We hear about drones, IoT, satellites and blockchain being thrown about rather liberally out there as a savior for indian agriculture. How much is this gas?  Governments going gaga, startups mushrooming courting bureaucrats and investors with fancy presentations and projections, media gushing with platitudes and hyperboles, its a crazy scene.  One might go blind with all the sunshine pumping about tech.  Lets take a peek and see what has potential now, and what might be still far away. Drones:  the govt of india does not allow drones beyond line of sight and drones with payloads. so drones cannot fly far, and they cannot carry any pesticides or anything for spraying on fields.and they wont allow both for a while, as they have some serious security issues that arise. rogue drones could fly anywhere if beyond line of sight is allowed, and installations, institutions, public places, venues and ports like airports don’t have any anti/counter-drone neutralizing capabilities. and those are very expensive at the moment.  carrying payloads also presents challenges as they could carry toxic chemicals and could be dropped anywhere. more closer to farms, spraying from drones could drift to neighbouring fields and damage those crops.  who is liable then?  lastly the business model for running a drone operation by a village entrepreneur is unviable at the moment. what if the costly equipment malfunctions? requires spares? whats about skillset to maintain? is there power in rural india to charge the batteries for continuous operation.  more on a separate post on this.…

Here we will be talking about a wide range of topics pertaining to our people, our focus, our programs, our impact and on the wider world highlighting relevant advances in technology and health in the context of agriculture and more specifically for maharashtra agriculture. We are excited for a new beginning at the Trust,  the opportunity to work with farmers and pitch in wherever the gaps exist.  No change happens overnight, we are aware of that, and it takes years of persistence, hardwork and discipline to effect change and outcomes, so we are grounded for the long haul.   With climate change, agriculture has been impacted very harshly to state the obvious. when rain that use to be spread over months now happens in cloud bursts over few days, when thundercells pop up rather unpredictably, hail falls randomly and temperature swings more common, we are in for a ride.  in these times, with disease outbreaks happening more, with pests getting aggressive, frequent and vicious, the health of all our actors and stakeholders is affected, its imperative we focus on their resiliency for survival and success. This is will be our underlying theme along with an urgency to act with solutions for our audiences, our small land holding farmers, landless laborers, women and micro entrepreneurs, all whether they be on-ground and/or online.    More on the next diary.  Again, welcome to our blog, and we really appreciate your reading it, any feedback, yays and nays as well.