Different Job Roles To Explore In The Agri-Tech Sector | Manasi Kelkar | VP – HR | CropIn

An overview of the sector:
The agricultural sector in India employs around 58% of the nation’s working population. Accounting for 18 percent of the country’s GDP, the sector is one of the most important sectors in the country. Over the years, India has modernized this ancient trade and actively adopted technological innovations in the agriculture sector, which is drastically improving the production, in both ways (i.e. in quantity and the quality of crop). Agtech/ AgriTech is a growing field not only for its recent emergence as the tech enabled industry but also for the fact that the young aspirants with fresh ideas and problem solving skills are showing eagerness in exploring their careers in numerous job roles that the industry has to offer these days.

The job trends in the sector:
With rapid advancements in agri-tech, gone are the days when the sector ran purely on the labour of skilled farmers and family-run animal rearers. Recent job trends indicate that a need for an expert with specialised knowledge in the field is required in solving global issues related to agriculture and climate change especially by leveraging technology. From scientists to engineers, let’s take a look at some of the most sought-after and interesting job roles in the AgriTech sector.

Data Analysts: Data analysts are imbibed to help in the process of inspecting, transforming and efficiently modelling data for extracting information and supporting informed decision making. In any industry these days, the data analyst plays the most crucial role in helping businesses run productively. Earth Observation Science Programmers: An Earth Observation Programmer collects, uses, and visualizes the satellite data for earth science research. The data is used to improve agriculture productivity, land and water management and BFSI investment in the sector.

AI Scientists and Researchers: The AI Scientist is responsible for designing, experimenting and implementing various AI and deep learning algorithms to create proof of concepts for Ai-based digital solutions. AI is an emerging field in today’s world. AI-based solutions, equipment and machinery has transformed the agriculture sector at a different level.

Software Architects/ Engineers: Software Architects, developers, programmers and testing professionals enable the building of complex, scalable and cloud-based software solutions that help to digitize the agricultural and food supply chain processes and make agriculture more data and insight driven.

Agronomists: Also called “crop doctors”, Agronomists are charged with assessing and optimizing a farm’s crop production through extensive research and testing. Crop doctors perform quality control for the farm’s soil and seeds through laboratory testing by constantly evaluating and taking steps to improve output.

In addition to the jobs listed above, there are multiple other career opportunities that an aspirant can explore in the agricultural ecosystem as a whole. To name a few are the roles of Engineers, Product managers, Agricultural officers, Farm managers, Research scientists, Production managers, Seep and soil specialists, etc.

The future of Agri-Tech in India looks bright with more and more investors putting their money and efforts towards developing innovations and creating technology solutions to bridge the gaps that have been faced by farmers up until now and by digitizing the agricultural processes. The increase in the number of Agri-Tech startups further iterates that fact. Indian government is also promoting investment in the agriculture sector which is further boosting the opportunities in the agtech domain. The Union Budget for the financial year 2021-22 highlighted some allocations toward the rural infrastructure development fund, which is proposed to be increased to Rs.40,000 crore.

Now more than ever, people are taking notice of the untapped potential of India’s agricultural sector, and the technology boom along with government support will ensure that the next decade will see exponential growth in the AgriTech space. The Agri-Tech industry provides a big opportunity for talented minds that are looking to make a positive impact to the livelihoods of our farming community.