Agriculture Challenge organized in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Center
Agriculture Challenge organized in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Center
Two Maharashtra-based agri-tech start-ups, both led by women, grabbed the top two spots in The/Nudge Institute and Cisco Agri Challenge, organized with the support of the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Central Government.
Out of 844 applicants, S4S Technologies, a food preservation company powered by solar drying technology, emerged the winner and was awarded ₹1 crore. The company has impacted the livelihood of farmers by helping them increase their income by more than 50%.
Runner-up BioPrime AgriSolutions works to help smallholder farmers around the world combat crop loss, temperature fluctuations, drought, resilient insects and diseases through the use of biomolecules, life-friendly chemistry, smart materials and energy. Is. It won a prize of ₹25 lakh.
According to a 2020 report by EY, the Indian agri-tech sector is projected to grow to $24.1 billion by 2025. In line with this, Cisco and the/Nudge Center for Social Innovation collaborated to launch the challenge in 2020.
Sudha Srinivasan, CEO, The/Nudge Center for Social Innovation, elaborated on the challenge and said, “The Cisco Agri Challenge has harnessed talent, technology, capital and resources to meet the nation’s most pressing land, crops, infrastructure, market fulfillment and Draws attention to issues of social security, small farmers, driven by the pandemic.”
The winner, Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder, S4S Technologies, said, “I am accepting the award on behalf of our women farmers, team, partners and customers. We lift others up—with any of our victories. In the end, our smallholder farmer benefits.”
Renuka Dewan, Co-Founder, Bioprime AgriSolutions, said that it is incredible to have two women entrepreneurs in Agritech as winners.
After screening 844 applications and shortlisting 25 startups, the challenge went on for an 18-month mentorship, grant-in-aid, and jury-assisted monitoring and evaluation exercise by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). Subsequently, the eight semi-finalists were given a grant of ₹15 lakh each. The winner and runner-up were felicitated by Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Agriculture, Government of India.