About fifty years back, India witnessed the beginning of the green revolution as it embraced high-yielding seeds, advanced farming equipment, pesticides, and fertilizers. This shift helped alleviate widespread hunger and poverty, transitioning the nation from importing grains to achieving self-sufficiency.
Fast forward to today, we stand on the brink of another agricultural revolution, spearheaded by agritech startups equipped with cutting-edge drones, deep technological expertise, and more.
The growth of India's agritech sector is further fueled by the government's commitment to providing support. Notably, the government relaxed regulations on drones in 2021, allowing their use in agriculture for tasks like crop assessment, digitizing land records, and pesticide spraying.
This move has opened up new opportunities for Indian farmers and entrepreneurs alike. Entrepreneurs are making strides in the agritech sector with advanced services, cutting-edge indigenous technology, and smart drones.
One notable player in this field is Mumbai-based agritech startup Salam Kisan. Founded in 2022 by Dhanashri Mandhani, Salam Kisan offers end-to-end agritech solutions, including drone-based soil testing, crop procurement, and marketplace services for farmers. They also provide drone training to rural youth, empowering them with new skills and opportunities.
Given that a significant portion of India's land is dedicated to agriculture, Salam Kisan views itself as a rising star in the agritech industry, with vast opportunities worth billions of dollars waiting to be tapped.
Drones are a central component of Salam Kisan's services, and the startup aims to capture a significant portion of the market. According to Bharatiyastartups, analysis, this market is projected to reach $13 billion by 2030, presenting a lucrative opportunity for the company.
A graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a business degree, Mandhani chose to combine her expertise with technical research to empower Indian farmers with cutting-edge technologies.
In an interview with BharatiyaStartups, founder and CEO Mandhani explained that the vision behind launching the agritech startup was to assist small-scale farmers with limited land holdings by providing them access to advanced farming technologies.
Presently, the startup provides drone-as-a-service to farmers in Maharashtra, with approximately 70-80 drones operational across 22 districts of the state.
Having secured Type-C DGCA clearance, the startup is in direct competition with rivals like IoTex, Garuda, and Paras in the broader drone technology sector.
Beyond assisting farmers with tasks such as soil assessment, pesticide application, and crop management, the startup provides a DGCI-certified drone pilot training course, valued at INR 50,000 per pilot.
Through its drone services, the startup has covered more than 15,000 acres of land, benefiting 7,500 farmers.
Mandhani mentioned to BharatiyaStartups that the startup extends comprehensive support to farmers, spanning from soil analysis to planting and harvesting, all through its app.
The app also hosts a marketplace where farmers can purchase agricultural inputs like pesticides, fertilizers, seeds, and farm machinery. While the startup doesn’t handle logistics for product delivery, it collaborates with over 300 partner dealers and suppliers with physical stores.
As a self-funded startup, Salam Kisan embarked on its journey with an initial investment of $2 million. Today, it boasts a user base of 58,000 farmers. The main sources of revenue for the startup are soil testing and drone services.
Salam Kisan charges farmers between INR 250 to INR 400 per acre for soil testing, and for drone services, the pricing ranges from INR 450 to INR 600 per acre.
The startup also earns revenue by imposing a transaction fee on suppliers and vendors who list their products on the Salam Kisan app. Additionally, farmers using the app are charged a trading margin for soybean procurement services.
The startup is aiming to secure its first round of external funding in the upcoming financial year. Salam Kisan is currently facing operational challenges due to its reliance on procured drones. To address this issue, they are establishing an in-house drone manufacturing unit with a target to produce 250 drones by the end of March.
"We've decided to manufacture drones in-house to reduce downtime associated with procured drones," said Mandhani.
The manufacturing unit will be located in Jalna, Maharashtra, while the research and development center will be established in Bengaluru. The startup is also focusing on recruiting new pilots.
The in-house drone prototype is all set and waiting for approval from DGCA and Type-C drone certification.These drones will have various applications, including spraying chemicals, pesticides, and seeds.
Considering the limited adoption of drones in India's agricultural practices, Salam Kisan plans to introduce AI-powered multispectral and hyperspectral drones in the next financial year. They may also explore selling their in-house drones as standalone products in the future.
The startup reports that 15% of its farmer base comprises women, a number they aim to increase further. Salam Kisan claims to have aligned itself with the Centre's Drone Didi initiative, which aims to train at least 15,000 women as drone pilots
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