Highlight the challenges faced in realizing the potential of digital agricultural economy. Discuss the role of public-private partnership (PPP) in this regard.

Digital Agricultural Economy DAE involves the use of new age technology - mobile technology, remote sensing services, distributed computing, online access to information and so on. Potential of DAE: → Transform agricultural operations - data led, data driven → Increase production & productivity of DAE → Boost SMART Agriculture → Reducing operational cost, losses → Streamlining multiple technologies, supply chain Challenges in realizing potential of DAE: i Resource crunch - Given 85% farmers are small & given marginal. Thus, don't have access to resource ii Limited Availability - these technologies are costly, require adequate skiing & training iii Absence of land records - Given fragmentation of land (avg holding <1 Ha) for farmers makes technology ineffective iv Traditional tool dependence - About 60% of Indian Agriculture is still monsoon dependent. This capacity infrastructure vulnerability v Lack of Financial Resources - ie cheap credit

Challenges in realizing potential DAE continued: v Lack of Financial Resources - ie cheap credit Role of PPP in DAE: PPP Advantages: → Financial port to boost credit → Technological know how → Innovation & Risk taking → Boost economies of scale i Startup Ecosystem - boost to newer ideas, innovation skills to add value to products ii Kissan connecting farmers produce to end produce iii FPO Environment - Pooling in the resources of public & private sector. The FPO boost productivity iv PPP led warehousing - Given FCP godowns have reached their potential, PPP led godowns can help in storage and processing in later phases DAE and PPP (Public-Pvt partnership) can leverage the unutilised potential of Indian agriculture to cross $100 billion mark, and double farmers income

— Nikita Verma · AIR 30