“India Needs Urgent Policy Action To Save Its Farmers And Precious Food Security"

Pravesh Sharma, former Indian Administrative Service Officer, has served in food and agriculture with the state and central governments and their agencies for almost more than 30 years. He helped in developing a robust Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) movement in India and creating systems for extending capital, technology, and access to markets to farmers. He also concentrated on directly linking the farmers with the consumers, especially for the horticulture produce, to increase the quality of the products and ensure that the farmers get more of the final price. This would help the producer receive much more than half of what consumers pay due to intermediaries and associated supply chain costs. The situation worsens with chemicals and fertilizers that raise input costs and disturb soil health, along with the adverse impacts on consumers arising from pesticide residues. Sharma worked towards all such behaviors sustaining into practices, like the current corporate partnering with the Srinivas Group, which augments the cotton production of poor farmers through organic fertilizers and eco-friendly technology. He joined Samunnati Agro, the board of directors, in 2021, while also becoming CEO of Kamatan in Agri-tech focused on connecting farmers to the markets.

In an interview with ResponsibleUs, Sharma discussed the challenges facing the agriculture sector and how startups can contribute to transforming Indian agriculture

Excerpts:

Can you explain India's agricultural transformation and the role of technology in that process?
About 50 years ago, India was known as an insecure country where grains had to be imported, and foreign aid used. I remember standing in queues in ration shops in Delhi for Australian and American wheat that was not at all suited for our traditional foods. The turning point was the Green Revolution, which, one could say, was another form of a technological revolution. In the introduction of machinery, women no longer had to go to the fields to broadcast paddy seeds; now they were shown how to sow in lines, raise nurseries, apply the right chemicals during pest attacks, and harvest with correct techniques. Very importantly, the government set up a whole ecosystem by establishing research labs, extension systems to transfer knowledge, cooperatives for inputs and credits, and procurement systems like MSP (maximum selling price).

The Public Distribution System (PDS) would ensure that food reached those who needed it most. All of these, combined, helped India to get from food scarcity to surpluses. Post-2000, the project became market-led. Farmers responded to the increasing demand for high-value products such as dairy, horticulture, and poultry. In fact, for the last six years, the production of horticulture has surpassed that of food grain, testifying to changing consumer preferences and rising incomes. However, this phase has had little support structure, and the farmers were left to fend almost on their own for market demands.

What are the current challenges facing Indian agriculture?
Four major crises are currently plaguing Indian agriculture. First is the income and investment crisis. Despite shifts toward high-value crops, only a fraction of farmer’s benefit. Government surveys show slow growth in farming household incomes, making agriculture less attractive to the next generation. Many young people are leaving agriculture, often falling into traps of agents promising jobs abroad, sometimes leading to dangerous situations like human trafficking.

The second crisis is productivity, closely tied to sustainability. Soil health is deteriorating, water resources are overused, and micronutrient levels have plummeted. Carbon content in soil has fallen below 0.25% when it should be around 1.5-2%, turning much of the land into near-desert conditions.

The third crisis is technology. During the Green Revolution, India imported and adapted the best technologies. Today, productivity has plateaued in most crops, and in some regions, it’s even declining. Cotton is a prime example — once the world’s largest producer, India is now a net importer due to neglect in upgrading technologies and addressing intellectual property concerns, which deters investment in research and development. 

The fourth crisis is the human resource (HR) crisis. Young people across the country don’t see a future in farming. In some states, the average age of farmers is nearing 50. How long can they keep working the fields? Even the strongest person must eventually yield to age. If this trend continues, our food security is at serious risk. In just a decade, India — once celebrated for its Green Revolution — could find itself importing essential foods. Today, we already import fibre, and tomorrow it could be basic staples. The lack of fresh talent and ideas is alarming, and if we don’t make agriculture an attractive, viable livelihood, we risk losing not just farmers but the very foundation of our food security.

How can startups and young innovators contribute to the transformation of Indian agriculture, and what type of nurturing environment are necessary for them to thrive?
We must create an environment conducive for hundreds of new startup creation by improving three critical fronts-institutional, financial, and social.

First, it must be environmentally sustainable. Second, it must be economically sustainable. Third, it must be socially sustainable. They are in India. The difference with India is that an entire 45% of its working population is still engaged in agriculture, whereas only 15% do so in China and 2% in the US. Agriculture for those countries may not really matter, but it will for the next two decades at least for India.

But individually, it's not feasible to reach out to more than 10 crores of farming households. That's why I got to work on an institutional solution: to aggregate farmers into organized groups that would improve access to resources and markets. This idea resulted in the formation of FPOs, which I introduced in government. FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisation) are not the only institutional model in the country; there are cooperatives and self-help groups, but joining farmers brings all these institutions together, making the solutions even more cost-effective and impactful. Rather than giving advice to one farmer at a time, I could reach 500, thus multiplying the impact greatly.

How did the Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) model come about, and what is the impact that it has had on Indian agriculture?
The FPO model emerged because there was a need for an institutional structure that would enable farmers to mobilize capital, technology, and markets more effectively.

My work began in Madhya Pradesh and later expanded nationally through the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), where we created around 1,000 FPOs as demonstration projects. More than our efforts, it was the farming community that embraced the concept. Farmers were eager for solutions and readily joined these organisations.

After five years at SFAC, I realized government funding alone wouldn’t suffice — agriculture needed market-driven solutions. That’s when I took voluntary retirement and launched my first enterprise, aimed at proving that aggregation could lead to better financial access and formalize agriculture. Small landholdings make it hard for individual farmers to make an impact in the market, but through aggregation, they gain collective bargaining power.

Whether it’s buying inputs or selling produce, aggregation makes a huge difference. Over the past eight years, my first enterprise steadily grew, securing investment, raising capital, and expanding its reach. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we merged with Samunnati, where I now serve as a director. This joint platform enabled us to create an even larger impact. Samunnati brought financial solutions, while we focused on market linkages and technology. Today, we provide all three, supporting over 7,500 FPOs.

What financial solutions have you implemented to support FPOs, and what challenges remain?
The total number of FPOs in India has grown to 45,000 — a clear sign the idea has taken root. However, most of these FPOs operate at only about 25% of their potential. Imagine the transformation if all 45,000 farmer-owned companies operated at full capacity. The challenge lies in providing them with the right support after formation.

One of the biggest hurdles for FPOs is access to capital. Formal banks and financial institutions typically require at least one year of credit history or a balance sheet before granting loans. But how can FPOs build a credit history if they don’t get the initial funds to start operations? To solve this, we introduced the IPL — Instant Pre-Approved Loan. An FPO only needs to email us its Certificate of Incorporation to get an in-principal approval letter for Rs 5 lakh as working capital. There are basic KYC requirements like bank account verification and GST registration, but the process is simple and accessible.

Once an FPO rotates that Rs 5 lakh four or five times, we upgrade them to a Rs 10 lakh loan. Today, some FPOs in our ecosystem receive loans of up to Rs 5 crore. Samunnati has become the market leader in FPO lending — no bank has done as much in this space as we have. Out of the 7,500 FPOs we work with, around 3,500 have taken loans from us, while the rest receive training, technology support, or advisory services. They are all part of a growing ecosystem aimed at empowering farmers and transforming Indian agriculture.

Is there any fee for the support provided to FPOs?
No, we don’t charge them any fees. If they take a loan, they pay the normal interest rate, but for advisory services, we don’t charge them anything. That’s completely free. The reason we invest in training — whether it's business planning, crop selection, or understanding market dynamics — is simple. By helping them operate more efficiently, we’re also securing our loans. If their business performs better, the chances of timely repayment increase.

Over the past two years, our focus has shifted significantly towards sustainability. We believe that for FPOs to thrive, their members’ farming practices must become more sustainable, addressing the four crises I mentioned earlier. Stabilizing agricultural operations requires embracing practices that promote soil health, conserve water, reduce harmful pesticides, and adopt more regenerative methods.

What is the rate of interest (ROI) on lending and why is it higher for FPOs?
For FPOs, the interest rate is 15% per annum, and for others, it is 18%. Since we have to borrow all our funds from banks and other financial institutions, our cost of capital is higher, hence our loans are more expensive. Additionally, we don’t take any collateral for our loans, so our cost of risk is built into the interest rate.

What is the procedure for recovering the loan, and what happens if someone is unable to repay?
We take post-dated cheques (PDCs), and our field staff follows up with the borrowers to ensure timely repayment. If someone is unable to repay, we try to accommodate genuine repayment challenges by extending the payment period to allow for short-term cash flow challenges. In case of default, since we don’t have collateral, we’re forced to write off the debt, but we continue to make efforts to recover the dues.

Currently, we work with around 50,000 farmers, providing last-mile training on sustainable practices across various crops. Next month, we’re launching a digital initiative specifically for horticulture farmers, as horticulture is one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors of agriculture.

How do you ensure food safety and promote sustainable farming practices?
We all know how concerning pesticide residue can be, especially in leafy vegetables — sometimes you can even taste it. Washing isn’t enough to get rid of the chemicals. To tackle this, we’re introducing a co-branded line of produce in collaboration with FPO members. The focus is on "low residue" crops, ensuring that pesticide levels remain within permissible limits.

To make this happen, we’re building a technology platform that equips farmers with practical knowledge. They’ll know which chemicals are banned, where to source approved alternatives, and the best cultivation techniques to maximize yield while ensuring safety. Additionally, a third-party partner will conduct random testing to certify the produce’s safety.

Our ultimate vision is to create a platform that directly connects consumers to farmer groups. Imagine being able to partner with farmers in Haryana, for instance. They’ll share their crop plans for the upcoming season, and you can say, “I’d like peas and carrots twice a week.” This creates a direct, transparent supply chain between farmers and consumers, built on trust and sustainability.

And they should meet these quality standards — all of which will be accessible to you as a consumer. We hope that in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, hundreds, if not thousands, of consumers will be able to connect directly with farmers.

How do you train farmers, and what role do Farmer Field Schools play in knowledge transfer?
We don’t operate kiosks or retail centers. Our work isn’t at the retail level. You’re right to ask, though — there is a challenge in teaching farmers to use these applications. Right now, human-to-human knowledge transfer is crucial.

Let me share an example: our sustainable agriculture initiative in Madhya Pradesh, called Project Vasundhara. We create what are called Farmer Field Schools — village-level groups of farmers who learn sustainable practices together. Each district has one technical expert who trains a lead farmer, usually someone slightly more educated and progressive, to pass on knowledge to others.

The training is broken down into fortnightly sessions. Before sowing, for example, they learn about seed treatment and field preparation. When they meet again at the end of the fortnight, they conduct a social audit: Who completed the tasks? What worked? What didn’t? Then they move on to the next set of activities.
This structured approach ensures that knowledge is not just shared but also applied consistently across the community. It’s slow, but it builds trust and lasting change.

Once the farmers are trained, they decide together when to sow — for example, after two showers when the moisture level is just right, not too early, not too late. These decisions are based on sustainable protocols approved by the state universities.

How do you ensure the technology and practices adopted are scientifically validated?
We don’t create the technology ourselves because we’re not technologists. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and state-level universities have already developed sustainable farming practices tailored to different agro-climatic zones. We simply adopt the packages of practices approved for each specific zone. Our role is to assure farmers that these protocols are scientifically validated for their region, and we help implement them.

It’s a learning process for both sides. Feedback from the farmers helps us refine the process, ensuring that their insights shape future practices. In crops like soybean, for example, we’ve already seen buyers willing to pay a premium for produce certified as having lower pesticide residues, thanks to farmers following the Responsible Soya Protocol.

Our goal is to replicate this for other crops. Right now, we’re running pilots — working with 50,000 farmers is just the beginning. By next year, we aim to reach at least 1 million farmers across various crops and zones. That’s when we’ll have the scale to approach big buyers like Nestlé, who demand low-residue wheat and corn meeting international standards.

How do sustainable practices benefit farmers and improve their agricultural methods?
Now, to address a common concern: this isn’t about going organic. We are talking about sustainability, which should be the norm, not a premium. Sustainable practices help farmers save money in the long run. Initially, they are skeptical, but our data shows it works. Take seeding, for example. In our Madhya Pradesh project, farmers used to over-seed, thinking that if only 80% of the seeds survived, planting extra would ensure a full crop, however, sustainable practices taught them to optimise seed usage, reducing costs while maintaining yields. It’s about shifting mindsets and proving that sustainability isn’t just better for the environment — it’s better for business too.

Another major issue was the overuse of fertilizers and chemicals. Farmers believed that more chemicals meant better yields. But what they didn’t realise was that certain chemicals should only be used up to a particular stage of the crop, in specific proportions. Some chemicals shouldn’t be used at all. Unfortunately, the market is so unregulated that farmers have even used industrial chemicals to dry out crops quickly or force faster maturation. By eliminating these harmful practices, farmers not only protect their crops and the environment but also save money on inputs. Even if the market price stays the same, their cost of cultivation drops — that’s the real gain.

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