Read your work Sir. I am a city slicker rural manager in a Eastern India metro city. I am new to AgriTech in India and that too in theory not in practice.
Your views 😍 on AgriTech reached me at an opportune time and I am sharing it with two of my superior officers who will add value to it.
Agtech is mostly a fad, a hype which has not been able to deliver at the ground level. Although the sector would have attracted talent due to the hype, the reality is that it has not been able to benefit farmers at scale. More so in developing countries. By that I mean, farmers have not benefitted by an increase in their income or reduction in losses. The problems in agriculture are much more deep rooted, than people in the agtech sector would have imagined. Some of the B2B agtech companies may survive though. But that can't be said about B2C companies. Only time will tell. Once the funding dries up completely, the story will be over.
Alright, this needs more discussion. Great overview Nathan. I am not an agronomist or a grain farmer but I have worked with hundreds over many years, including the early adopters of compost and foliar plant nutrition to replace commercial crop inputs. My understanding is that the end game is to restore the fungal:bacterial ratio, and before that hurdle is crossed, neither commercial biological nor fungal soil amendments on their own will effectively replace chemical fertilizer. Yet, all I've seen on the market from these big-funded new biological products are either bacterial or AMF strains on their own.
Based on what I've seen is possible with compost and foliar N, I wouldn't spend much time listening to sales pitches for new biological products.
Everything in ag is so interesting!!
Read your work Sir. I am a city slicker rural manager in a Eastern India metro city. I am new to AgriTech in India and that too in theory not in practice.
Your views 😍 on AgriTech reached me at an opportune time and I am sharing it with two of my superior officers who will add value to it.
Agtech is mostly a fad, a hype which has not been able to deliver at the ground level. Although the sector would have attracted talent due to the hype, the reality is that it has not been able to benefit farmers at scale. More so in developing countries. By that I mean, farmers have not benefitted by an increase in their income or reduction in losses. The problems in agriculture are much more deep rooted, than people in the agtech sector would have imagined. Some of the B2B agtech companies may survive though. But that can't be said about B2C companies. Only time will tell. Once the funding dries up completely, the story will be over.
Alright, this needs more discussion. Great overview Nathan. I am not an agronomist or a grain farmer but I have worked with hundreds over many years, including the early adopters of compost and foliar plant nutrition to replace commercial crop inputs. My understanding is that the end game is to restore the fungal:bacterial ratio, and before that hurdle is crossed, neither commercial biological nor fungal soil amendments on their own will effectively replace chemical fertilizer. Yet, all I've seen on the market from these big-funded new biological products are either bacterial or AMF strains on their own.
Based on what I've seen is possible with compost and foliar N, I wouldn't spend much time listening to sales pitches for new biological products.