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manufacturing company in Source: AgNext Technologies accurate prices for their pro-
early 2004, he visited the local duce and greater incentive to
mandi in Shahjahanpur, Uttar “Our breakthrough proprietary improve their farm practices AgNext
Pradesh. What he saw there solutions using AI, Spectral Science, for better quality crops. For received
changed him immeasurably. Computer Vision and IoT Sensing businesses, this technology the Best
“I saw a farmer and his young are changing the approach of helps save money and increase AgriTech
son come to sell their produce agribusinesses towards procure- profitability because now they Startup
on a bullock cart. I remember ment, trade, production and know what they are paying of India
seeing the arhitiya (middle- consumption of commodities like for. Finally, for consumers, we award from
man) pushing them away say- milk, tea, grains, animal feed and ensure quality by accurately the Union
ing their produce lacks quality spices. Further, this also helps ascertaining whether there are Agriculture
after barely looking at it. For companies to have regional and adulterants or not,” he explains. Minister,
the next six days, the father farmer-wise quality estimations, in Being at IIT Kharagpur incu- Narendra
and son stood in the sun and turn enabling companies to provide bation center gave the startup Singh Tomar,
rain waiting for the arhtiya to traceability solutions to consumers.” access to a significant talent during the
buy their produce. They even- base in the field of computer Outlook
tually had to sell it to him at a Taranjit Singh Bhamra vision and molecular analy- Agriculture
fraction of the cost. Seeing the CEO & Founder sis, through which the team Conclave
middleman break them in this AgNext Technologies was able to harness new age & Swaraj
manner hit me hard because no devices and artificial intelli- Awards
technology existed to accurate- has become a tool with which gence-based methodologies to 2020.
ly ascertain the value of their process data.
produce and a family’s liveli- traders and middlemen exploit
hood was being determined on Qualix – a game-changing
very dubious grounds. But I did farmers. “Thus, they have no technology
not have any money or influ- AgNext has been a category
ence at the time to help them,” incentive to improve their innovator, providing a technol-
shares Bhamra. ogy platform called 'Qualix' for
practice. For food processing rapid commodity assessment
Addressing the issues solutions across procurement,
By the end of 2016, AgNext businesses, traders, and other trade, production, storage, and
Technologies got founded in consumption of food and Agri
Chandigarh and the start- allied players in agri-commod- value chains. The Qualix AI
up was also incubated at engine uses spectrometry, com-
IIT-Kharagpur. AgNext has in- ities, this is a bigger concern puter vision, and IoT Sensing
novated a technology platform solutions, delivered through
for agribusinesses aiming to because they are purchasing an integrated hardware and
solve the problem of food qual- software interface for accurate
ity to accelerate transactions millions of tonnes from farm- and instant quality analysis.
and build sustainability. Its “Our technology has the abili-
breakthrough proprietary solu- ers without any proper quali- ty to instantly test trading and
tions using AI, Spectral Science, safety parameters for grains,
Computer Vision, and IoT Sens- tative assessment. Finally, for oilseeds, tea, spices, coffee, milk
ing are changing the approach and animal feed, particularly
of agribusinesses towards pro- consumers, this is obviously a at the procurement stage. Fur-
curement, trade, production, ther, this also helps companies
and consumption of commod- problem because of concerns to have regional and farm-
ities like milk, tea, grains, ani- er-wise quality estimations,
mal feed and spices. surrounding adulteration,” in turn enabling companies to
In his eyes, the biggest concern provide traceability solutions
in Indian agriculture is the lack points out Bhamra. to consumers. Also, this en-
of trust in key transactions ables companies to pay farmers
starting at the procurement Such interventions have the based on fair-trade practices
stage where produce is assessed and the right quality of com-
on subjective grounds. Over the highest propensity for absorp- modity they are bringing in for
years, this mode of assessment procurement, increasing trans-
tion of technology in agricul-
ture value chains, and both
buyers and sellers alike bene-
fit by imbibing the technolo-
gy. “With the right technology
in place, farmers can obtain
www.mmindia.co.in | 45March-April 2021
