Founded with a field-first philosophy, SK Natural Farm (SKNF) is working at the intersection of agritech, capacity building, and sustainable farming to ensure that technology serves farmers’ realities rather than abstract innovation goals. From drone-based services and training to DPR (Detailed Project Reports) consulting, sustainability advisory, and agri-infrastructure support, SKNF focuses on making advanced tools practical, compliant, and usable in real farming conditions.
In this conversation with Agrotech Space, Adil Jamal, founder of SKNF reflects on a journey from a non-agricultural background into hands-on work with farmers, institutions, and regulators. The discussion explores the role of regulation in building credibility, the integration of technology with natural farming principles, and SKNF’s evolving role as a connector between farmers, knowledge institutions, and agritech systems.
Agrotech Space: What experiences in your earlier career prepared you for the shift into agritech?
Adil Jamal: Before agritech, I spent years translating complex technology into solutions people could actually use. My earlier career trained me to work in environments where problems were rarely textbook-defined. Whether it was teaching someone to adopt a new system in a rural setting or rolling out field-ready tech, I learned that empathy and observation are as important as the tech itself. That’s exactly what farmers need when introducing drones or precision tools on their land.
Whether it was dealing with operational inefficiencies, user resistance, or unpredictable field conditions, I learned how to break complex problems into practical solutions. Agritech demands the same mindset, technology only works when it adapts to ground realities, and that ability came directly from my earlier experience.
Agrotech Space: How do you work with farmers to build confidence in new technologies and move them from hesitation to regular use?
Adil Jamal: I like to think of it as storytelling through demonstration. You don’t just tell a farmer a drone can save money, you show them a plot where it already has. We start small, let them experiment, cheer their successes, and slowly the technology moves from curiosity to habit. It’s like planting a seed and nurturing it until it grows roots.
We never start with technology, we start with listening. Farmers hesitate not because they dislike innovation, but because past experiences have made them cautious. By understanding their cropping patterns, risks, and previous failures, we position technology as a support system, not a replacement for their knowledge. Confidence builds when farmers see results, not slides. We focus on live demonstrations, side-by-side comparisons, and small pilots on their own fields. Once a farmer sees measurable improvement, better spray coverage, cost savings, or time reduction, hesitation naturally turns into repeat use.
Agrotech Space: You reached out to Krishi Vigyan Kendras across Uttar Pradesh to run free, Why KVKs, and what gap were you trying to fill?
Adil Jamal: KVKs are the community’s trusted neighbors in agriculture. By partnering with them, we could bring technology into spaces where farmers already feel safe asking questions. The gap wasn’t just awareness, it was confidence. Farmers could see, touch, and try drones themselves, transforming skepticism into curiosity, and curiosity into adoption.
Agrotech Space: Working with Bihar Agricultural University, what did you learn on the ground?
Adil Jamal: On the ground at Bihar Agricultural University, I realized that every field tells a different story, different soil, different water access, different farmer priorities. It taught us that technology isn’t plug-and-play. To be effective, it must be tailored, practical, and guided by real-world observation. That changed our approach from pushing tools to co-creating solutions with farmers.
Agrotech Space: Can you share an example where farmer or partner feedback led to a change in service design?
Adil Jamal: Early on, farmers told us that manuals and flight guides were overwhelming. So we flipped the approach, visual, hands-on learning, local language guides, and real-time field support. Adoption jumped, and it reminded us that technology must be translated into the farmer’s language, literally and figuratively.
One early lesson came from drone spraying trials. Technically, everything was correct but farmers kept saying, “We don’t know what the drone actually did.” So we changed the service model. Instead of just completing the operation, we started doing
pre-spray explanations, live demonstrations, and post-flight walk-throughs in the field. We also adjusted timing to match farmer availability rather than operational efficiency. Adoption didn’t improve because the technology change, it improved because trust and visibility increased.
Agrotech Space: Looking ahead, how do you see the use of drones evolving in Indian agriculture, and which applications will create the most real value for farmers over time?
Adil Jamal: Drones are moving from shiny gadgets to everyday tools. Precision monitoring, pest and nutrient mapping, yield prediction they’re all game-changers. But the real magic happens when drone data feeds into actionable advice, helping farmers make proactive decisions rather than reactive ones. Drones will move from “spraying machines” to decision-support tools.
The real value will come from crop stress mapping, early pest detection, input optimisation, and documentation for traceability and insurance. Spraying saves labour, but data saves crops. Over time, drones will help farmers apply less, earlier, and more precisely, which directly improves margins and sustainability.
Agrotech Space: How have regulations related to drones, field operations, and farmer training influenced the way SK Natural Farm designs and delivers its services?
Adil Jamal: We’ve embedded compliance into every service, from flight protocols to training, which not only keeps us legal but also reassures farmers. Safety and trust are prerequisites before technology can deliver impact. Regulations forced us to slow down but in a good way. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms around certified pilots, training, and safety pushed us to invest in structured training and compliance from day one, instead of running informal demos. We built services assuming regulation would tighten, not loosen. As a result, farmers now see us as a legitimate agricultural service, not a temporary experiment. Regulation shaped discipline, and discipline built credibility.
Agrotech Space: What structural gaps continue to slow agritech adoption in India, and how is SK Natural Farm working around them on the ground?
Adil Jamal: Our approach is like providing stepping stones, free pilots, local partnerships, and ongoing guidance. Farmers can experiment without fear, learn by doing, and gradually step into full adoption. It’s slow, but it’s steady and it works. The biggest gaps are not technological, they’re institutional and behavioral. Farmers lack local support, reliable advisory follow-up, and confidence that tech will still work after the demo. To work around this, we anchor adoption through local institutions like KVKs, create repeat exposure rather than one-time pilots, and train local youth so technology stays within the community. Adoption happens when farmers see continuity, not novelty.
Agrotech Space: Natural farming is often seen as separate from technology. How do you bring agritech tools into sustainability without diluting ecological principles?
Adil Jamal: We see technology as a magnifying glass for nature, not a replacement. Drones can apply bio-fertilizers efficiently, monitor crop health, and optimize water usage, tools that respect ecological balance. It’s about amplifying nature’s potential, not overriding it. We treat technology as a measuring and monitoring tool, not a replacement for natural processes. Drones help us observe patterns, soil moisture variation, crop health differences, not override nature. When tech reduces chemical misuse, optimises bio-inputs, and prevents unnecessary intervention, it actually strengthens natural farming. Sustainability fails only when technology is used blindly; it succeeds when tech is used to listen to the field.
Agrotech Space: Assessing SK Natural Farm’s services, drone training, DPR consulting, sustainability, and infrastructure advisory, how successful have they been?
Adil Jamal: Success is like a harvest. It’s not just the yield, it’s the empowerment behind it. Farmers are making data-driven decisions, experimenting with new techniques, and seeing tangible results. Tech adoption is steady, business outcomes are measurable, and most importantly, farmers feel in control. That’s the true harvest we’re after. Success for us is when farmers ask better questions, demand transparency, and make informed choices whether or not they choose our services. Our work has helped connect farmers, institutions, regulators, and service providers, creating a more informed and collaborative agri-ecosystem.
Agrotech Space: Do you see the role of platforms like yours evolving to become part of a broader feedback and engagement ecosystem?
Adil Jamal: Absolutely. Imagine a living network where farmers, universities, and technology providers continuously exchange insights. Problems are solved faster, advice is more precise, and innovation is co-created. That’s where platforms like ours become catalysts for a smarter, connected agricultural ecosystem. The future platform is not just a service provider it’s a two-way learning system. Farmer observations, field outcomes, and seasonal patterns should flow back into service design, advisory, and policy dialogue. We see ourselves becoming a bridge between farmers, researchers, regulators, and technology providers, where field reality continuously shapes innovation.
Agrotech Space: If you had to carry one lesson from the field into every future decision at SK Natural Farm, what would it be?
Adil Jamal: Always start with the farmer. No technology, advisory service, or plan matters if it doesn’t fit the farmer’s reality. Every decision from design to deployment must grow from listening, observing, and building trust in the field. Never design from the office. If something works on paper but fails in the field, the field is right every time. Farmers may not use technical language, but their feedback is always precise. Our job is not to convince them to adopt technology; it’s to earn the right to be trusted by aligning innovation with their lived reality.