Improving livelihoods of marginal and small land holding farmers

Agriculture is crucial for India’s economy, supporting over 70% of rural households. The Agri-Grand Challenge (AgGC), led by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and IKP Knowledge Park, aims to boost farmers’ incomes by identifying and speeding up the adoption of technology-driven solutions, especially for small-scale farmers.

This two-stage grand challenge program aims to identify and fast-track ‘ready to deploy’ and ‘scalable’ technologies/solutions – including products, services, business models and integrated solutions in the agri sector – to help boost farmers’ income especially those of marginal and small landholding farmers.

Initially, 10 promising technologies have received funding and support for six months for field testing through Deployment Partners. Based on their performance, five technologies will be selected for further large-scale testing in different agro-climatic zones and on various crops.

To ensure broad impact, the selected technologies are tested with small and middle landholding farmers. AgGC provides entrepreneurs with expert mentorship (technical and business) and connects them with commercial partners to refine, validate, and rapidly deploy their solutions, accelerating their development, scale-up, and deployment.