Agriculture 4 0 Market Analysis 2026

Chaitanya Belhekar, an engineering graduate from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur, has set up SkillGati to democratize knowledge in agriculture. The organization aims to remove barriers of resources, language, and literacy for every farmer and bring knowledge to their fingertips. They have visited agricultural colleges, KVKs, Agricultural Technology Management Agencies (ATMAs), and agri-extension offices to understand the information available there and their operating model. Chaitanya and his friend Tejas Gaikwad discovered that YouTube provides repetitive, unstructured knowledge from agri-influencers that cannot be trusted and there is no accountability. To address this issue, they developed verified, practical content and a platform to make it easily accessible to farmers in different regional languages. They started with a blog course on mushroom farming but soon realized that the farmer needed more. To address farmers' queries, they started hosting periodic live sessions and creating a WhatsApp community for the same. They added tasks, quizzes, exams, and personalized nudges to their training programmes to gamify the learning approach for the farmers. So far, they have created eight different online training programmes on animal husbandry and agri-business, namely; goat farming, vermicompost business, dairy farming, poultry farming, polyhouse nursery, bio floc fish farming, mushroom and lac farming (useful for farmers in Jharkhand and Orissa). In the 10 months since becoming operational, SkillGati has had more than 10,000 users on the platform and more than 2,500 paid customers, amounting to a revenue of more than ?13 lakh. However, breaking even and making profits is still some time away. To scale their product, they plan to tie up with e-seva kendras, government organizations, and cooperative banks. They found out that rural youth go to banks to avail loans for their agri-businesses, but they are hesitant because they do not know how much these youth know to build a business and whether they can repay. They plan to partner with such banks where their training programme is offered to these youth and only if they complete and get 65% and above marks they will qualify for a loan. In conclusion, SkillGati aims to provide farmers with access to the latest agricultural technologies and practices, empowering them to improve their livelihoods. By partnering with various institutions and leveraging technology, SkillGati aims to bridge the skill gap in agriculture and empower farmers across India.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Saudi Arabian Ministers Faisal Al-Ibrahim and Eng Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley at the World Economic Forum. Shehbaz highlighted the potential of Pakistan's agriculture sector and emphasized its role in ensuring food security for the region. The Saudi minister for agriculture valued Pakistan's strategic and competitive advantages in agriculture and considered the sector a significant area of cooperation. Shehbaz also met with Saudi Minister of Commerce Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, who stated that the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is actively promoting and facilitating foreign investment in Pakistan. He emphasized the importance of providing modern tools and technology to Pakistan's youth, including education in information technology and artificial intelligence, and vocational training. He also recalled the Sharif family's success in turning the country's fortunes around and vowed to replicate this secret to rid the country of economic challenges. Shehbaz and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recalled the historical ties between Pakistan and Malaysia, especially in education, science and technology, and trade, and undertook to further enhance cooperation in the future.

Canadian farmers have been actively participating in recycling and safe disposal programs for agricultural plastics and packaging throughout 2023. Cleanfarms, a Canadian agricultural waste management company, has expanded its collection and disposal programs to include additional types of bags, such as peat moss, feed, substrate, and animal bedding, as well as maple syrup tubing. The company's plastic container recycling program, which has an average recovery rate of 77% for pesticide and fertilizer containers 23L and smaller, is now accepting empty, single-use bags from farmers. Opportunities for farmers to manage 'End of Life' Ag products and packaging continue to increase, with other programs including a Canada-wide recycling program for large non-deposit plastic totes and drums for pesticides and fertilizers, a safe disposal program for seed and pesticide bags and/or inoculant bags across most provinces, a Canada-wide collection and disposal program for unwanted pesticides and old, obsolete livestock and equine medications, recycling for grain bags and baler twine focused on the Prairie provinces, new maple syrup tubing recycling in Quebec, and a new safe disposal program for feed, peat moss, and animal bedding bags in Quebec. Cleanfarms operates pilot projects nationwide to assess how to shape new programs down the road, collaborating with all levels of the Canadian ag sector and municipal bodies to achieve a shared vision of zero agricultural waste in landfills.

Del Monte, a leading producer and distributor of processed food items, has set a 2025 goal to measure scope 3 third-party emissions and conduct a complete supply chain carbon emissions assessment to curb these emissions. The company's consumption of its products, including cooking and consumer storage, product and packaging end-of-life treatment, contributed the most to these emissions, accounting for 26%. Ingredients, including farming and processing operations, made up 15% of scope 3 emissions. Del Monte, home to brands like Fruit Cup Snacks, Contadina Roma tomatoes, and Joyba Bubble Teas, aims to reduce food waste through upcycling and divert food waste from landfills. The company has set a goal to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills from its manufacturing plants by 4%. Del Monte also aims to expand regenerative agriculture and seed breeding practices to reduce emissions in farming. The company has created a collaborative effort among its tomato growers to share best practices in regenerative farming and advances in green bean breeding to increase crop yield with less fertilizer. On the energy front, Del Monte has purchased "energy-efficient equipment" for new installations in its processing plants and is exploring ways to reduce the consumption of electricity and natural gas by using its existing equipment. Electrical energy made up 17% of the company's overall scope 1 and 2 emissions, prompting Del Monte to shift to renewable energy to accelerate its path to net-zero status. The new sustainability goals come as consumers demand more transparency from food companies, ranging from where they source ingredients to their labor practices.