HUBBALLI: A startup incubated at Hubballi has succeeded to raise Rs 8 crore funds from agritech focused venture capital investors. A newly started startup enables farmers to conduct soil tests of their agriculture field in just 30 minutes and the result will be shared on their mobile phones.
For a good yield, farmers are supposed to get tested soil of their farming land to know nutrients in their soil. Otherwise, they have to blindly use a fertiliser that spoils solid fertility and also affects the groundwater table in that area. There is nearly 30 crore farming population in the country, but there are only 4000 soil testing laboratories in the country which are not sufficient to get tested soil.
Focusing on the issue, rapid automated soil testing, and agronomy advisor startup ‘Krishitantra’ set up by Sandeep Kondaji in Udupi in 2017 and began its soil test activities in many parts of Karnataka in 2019. Within a year the firm raised Rs 8 crore fund from two agritech focused ventures.
Sandeep Kondaji, CEO of the startup said, "If the farmer comes to know about soil nutrients, he/she can use the required amount of fertiliser and save 15-25 percent money. Due to a lack of soil testing laboratories, many farmers are not getting the facility at the local level. There are laboratories set up by the government and private players also which take one to four weeks to give soil test results."
"Keeping this issue in mind, they have come up with Krishi Rastaa (rapid automated soil testing and agronomy advisor) equipment that gives soil test results within 30 minutes. Our startup incubated at Deshpande Startups which helped to get a huge market," he said.
For the agronomy advisor, the firm tied up with local agriculture universities and now works in five states of south India. After getting the raised funds, it will expand to the entire country and aim to reach out to each and every village.
The firm trains farmer producer organisations (FPO) and micro-entrepreneurs in village levels. After the training, they will give two equipment to each trained person who can test soil at the village level. He added that after the soil test, SMS will be sent to the registered mobile number of the farmer in their regional language and farmers can follow the advisories of local agriculture varsities to grow crops.