ON THE second day of Agrovision 2025, organised by the Agrovision Foundation, a special workshop on ‘Startups in the Agriculture Sector’ was conducted on Saturday at the grounds of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University as part of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026. The workshop focused on the effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology in agriculture. In the panel discussion,

 

experts agreed that AI-based agricultural analysis can be highly beneficial for farmers. The workshop was attended by experts which included Ajay Srivastava, Director of STPI under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Anup Kumar, retired Additional Secretary of the State Government; Dr Premalal Patel, Director of VNIT; Shashikant Chaudhary,

 

Co-founder of Happy-eaters App; Hemant Chaudhary, Founder and Executive Director of Circular Economy Alliance, Australia; Sachin Suri, Co-founder of CropData Technology; and STPI DG Arvind Kumar, among others. During the session, Anup Kumar said, “AI must be made available in local languages, only then will it effectively reach farmers.” Suri stressed the importance of integrating accurate data, including factors such as climate, water availability, soil texture, and seed quality. He explained that meaningful AI recommendations can be generated only after developing value- and risk-based matrices.

 

He also stressed the importance of integrating accurate data, including factors such as climate, water availability, soil texture, and seed quality. He explained that meaningful AI recommendations can be generated only after developing value- and risk-based matrices. Ajay Srivastava said that Nagpur has great potential for excellence in agricultural technology, environment, and mining sectors. “Work has already begun for creating a roadmap to develop world-class products in Nagpur,” he noted. Dr Patel explained how remote sensing, AI, ML, and IoT technologies can make targeted water usage and micro-irrigation more efficient.

 

He also emphasised the development of crops that deliver higher yields with lower water consumption while Hemant Chaudhary spoke about circular economy principles. Also, an interactive session was held with Sapna Nauharia, Microsoft and Tarun Tej Thadana, IIT Kharagpur, ABIF. Prashant Mishra, Founder and CEO of Click2Cloud was present. Participants engaged in discussions on sustainability,

 

AI, and entrepreneurship. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari visited the session and encouraged the participants. The introductory remarks were delivered by Ajay Srivastava. The panel discussion was moderated by Shashikant Chaudhary, while the workshop proceedings were conducted by Asavari Deshpande. Agrovision Foundation Advisor C D Mayee was also present.