By: Manoj Kumar Singh, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh is the fourth-largest state in India – with 238.9 million people living there, it is one of the most populous states in the country. The state’s economy is largely driven by its agriculture sector, which contributes 25% to its gross domestic product.
The state maintains a prominent position in the country’s overall production of horticultural crops.
Smallholder farmers are pivotal to the state’s agricultural sector, with approximately 92% of them relying on horticultural crops as their primary source of income.
Despite their significant contribution to the state’s development, smallholders face challenges such as limited access to resources (land, finance, inputs), market connections, and a low level of technological literacy.
While technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and the internet of things have emerged to transform agriculture supply chains, farmers often lack awareness of such technologies and the knowledge to integrate them into farming activities effectively.
Industry-government collaboration
The government of Uttar Pradesh recognizes the importance of smallholders and is committed to promoting a sustainable and efficient agriculture system.
The state government is actively working to position Uttar Pradesh on the global stage through strategic, result-oriented initiatives focused on infrastructure development, opening export promotion hubs, encouraging private sector investment, and promoting good agricultural practices across the state.
In line with this commitment, the state government, in partnership with the World Economic Forum as its knowledge partner, set up an export promotion council known as the Digital Agriculture Export Promotion Council (DAEP) in August 2023.
The council’s vision is to boost smallholders’ incomes and streamline strategically identified crops in specific geographical clusters through a package of practices, agritech services, and better market connections. The identified crops are potatoes, mangoes, spices (turmeric and garlic), and green peas.
The council comprises 18 senior leaders from the government and private sectors. It offers strategic guidance on the state’s agri-related challenges and promotes agritech services to smallholders.
Turning vision into action-oriented outcomes
Following a series of roundtables and discussions, six private companies have partnered with the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Department of Horticulture and Food Processing to transform value chains in the state and double the exports.
Additionally, three agritech companies have partnered to offer technical expertise and knowledge support to five high-tech nurseries in Varanasi, Meerut, Bhagpat, Bulandshahr and Bareilly.
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To give some context, the government of Uttar Pradesh has planned to set up 150 hi-tech nurseries across 75 districts in the state. These hi-tech nurseries, set up in collaboration with Israel, aim to provide farmers with quality saplings and seeds to increase the production of quality crops.
The plants produced in these nurseries are sold to local farmers, farmer collectives, and private nurseries, both state and national.
The private sector is actively mobilizing farmers through meetings within their allocated hi-tech nurseries to raise awareness about their importance and other issues, such as selecting quality inputs, implementing precautions and managing nutrition, diseases and pests.
Until now, approximately 2,000 farmers in five locations have actively participated in training sessions, demonstrating strong engagement and commitment to improving agricultural practices.
In terms of state export promotion, it has achieved a 46% increase in exports, contributing substantially towards the council’s goal of doubling exports.
Unlocking state investment potential for agritech
Alongside groundbreaking initiatives such as forming the DAEP council, the Government of Uttar Pradesh participated in the Forum’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to highlight the state’s investment potential.
The Uttar Pradesh delegation presented and positioned itself as an attractive investment destination in food processing, renewable energy and infrastructure.
Following the multilateral discussions at Davos 2024, the private sector expressed significant interest in transforming the state’s economy through various innovative initiatives.
Given the complexity and diverse stakeholders in the agriculture sector, working in silos can limit our efforts to support smallholder farmers. A public-private partnership model allows pooling resources, expertise and infrastructure, leading to actionable and impactful outcomes.
In collaboration with the Forum, the Government of Uttar Pradesh can leverage a public-private partnership model to effectively support the state’s smallholder farmers and contribute to food security.
AI is another critical sector in which Uttar Pradesh looks forward to collaborating with the private sector to ensure that AI for social good is deployed across critical sectors, including agriculture, health, and education.
The formation of the DAEP council exemplifies a collaborative effort between industry and government counterparts, who are partnering to create an enabling environment for the effective adoption and scaling of agritech solutions.
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