i-Hub set up in Hyderabad to bolster use of farm technologies

Hyderabad: Use of technology in agriculture will lead to higher productivity. Basing on this, Telangana State has partnered with Icrisat for setting up innovation hub (i-Hub) at the latter’s premises on Monday.

Similar to T-hub in functioning, the newly launched incubator will nurture startups working in agriculture and related fields. The objective is to promote use of technology in agriculture to get better returns for farmers. The new facility has 40 seats and can accommodate 10 to 15 companies, depending on the number of desks they take.

Speaking at the launch, Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said that farm productivity in general is not in line with interventions offered to the sector. He said the Government offers free power and water, subsidy on seeds and fertilisers, lower interest rates on farm loans, crop insurance and others.



‘Agriculture is turning non-remunerative for farmers,” he said adding this is one of the reasons why youth are not oriented towards agriculture as a career.

In India, about 60 per cent of the population depends directly on agriculture for livelihood and another ten per cent on the allied areas. However, agriculture’s contribution to the GDP ranges from 15 to 17 per cent. This contrasts with the situation in the US and other economies where two per cent of the population depends on agriculture for livelihood but the sector contributes more than 15 per cent to the GDP.

“Benefits of technology advancements should reach the common man. Many farmers do not have access to fruits of new research. Most of the farmers in the State are small and marginal and they are not in a position to adopt large scale mechanisation,” Rao pointed out.