DCM Shriram Foundation and The/Nudge Institute’s Centre for Social Innovation, with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (GoI), have launched an INR 2.6 crore prize challenge, aimed at fostering innovation at the intersection of agriculture and efficient use of water. The challenge seeks to encourage leading AgTech & Social Impact Entrepreneurs to develop population scale solutions & innovations within India’s agri-water ecosystem, with massive impact on stagnant livelihood opportunities, especially for smallholder farmers.
80% of India’s groundwater is used for agriculture, but 60% of this is inefficient utilisation. Misaligned practices on application of nutrients and fertilisers has led to imbalance and soil degradation resulting in inefficiency in water utilisation, declining groundwater and affecting crop yields. Hence, water scarcity, non-judicious use of freshwater resources, unsustainable agricultural practices, overdependence on erratic rainfall and climate change threaten the state of the agriculture sector in India, home to over 600 million farmers.
For the upcoming DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge, The/Nudge Prize encompasses a substantial prize purse of INR 2.6 Crore. This includes a grand prize of INR 2 Crore for the winner, representing one of the most generous grant prizes for sustainable agricultural interventions. Additionally, a total of 60 Lakh rupees will be distributed among three other finalists who successfully cross the milestone thresholds (INR 30/20/10 Lakh respectively).
To create unprecedented urgency & impact on this topic – The challenge is also enabling an AgWater and SHF expert ecosystem, consisting of leading market players, government departments, research Institutions & senior mentors/visionaries across India & beyond. This ecosystem will be essential to promote high potential innovators and accelerate adoption of their solutions, along with the leadership of the PSA, tasked with providing pragmatic and objective advice to the Prime Minister and the cabinet in matters of Science and Technology.
This highly anticipated challenge will meticulously identify a cohort of 15-20 exceptional solutions from a vast pool of applicants, who are working on improving the agricultural water utilisation of smallholder farmers through technological interventions – specifically for water intensive crops like rice, wheat, sugarcane & cotton, for the first time. The selected cohort will be chosen and supported for 12 months by a distinguished group of advisors comprising prominent Agri Investors, Policymakers, Academia, Thought Leaders from DCM Shriram, RICH Telangana, MANAGE, SocialAlpha, TISS, Acumen, ThinkAg, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, etc., among others. Throughout the challenge, the selected cohort will engage in immersions, mentorship sessions, interventions, and pilots facilitated by an evolved and high-performing ecosystem that shares the common objective of addressing AgWater issues for smallholder farmers.
- PRESS RELEASE
