Agri-tech as a career choice
A day in a recruitment manager’s life
December 21, 2021
Present hiring outlook in India and the future of work:
December 21, 2021
Agriculture is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. Fortunately, India acts as the second largest agricultural land in the world. The demand for healthy food increases day by day. Rise in population every year will cause a serious food shortage problem by 2030. Solving this problem is the need of the hour.
We are aware of the fact that the agriculture sector makes a significant contribution to the Indian economy. Nearly 50 per cent of the Indian rural workforce is employed in Agriculture. However, there is a steady decline in this number due to various problems. Also, the contribution of agriculture to Indian GDP is reducing year-on-year. There are several reasons for this trend namely:
- Urbanisation
- Less profit/no profit/no ROI
- Wastage due to transportation
- Rapid climate change
- Very less shelf life of agriculture produces
- No proper marketplace
- Lack of exposure towards government schemes//funds/subsidy
- Middlemen
On the positive side, some of the above problems are being solved and addressed by Agritech startups. Agritech is the use of technology in agriculture to increase the yield and profitability. In 2016, over $3Bn was invested in the agriculture sector worldwide.
These technology startups are creating new jobs within the agriculture sector. Over the past few years engineers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have shown more interest in Agritech space. More than $35 million was invested in various startups in 2017. There is enough scope for investment and growth in this space in the coming years.
One of the major challenges for these Agritech startups would be talent attraction. The traditional middle-class population have not developed a mindset to accept permanent jobs in the agriculture sector considering the current pathetic condition of farmers in India. The education ecosystem in India is not producing enough employable engineers and graduates for the growing Agritech space. However, engineers from various premier institutions in India are founders, co-founders and investors of various Agritech startups.
A list of promising Agritech startups
- Ravgo
- Aibono
- CropIn
- Goldfarm
- Flybird innovations
- Crofarm
- Triton Foodworks
- Bighaat
- Kamal Kisan
Some of the job roles in Agritech startups are listed below
- Software/App/platform developers – to develop online mandi/stores/marketplaces
- Mechanical/Civil engineers - for enabling vertical/terrace farming
- Data Scientists - for data-driven forecast/Advisory/prevention control measures in farming
- Chemical/Agrochemical engineers - for pest control/decrease the wastage of crops
- IOT/LTE/Wifi/Network engineers - for communication between various devices/sensors/equipment etc.
- Agri-Analytics/Decision scientists - for better yield
- Drone designers/engineers - for capturing images/monitoring/irrigation etc. After fintech and food tech, agritech seems to be a more promising space for new jobs and growth. Recruitment firms should seriously think about developing and attracting manpower for the agritech space. The government is taking necessary steps to increase the income of farmers and entrepreneurs. The Ministry of agriculture in India has taken steps to generate funds and improve the agritech startup ecosystem in the country.
