AgNext cultivating tech to analyse farm produce quality in 30 seconds!
January 24, 2021
Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, founder and CEO of AgNext×
Start-up hopes to revolutionise food testing with an ‘MRI-like scanner’
Among the many problems that beset Indian agriculture is the absence of quality standards in the proverbial farm-to-fork food chain.
While matters of productivity and better market access for farmers often get precedence, the lack of standards disincentivises innovative farmers who try to produce qualitatively better food and takes away from the consumer the option of buying better.
Even globally, ascertaining the quality of farm produce is a largely subjective exercise, often involving conjecture. Usually, farm commodities are put though physical parameter tests using touch-and-feel, visual appeal, smell and taste. As a result, the ability of farmers who grow higher quality, or pesticide and chemical-free produce, to command a premium is rather limited.