Season 242 Episode 8246
S1 E97 - Reviving Traditional Farming with Modern Tech: A Journey with Usha Devi Venkatachalam
"Merging High-Tech Solutions with Age-Old Practices to Empower Smallholder Farmers http://s4g.biz/11jul24 tl;dr: 1. Overview and Mission: Usha Devi Venkatachalam, CEO and founder of Krishi Janani, discussed her initiative that applies high-tech solutions to smallholder agriculture in less developed regions, focusing on regenerative agroecology, which aligns with the traditional farming methods of previous generations. 2. Background and Inspiration: Usha's background as a computer engineer with experience in over 20 countries, combined with her family's multi-generation farming heritage, led her to this venture. She emphasized the decline in soil quality and nutrition since the Green Revolution and the need to return to more sustainable farming practices. 3. Technological Integration: Krishi Janani is developing a comprehensive ecosystem—consisting of an agritech platform, regional labs, and farmer training events—to support and promote regenerative agriculture. Farmers can access digital knowledge, on-ground training, and product marketplaces through this integrated system. 4. Revenue Model: The company generates revenue through paid training sessions for farmers, commissions from sales facilitated through their platform, corporate partnerships for climate resilience and sustainable sourcing, and collaborations with startups for scaling innovative agricultural solutions. 5. Vision and Scale: Usha aims to expand their model internationally by licensing their software and ecosystem approach, supported by ongoing fundraising efforts. She stresses the importance of combining technology with traditional farming practices to create sustainable agricultural solutions. http://superpowers4good.com "
