Farmer High Income Programme using advanced agri technologies

Getting marginalised farmers to start significantly earning higher incomes requires simpler ways of diffusing advanced agricultural technologies, fair business models and access to high impact finance.

First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) Impact Project: Farmer High Income Programme

In this unique initiative, the key endeavour is to enable much higher livelihood for farmers using advanced technologies. This is enabled through the following key processes:

• Identify suitable technologies that increase farming yield

• Make the technology accessible, affordable and available

• Establish the first-commercial demonstration project

• Demonstrate growing of multiple fruits and crops

• Achieve commercial viability

• Establish forward market linkages

• Create a farmer training programme

• Use advanced financial instruments such as green-bonds to scale the technology up.

Technologies used:

1. Hydro-membrane

The hydro-membrane technology is sourced from Japan with the rest of the climate controlled greenhouse fully indigenised. The technology replaces soil as a growth substrate and enables farming on any surface.

Salient Features

• Hydro-membrane technology sourced from Japan

• Replaces soil as a substrate to grow food, and enables “anywhere” farming

• Reduces water consumption by upto 80%

• No pesticides at root-level

• Zero virus and bacteria environment

• Zero agricultural run-offs.

• Technology indigenised by cGanga/ETV/Bharatia by establishing country’s first hydro-membrane farm in Pune, India

• Technology deployment cost reduced significantly by over 60%.

Scaling Up

• The programme aims to scale up the technology to over 500 hectares by December 2025.

• This would generate a direct high-income employment for over 10,000 farmers

• It would further create an additional 3000 jobs in areas such as transport, maintenance, training and sales.

• Estimated capital requirement of USD 600mn, to be achieved through an Agri-impact bond.

Climate-controlled greenhouse established in Pune, India over a 0.5 acres. The greenhouse utilises the hydro-membrane technology to produce a range of crops such as strawberries, cherry-tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, peppers (coloured capsicum), lettuce and others.