BHUBANESWAR: The Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department in association with Social Alpha, a non-profit organisation supporting science and innovations, organised a workshop in the city on Sunday to accelerate technology adoption in agriculture sector.
The technologies showcased were accompanied by farmers who had used them firsthand, allowing the participants to directly learn about their experiences and the impact the innovations have made.
The workshop showcased five agri-tech startups Khetworks, Capsber, Steupify, Terracroft, and Ekosight. Each of their solutions was presented alongside field insights, farmer testimonials from Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada and Dhenkanal, as well as demonstrations.
In addition, Hi-Tech Nursery, supported by Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives, was featured as a successful model for decentralised seedling production.
Director, east zone, Social Alpha, Ayan Deb emphasised that over the past four years, they have piloted 17 agri-tech solutions across Odisha. Five of them have successfully completed the pilot stage. Many of these innovations have reached over 7,000 rural households and the long-term goal is to move from programme-based scale to institutional, government-driven scale.
Additional secretary, department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Subhranshu Mishra, emphasised the government’s commitment to inclusive technology.