Another improvisation in the farming industry is FarmMojo, a tool that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect diseases in shrimps and fish. The organisation Aquaconnect, run by a 38-year-old IIT alumnus Rajamanohar Somasundaram, aims to help farmers in increasing productivity and employment by promoting sustainable shrimp and fish farming.
The idea came when Rajamanohar met a shrimp farmer. “I met Sanjai (cofounder of Aquaconnect), the shrimp farmer during a train journey. He told me everything about the shrimp farming industry and the challenges like high production cost and diseases. This got me interested and I came with an idea that could help the farmers,” he tells you.
This was not the only idea that has struck Rajamanohar due to his IIT background. “I started three technology ventures in the past. When I met Sanjai, I sensed an opportunity to use AI to help these farmers. My research pointed to the fact that lack of data driven farming is one of the biggest challenges that was yet to be addressed by this industry to achieve sustainability. That is when we started Aquaconnect — to encourage data-driven farming in Indian shrimp farming ecosystem,” he explains.
But coming up with FarmMojo came with its share of challenges. “To begin with, we did on-ground research to understand the challenges. Our team found implementing data-driven approach in culture operations will help farmers to achieve sustainability and solve the problems. However, launching a tech-based product is not easy. Lack of awareness on technology and data-driven farming among farmers was an issue. It requires continuous workshops and awareness programmes. There is a steep learning curve that exists in farmers and other ecosystem players to adopt new technology. Initial adoption requires hand holding. To overcome this, we deployed field assistants to help the farmers,” he tells you.
Rajamanohar has a piece of advice for the tech-aspirers. “I learnt many things while building tech businesses. The most important — it isn’t difficult to come up with something unique. What is difficult is to stick to the idea you choose and provide the time and effort it needs to make it work. Some days you’re smiling. Then the next day a pipe breaks and you think of quitting. Success is a matter of holding on tightly on your ideas, not losing confidence and keeping your focus right,” he says.