Guwahati, August 22
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Guwahati led Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE), OctaNE conducted a Bootcamp cum Orientation programme in collaboration with ARIAS Society, Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Assam on Thursday in Guwahati.
The objective of this programme was to provide a platform to the selected startups under AgTech OCP as well the FPCs and Agro Industries in the North East Region to exchange information about the Agritech solutions of Startups and technological adoption scope of FPCs and Agro Industries.
Dr Kadirvel Govindasamy, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Guwahati during his address pointed out that innovation is the key to success of entrepreneurship. He noted that most successful agri-startups focus on supply chain management and backend support and are often IoT-based.
Dr Sriparna Bhuyan Baruah, Advisor, North Eastern Handicrafts & Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd (NEHHDC) has addressed the audience explained that resource-based enterprises are emerging, with many local women finding innovative solutions and products, such as dehydrated ginger.
Baruah emphasised the potential of agritourism in the Northeast, suggesting that the region's unique opportunities lie at the bottom of the pyramid, addressing pain points and leveraging local handicrafts.
Sanjeev Sarma, Mentor, OctaNE CoE, while addressing the audience elobarated that technology is game-changer in all enterprenuership activities which democratizes access to resources, Konwledge and market.
While addressing at the summit, Arvind Kumar, Director General, STPI elaborated AI is encompassing because everything is data. In the absence of Data nothing was happening, it was difficult to move forward but now that Data is here we have a road forward. Today we have seen all across india and across the world a vast ecosystem for building Agritech which requires addressing the requirements in developing systems which include AI.
He further elaborated to encourage the agriculture sector in this country and always felt progressiveness in the sector is good for the country because right from school were heard in hindi section that "Bharat ek Krishi Prahan Desh Hai".
STPI Guwahati in collaboration with ARIAS Society, Department of Agriculture, Govt of Assam had launched the Assam AgTech Open Challenge Program (OCP) on 9th Feb 2024 at STPI Guwahati to select startups.
Out of the 12 selected startups under Assam AgTech OCP, 12 startups have attended today's Bootcamp program & presented their AgTech solutions.