DISQcovery 2024 - Innovate for Agriculture
Digital Impact Square and Sahyadri Farms are launching a joint call ‘DISQovery 2024’ looking for young innovators and entrepreneurs with transformative and innovative ideas who want to turn an idea or a concept into a successful social enterprise and are willing to commit for the next 12-18 months to further their cause in Agriculture Sector.
CALLING FOR INNOVATIONS
Innovative solutions, ideas with a strong focus on affordability, accessibility, efficiency, and user experience across the agriculture value chain. We invite innovators and entrepreneurs that are focused on working on any of the following challenges faced by the agriculture sector.
The agriculture sector in India gives livelihood opportunities to more than 50% of the country’s workforce, but accounts for an average 18% of the Gross Domestic Product in the last 20 years. More than 86+% of the Indian farmers own less than two hectares of land and are categorized as ‘Small and marginal Farmers’. ‘Small and marginal Farmers’ are under immense financial stress despite increasing farmers’ income as the key priority of the Government as a part of the agricultural development strategy’. Low income of farmers, magnifying the need for impactful development interventions in the agriculture sector.
Digital Impact Square is looking for innovators and entrepreneurs with transformative and innovative ideas, technologies that address a set of challenges faced by the small and marginal farmers, farmer producer companies and farmer collectives In India. Selected Innovators and entrepreneurs will be part of DISQ JAN 2024 Cohort for their journey for creating sustainable and scalable social enterprises in Agri-Tech.
‘DISQovery Jan 2024 Cohort- Agriculture’, is a joint call for applications by DISQ & Sahyadri farms in partnership with CinI.
• Sahyadri Farms (One of the most successful farmer producer company in India)
• Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI, A Tata Trusts initiative)
Our aim is to create an enabling Agri ecosystem for innovators and entrepreneurs developing solutions for small and marginal farmers, farmer producer companies and farmer collectives in order to help them become more productive, profitable and empowered in the following area but not restricted to –
1
Crop Value Chain
Track 2 - Address challenges in adopting new crop varieties to meet global standards.
Track 3 - Promote transformative solutions for sustainable, profitable agriculture value chains.
Track 4 - Upgrade grading and sorting for better quality in horticulture and cotton value chains.
2
Agriculture Allied Activities
Track 2 - Explore potential Agri allied interventions in Agri-tourism
Track 3 - Encourage innovative solutions that enhance income from agriculture-related industries, such as processing and export.
Track 4 - Explore initiatives that enhance rural livelihoods
3
Transforming Waste-to-Wealth
4
Harnessing Agriculture as an Energy Source
5
Empowering Producers
Track 2 - Explore solutions to improve the yield of cotton in drought prone regions to enhance farmers' income.
6
Empowering Farmer Collectives
7
Financial Access and Credit Availability
8
Post-Harvest Loss Management and Value Addition
Track 2 - Reduce post-harvest losses within the agriculture value chain..
9
Farm-Level Productivity and Profitability
Track 2 - Explore farm mechanization solutions for more efficient farming practices.
10
Circular Economy and Reverse Logistics
Track 2 - Efficiently collect, aggregate, and transport waste, discarded, or end-of-life produce in an optimized manner.
11
Climate-Resilient Agriculture
Track 2 - Develop tools and practices to help farmers adapt to climate variability through improved land, water, crop, and livestock management.
12
Market Access and demand Predictions
Track 2 - Promoting better value addition, processing, and export opportunities.
Track 3 - Promote solutions that predict market demand and trends with greater precision.
Track 4 - Empower farmers and stakeholders with easy-to-use tools for informed decision-making regarding crop production and marketing.
13
Value added products
Track 2 - Promote innovative solutions for creating value added products from Horticulture crops and cotton
Track 3 - Encourage the creation of value added products that cater to diverse consumer demand while boosting income for farmers
Track 4 - Enable sustainable and eco-friendly practices in development of value added products focusing on quality and market.
14
Enhanced Crop Estimation
Track 2 - Prioritize user-friendly methods that can be adopted widely, regardless of technological access.