tools they need to increase productivity.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

In August 2020, volatile protests emerged across India in response to the recently implemented Farm Bill. The farmers’ cause for concern was understandable - they believed that the new laws would lead to the deterioration and end of the mandi system - a centralized and regulated market in which farmers sell their crops. This would make them vulnerable to exploitation by large retailers.

From an economic point of view, the farmers were concerned about information asymmetry - when one party has more information than the other in a transaction - which can result in business imbalances and even exploitation. Even in the current situation, many farmers depend upon local traders and middlemen to sell their produce, often at throw-away prices. Generally speaking, farmers lack comprehensive knowledge of the market demand and going price for commodities in their region. This information asymmetry puts them in a financially precarious position, and many spiral into inescapable cycles of debt.

Information is power, especially in the increasingly digitized world we are moving towards. Currently, India’s farmers rely too heavily on their instinct and experience, rather than real-time data insights. AgriSmart strives to correct this imbalance caused by information asymmetry by arming farmers with up-to-date information, not only when it comes to monitoring their crops, but also about the market, best price for their commodities, and knowledge about insurance and loan schemes for which they are eligible, enabling them to be more resilient in the face of unexpected circumstances, weather patterns, and natural disasters.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

The primary beneficiaries of AgriSmart are India’s farmers, which, according to various census data, number somewhere from 37 million to 118 million. (https://thewire.in/agriculture/indian-agricultures-enduring-question-just-how-many-farmers-does-the-country-have). These farmers stand to benefit in terms of crop yield, land productivity, more equitable compensation for their produce, and greater access to financial tools as they unlock the value of their land.

India’s agricultural sector is plagued by reports of farmer suicides, linked to poverty and inescapable debt cycles that trap farmers. To not only escape these debt cycles, but also help farmers ride out unforeseen circumstances and mitigate risk, they need access to financial tools such as crop insurance and government-subsidized loans with reasonable interest rates and conditions. While these tools exist, many farmers are unaware of how to access them. AgriSmart would provide farmers information about the different financing tools and insurance options for which they are eligible, based on landholdings and value. In a future iteration of the product, it could also pre-fill application information for farmers, to expedite the process.

If farmers are empowered with access to financial instruments, they are also able to ensure greater crop yields and productivity. This, in turn, has implications for the larger population. According to recent figures, agriculture contributes to 20% of India’s GDP (https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/agri-share-in-gdp-hit-20-after-17-years-economic-survey-75271). With rising concerns about climate change and water scarcity, ensuring food security through a robust, self-reliant agricultural sector becomes a top priority for India as a nation.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

Approximately 60 percent of the Indian population works in agriculture; however, agriculture's contribution to the India GDP is only about 18%. No one in India is unaware of the farmers' problems and hardships or of the ever-increasing Farmer suicide rates

I was made to understand these problems better while taking part in an internship with a tech company called M2M cybernetics which is based in Gurgaon in India. With them, I contributed to an IoT based smart agriculture project they had been working on. I took part in surveys with farmers living in nearby areas and met with them and understood their problems.

I also observed the real life pilot testing of the smart agriculture machine with the m2m team in real farmers' fields. After seeing this in application and meeting with them and observing their conditions and how they live, as well as doing individual research on the internet to know more about what these farmers go through, I identified a problem and developed a solution for it.

I also recognised that this could be implemented in unison with the smart agriculture project that m2m was working on as an additional finance stack so I reached out to them again. We're currently working on implementing this stack into the machine so that the farmers have all the tools they may require throughout the whole agricultural cycle-from monitoring their crops to monitoring crop prices -all in one place.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Improving financial and economic opportunities for all (Economic Prosperity)

Our solution's stage of development:

Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

AgriSmart is currently being developed as an add-on stack to an already existing machine I previously worked on with M2M.

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Team Lead:

I, Kian Nagpal, am the team lead for this solution.