Harsh Dahiya: Digitising The Indian Agriculture Sector One Lab At A Time

India has been an agriculture-driven society for ages. When in 1960 Green Revolution was introduced in India, the traditional agriculture system was transformed into an industrial system with the use of high yield seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and machinery. While the Green Revolution led to India becoming self-sustained in food systems, it also led to excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides, which led to adverse effects on the soil, environment and consumers. Until very recently, there were approximately only 600 soil testing labs for all the farmers across the country. This led to inadequate soil testing utilities and excessive use of fertilisers for crops, contributing to suboptimal crop yield, more expenditure, less profit, degrading soil health, and groundwater pollution.

Under the mindful supervision of the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, the Indian Government recognised this problem and launched the Soil Health Card mission. Through this endeavour, free soil testing reports are being provided to farmers so that they feel encouraged to get their soil tested in every crop cycle.

 While the Government of India’s Soil Health Card Mission advertisement portrays Akshay Kumar convincing a farmer named “Dahiya Ji” to get his soil tested at a Government soil testing lab, it is another real-life “Dahiya Ji” who has been working behind the scenes since the inception of the mission to make Soil Health Card and soil testing services available to every farmer in the country.

 Founder & CEO of Harvesto Group, Harsh Dahiya, has been working tirelessly to develop and deliver affordable soil testing technologies, lab equipment, and organic input products to every farmer across the country. Harvesto, an R&D-driven electronics and agriculture products manufacturing company, has successfully established itself as the world’s largest manufacturer of digital soil testing kits and a pioneer of agriculture equipment. Their exemplary products are now operational in over 40 countries, making it one of the most recognised brands in the agritech space across the globe.

 Harsh, a computer science engineer and MBA grad from Cardiff University UK, says that he has always had a passion for creating sustainable businesses that drive positive social impact and generate employment. This shows what is being done and achieved at Harvesto.

 Bagging the accolade for the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2019 in India by Mr. KJ Alphons, Rajya Sabha MP, and former Cabinet Minister in the Government of India, and the “Best Management Consultant” award in 2018 at Cardiff University, United Kingdom, Harsh has manifested a strong foothold in the industry.

 Being recognised for their efforts in the agritech space, Harvesto was also selected as Top 5 Agro Startups in India by the Ministry of Agriculture and was presented in front of the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, in 2016. The success story of the organisation has also been launched in a government publication by the Honorable President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, and the then Honorable Agriculture Minister of India in 2017. Harvesto has also presented their innovative work on agriculture technologies in front of leaders such as the Honorable Prime Minister, Honorable Agriculture Minister, several state Chief Ministers, Bill Gates and his foundation, Anna Hazare, and several international podiums across the globe.

Having been used by organisations such as the Government of India, Mahindra, Syngenta, DRDO, and IITs, Harvest technologies have supported farmers and the Indian Government alike in saving billions of dollars by optimising the use of fertilisers in agriculture.

Their technologies have helped farmers in saving considerable input costs, maximising crop production, and thus increasing their overall profit and income.

Harvesto agriculture products and equipment have gained global recognition making it one of the first Indian brands in the agritech and lab testing equipment domain to be adopted and trusted at such a large scale worldwide.

 Under the able leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Hon’bleAgriculture Minister of India Shri Narendra Singh Tomar Soil Health Card mission has become one of the most successful and applauded missions of the Government of India and has earned India laurels on the world stage. Hon’ble Agriculture Minister Shri NS Tomar, who himself belongs to an agricultural family, has been personally overlooking the progress of the mission and ensuring that all targets are met for the betterment of the farmers and the agriculture sector in India.

 Harvesto, alongside has also been effectively tackling several environmental issues head-on with the help of technological advancements. When North India was struggling with air-pollution in winters, Harvesto started putting efforts into developing and manufacturing highly effective bio-decomposers that helped farmers in decomposing the farm stubble instead of burning it. It helped in reducing pollution and offered farmers more productive land for the next crop.

To make soil testing effective, Harsh very early realised the urgent need for more private labs in the country. Therefore, he paved the way for thousands of rural entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs to run Soil Testing Labs successfully nationwide. These entrepreneurs, also called ‘agripreneurs’ at Harvesto, are also generating employment opportunities for others. Harvesto today is a leading example of how an organisation can succeed by empowering farmers, youth, women, and rural entrepreneurs.