Agriculture, as an age-old profession, is still in a nascent stage when it comes to adapting to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and deep learning. Even though AI is being hailed as the holy grail for uncertain events, its application is limited in the agricultural sector. As agriculture is a holistic process, stretching from choosing the right crop to guessing the market price of the produce, farmers often are at their wits ends when markets go berserk. All that they need is good returns on investments, something which even well-intentioned Governments cannot ensure. AI-enabled solutions that can predict market fluctuations, and product prices sourced through data-centric methods by Agri tech companies are making the farming profession desirable. Unnati, one such AI tech platform, is into providing a wide range of services to farmers helping them fulfill their entrepreneurial aspirations. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Amit Sinha, Co-founder, of Unnati.

1. Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

Unnati is integrating technology into the agriculture sector with a vision to empower farmers with a platform that goes beyond input purchases and output linkages to also connect them with credit services and offer farm and crop knowledge along with predictive diagnostic tools.

Agri input retailers/small traders play a central role in the agricultural value chain by helping farmers with products and services needed to grow their crops and business. These include seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, nutrients, equipment, and technology. The Unnati team's technological expertise and business intelligence platform act as a one-stop solution for retailers/small traders, which helps them streamline business processes and provides better payment methods and supply chain management of inputs per the understanding of demand.

Creating a 'tech backbone' for its stakeholders, Unnati converges the end-to-end process – from pre-harvest guidelines to post-harvest services and even provisioning credit to farmers – to a single platform. Our value proposition lies in providing a platform that includes agri-inputs, farmer output, and credit lines. We also extended services like an AI platform that focuses on information on agronomy and a knowledge platform that is a knowledge bank for crops and products offered. Our overarching goal is to improve and uplift the lives and livelihoods of farmers throughout the country.

2. Mention some of the awards, achievements, recognitions, and clients' feedback that you feel are notable and valuable for the company.

Unnati has registered a 3x growth in revenue year-on-year, alongside a 4x GMV growth. Additionally, we now have a 46K+ eStore network which has witnessed a 3.5x growth from last year. Today, we have over 9 lakh farmers registered on our platform and have geographically expanded to 7+ states and 150+ districts.

3. Kindly mention some of the major challenges the company has faced till now.

Some key challenges we have faced are streamlining supply chain issues and infusing technology into Agri stakeholders' day-to-day operations.

4. How do you plan to revolutionize the Indian/US market, and what are your plans to tap the market?

We want to build on our existing ecosystem with new technologies like drone-based services. We are also looking to expand our geographical footprint, making the foray into rural regions, to reach more farmers and elevate their livelihoods.

5. How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

Tech integration and digital solutions are assisting farmers and other stakeholders in the agriculture industry increase efficiencies when it comes to managing operations and market linkages. New-age, tech-led players are empowering farmers with the knowledge required to solve soil issues to supply chain gaps. By introducing better irrigation practices and reducing wastage, such platforms can help farmers unlock better yields and income. 

Innovative solutions have brought information to the palm of their hands, and farmers can now use their smartphones to get accurate information on knowledge around crop monitoring, climate resilience, and price control. Tools like computer vision and deep learning can further help them stay abreast with soil and crop health, best practices for cultivation, genetic engineering of seeds, and much more. We offer simple, user-friendly digital solutions that help farmers make climate-smart agricultural decisions. This goes a long way in ensuring that environmental impacts on crop yields are reduced.

6. What is your Leadership Mantra?

It's simple. Connect with others with empathy and lead with compassion.

7. What are some of the challenges faced by the industry today?

Despite the significant evolution of the agriculture sector, certain challenges continue to hinder its optimal growth. One of these key roadblocks is the informal and unorganized nature of the sector. For instance, farmers continue to face hassles in input purchase, credit access, output linkages, and acquiring adequate knowledge about their industry.

Another reason for existing challenges is that the industry, in general, was one of the last ones to embrace tech disruption. As such, farmers do not have access to technologies that can assist them with forecasting unpredictable weather changes and aligning their growing activity accordingly. Fortunately, the sector is now leveraging innovation and deploying the best practices to address and overturn these challenges, once and for all.