CHANDIGARH: Thirteen countries are set to take part in India’s premier biennial agro-technology and business fair, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Agro Tech 2016 on November 20 that will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee along with Israeli president Reuven Rivlin.
The fair will feature advanced technology and agricultural innovations from the participating countries. It will also host 40 agri start-ups along with 69 young student-scientists who have offered innovative solutions for the agriculture sector.
CII vice president and vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises Rakesh Bharti Mittal said, “I am happy to share that for the first time in the history of Agro Tech, since its inception in 1994, two heads of the states- President Pranab Mukherjee and Reuven Rivlin, president of Israel, are coming together to inaugurate CII Agro Tech 2016 on Sunday.’’
“AgHack 2016, an agri hackathon will see participation of students from Agri Universities, Agri start-ups, management and business institutions, as well as engineering colleges of repute. These young minds will face the challenge to come up with business ideas to solve issues impeding agricultural performance in India,’’ said chairperson, CII Northern Region, Rumjhum Chatterjee.
“Nearly 69 students between 18 and 30 years from agricultural universities, IITs, IIMs, ISB and other Institutes have already registered and will be participating in the twenty-hour hackathon,” said Chatterjee.
“For the first time, young entrepreneurs and innovators will have an opportunity to showcase their technology. The participants will also get a chance to pitch their ideas before a distinguished jury to mobilise funding and secure potential incubation opportunities. A wide spectrum of technologies related to ICT solutions, sensors to ascertain soil moisture and temperature conditions for efficient irrigation, drones and bio mimicking to improve human capacity in farming, virtual marketplaces and platforms for easing of trading in agriculture, advanced cold chain and transportation solutions and advanced farming methods – hydroponics and aqua-ponics will also be on display,’’ said Mittal.
“CII has also scheduled a focused discussion on ‘Doubling of the Farmers Income by 2022’. The objective is to come out with a roadmap and clear action plan for all the stakeholders to work towards achieving the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the farmers’ income in next five years,” added Chatterjee.
The India-Israel roundtable on precision agriculture will see seven delegates of Tel Aviv University and Volcani Centre appraise the gathering on leveraging Israelian technology and expertise in the Indian industry. A technical workshop with Germany on “Challenges and Solutions for Comprehensive Straw Management” and a session on “Empowering Women to Unlocking Africa’s Agricultural Potential” will also be held at the fair.
The three day event will witness participation from 92 domestic participants from fifteen states and 47 foreign exhibitors from as many as 13 countries are participating.