Rural Development Hackathon

While the digital revolution is transforming sectors across the country, India’s agricultural sector seems to have been left behind the starting line. In the push for progress, this socially and economically important sector needs investment and initiatives for the widespread adoption of technology. For sustainable outcomes, only the smart application of tech and scientific advances can boost rural growth and agricultural productivity.

Here are a couple of possible themes you can work with.

Matching demand and supply of agriculture inputs

Smallholder farmers buy inputs such as seeds and fertilizers at high retail prices, often missing potential gains that come when dealing in bulk. The inputs pass a long chain of middlemen, making them expensive and increasing chances of adulteration. The demand of an individual smallholder farmer is too low for him/her to access agri input from companies and wholesalers. There is lack of transparency in prices and quality standards that increase the farmer’s cost and risk in farming. With Loop, it is now possible to aggregate input demand of smallholder farmers. We propose the creation of a technology platform that gives them easy access to big input suppliers, indicates reliability, tracks availability, and fills input orders optimizing the cost of delivery.

*If your app falls under this theme and meets the requirement, Digital Green will adopt your solution. It will be implemented and will reach the right end users.

Optimized agriculture transport logistics

The Indian agriculture transport system, a vital link between accessibility between growth, is largely unorganized and unreliable. For smallholder farmers, the perishable nature of the produce and the lack of optimized transport keeping rates variable result in uncertainty in terms of distribution and a dependency on transporters which could ultimately end up in diminished rural incomes. Loop provides a steady supply of produce and access to market rates, but transport continues to be manually booked. We propose the creation of efficient and optimized transport powered by technology, which can leverage the Loop platform to optimally utilize the vehicles.

*If your app falls under this theme and meets the requirement, Digital Green will adopt your solution. It will be implemented and will reach the right end users.

Open Innovation

Once known for amazing innovations, the agricultural sector in India could perhaps be facing a lasting crisis threatening food security and the lives of thousands of impoverished farmers. How did we go from the Green Revolution of the 1970s to the alarming number of farmer suicides? Technological advances coupled with new financial and environmental policies are the need of the hour. Can your idea maximize returns and minimize risks in agriculture, the backbone of the Indian economy, or perhaps find a better balance between production and consumption?

If you have an idea that doesn’t fit into any other subthemes, please submit it under the open innovation track. Although we cannot guarantee execution, HackerEarth will work with you to help you see it through to completion.

Theme Partners