Mr. Shailendra Singh
Yuktix Technologies Private Limited
New technology innovations to feed a growing population in a sustainable way is the need of the hour and that is what Mr. Shailendra Singh is trying to do at his company, Yuktix Technologies Private. Ltd.
“We at Yuktix Technologies Private Limited provide digital tools to manage risks and increase yields for farming. Yuktix provides a unique blend of sensors and software to help growers ”
Today, data rules. Data is the key to enable decisions everywhere. Even if you go to investors, they want data from companies to understand the market and estimate its worth. You go to an ecommerce site and they can provide recommendations based on your data. However the extent of digital penetration is very low in agriculture even in a world where the ubiquity of data is well understood and applied.
For example, you won't find a single sensor that collects data on the micro weather of a farm even though weather affects crop growth and disease and pest risks. There are hardly any tools to collect data to enable informed decision making or utilize the repertoire of existing research knowledge base.
That is what we are aiming to change. We are developing next generation digital tools for growers, FPO and plantations that helps remove the guess work, grow more in a sustainable way and cut down on the risks.
How did it all begin?
Rajeev came out of his corporate job and was looking to start in this space. I am an electronics engineer who was working with one of Rajeev’s friend, Dr Priya Ranjan at IIT Kanpur. Rajeev told me about the problems he had seen and how data based decisions can actually help. That time our focus was more on climate controlled agriculture.
We spoke to researchers in agriculture institutes, greenhouse owners, farmers and orchards owners. They were either importing expensive instruments or using very simple tools like SMS based motor controllers. The only tool at farm most of the people had was a mercury thermometer. We started working with rose growers in Hosur area.
We were team having complementary skills. Rajeev had worked in the software industry, Dr Ranjan was an expert in networking and wireless sensors and I had experience working on hardware. we believed we could do something for the agricultural sector. Like I said, it is the sector that has least amount of digital intervention. This is how we started in 2013.
What did you start with in 2013?
We started with a automatic micro weather station. Automatic weather station helps people who work on the agricultural field to measure the micro climate. One way of measuring it is by installing one weather station in the whole village. The other is to measure micro-weather at farm level.
The farmer really needs conditions of his field not from a station installed at district HQ.. We could create specific advisories for his farm and crop using the hyper local data.
We started deploying the weather stations by creating the open weather network in Bangalore. This is one of its kind open weather network in India. it is open to the public and You can access real time weather conditions in Bangalore. This has worked as our technology demonstration. After the public weather network we started working closely with research institutes like IISC, IIHR and ATREE.
The nice thing about Yuktix weather stations are that it is developed right here in Bangalore. The ownership of intellectual property allows us to try different models and price structures. We are offering the micro weather stations and our ankiDB software in OPEX model to farms. That way the growers can get weather forecasts, soil data, irrigation scheduling and reporting benefits without incurring capital expenditures. This model is possible because we own the design and thus costs.
Are you still manufacturing the weather station?
Yes, we are. The micro weather station is available along with the GreenSense product for the farms. You can buy directly from us or through one of the partners. .
What other products do you manufacture? Our product for farms is Green Sense that is suitable for open field agriculture. GreenSense is a solar powered sensor machines that work together with our ankiDB software to provide data and advisories to plantations, orchards, other open field growers and greenhouses. GreenSense sensor devices are small form factor hand and can run from solar or battery. There are options to purchase GreenSense devices with multi-level soil moisture, Temperature and humidity, Rain, Lux or Leaf wetness. There is one available for every need.
Data collected by GreenSense nodes are processed and analysed to provide crop specific advisory to the grower. That helps them optimize their daily operations, reduce the losses due to disease and pests, schedule irrigation save working man-hours that was not possible earlier.
Another product we have is the ColdSense that is a true wireless solution for cold storages and ware houses. This innovative product was the winner of Indo Israel innovation challenge.
Our understanding is that people across the agricultural value chain need access to the information. After harvesting, people need to store their produce. The stored produce can rot If the right environment is not maintained at the cold storage and the warehouses. There is a need to measurement the environment variables at multiple levels.
We developed ColdSense as an easy to use and affordable wireless solution for the cold storage and warehouses. The properties in this space are typically leased and there is little incentive to deploy digital systems by wiring the place. The cost of wiring is prohibitive and typical PLC based controller solutions cost upwards of 4 lakhs to wire one warehouse. Compared to that, our product can be deployed at ¼ of the cost and without requiring any wiring. We have done deployments for ITC in Guntur and Ongole area and Pilot for PepsiCo in Jalandhar.
The management could view the produce quality in real time and shared it easily with their customers. The operations team automatically got alerts for action before the situation deviated from the set norms. We provided performance based scoring that made the job of management easier.
The ankiDB™ micro is our hardware and firmware for gathering data from sensors, machines and processes. The ankiDB micro solution is optimized for low power and provides next generation technology to create ad hoc wireless sensor networks from fields to factory floors.
Our products are build on f Yuktix ankiDB™ IoT cloud software. The ankiDB™ cloud software provides facilities for device management, data storage, alarms for anomalies and analysis.
The ankiDB™ stack allows for rapid deployment of data gathering and analysis solutions in multiple situations. You can create apps for your specialized needs quickly and without capital expenditures.
Is this a funded company?
We have raised from family and friends. Right now we are in the market looking for funds..
So, your main customers would be vineyards, tea plantations, etc. - people who are in the organised and corporate level set up, right?
The way we like to put it is that we need a certain size right now. If you are an individual plantation of 1000 acres you are our customer and if you are an FPO working with 1000 tribal farmers then also you are our customer. We do not go to individual farmers right now. I would like to put this more as a distribution model. However that does not mean that our solutions do not benefit small holders. We had good success working with Gram Vikas in Orissa with small holder tribal farmers.
We are developing a network of weather station and green sense devices. We are also working with their agronomist and creating advisories and sending to farmers working with Gram Vikas.
We are also working with Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, based in Hyderabad in the Kadappa region. Likewise, we have previously worked with Keystone Foundation in Nilgiri hills . Currently we are in conversation with another foundation in Madhya Pradesh.
Hence, we do work with end farmers, but via cooperatives, NGO’s and FPO’s by enabling them with our technology. .It is just that we do not have a direct distribution model right now. We prefer working with distributors and partners. . A farmer in India, unlike other countries, don't own huge tracts of land.
Do you measure how much of this data and advisories are actually being used?
I will explain that with examples. There is this tea plantation in Nilgiris. They are one of the biggest tea plantations in South India. We have deployed 10 Green Sense sensor machines and 1 weather station for them.
Data collection is just one part of the operations. After that it has to be analysed and delivered in terms of actionable points. The soil moisture plays a very important role and multi-level soil moisture plays the second most important role. This is important data when people need to put manure and that should happen depending on the soil moisture.
The collected data is processed, analysed and made available to Yuktix compute engine. Yuktix compute engine run ML algorithms specific to crop and provide actionable insights. In addition to insights additional information like weather forecast, Satellite images, soil analysis is also provided to the operation’s team. For example
a. Disease forecast specific to the crop
b. Pesticide and insecticide scheduling
c. Irrigation scheduling
d. Manure spraying in field
These insights help the operation team save up to 25% on pesticide spray, reduce losses due to disease by 15%, save 100-150 man-work hours a week and optimize farm operations.
Another example is one of the NGOs working with tribal farmers in Orissa. They want to use digital technology to improve the livelihood of tribal farmers. With the global warming, weather patterns have changed. They wanted to deploy a network of weather station in remote locations where they work with farmers. They needed a digital tool that can help them get insights out of data. That is where we provided them Yuktix weather station and dashboard to enabled them to closely monitor real time weather conditions, weather forecast and get advisory specific to the crop the farmers are growing. Using our tool, they were able to provide advisory to the farmer in their local language throughout the crop life-cycle.
How does the business model work; how do you charge for your service?
The model is that we provide the package in an OPEX model. This is what we are pushing in the market because people view hardware as capital expenditure. This model allows people access to our digital tools on a per month subscription basis.
This model works well for FPOs, NGOs and progressive farmers.
Are your services available across India?
The focus is South India because we are based out of Bangalore. Though we have deployments in Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, UP and Punjab in association with our partners. Our areas of focus are Karnataka, AP, Telangana, Tamilnadu and Kerala. We are trying to expand our reach via partners.
What is the process for a progressive farmer, owning for example, 25 acres of coconut plantation, to reach out to you?
It is very easy. We have a help line number – 88843 15300. We can speak Kannada, Telugu , Tamil, Hindi and English. You just give us a ring and we can talk. You can talk about your needs and we can suggest the solution based on your input.
For instance, we were working with a coconut plantation near Coimbatore. That region has water scarcity. People pay tankers to irrigate their land. They buy abot 10 tankers a day because coconut is a water intensive plant. Here soil moisture measurements plays an important role. If we can automate their irrigation on right soil moisture measurements then they only irrigate when required and can save tons of water.
Is the irrigation automation a possibility right now?
There are SMS based irrigation controllers. We actually have true wireless soil moisture sensing based controllers. You do not have to cover the field in wires using our solution. The trials are going on at Kuppam and we can arrange a visit. We have exported same devices for field trials in Qatar and Australia.
Are there connectivity issues or any such hassles that you deal with?
There are provider specific problems once you move out of the metro areas. SIM based network access typically only works for particular provider in a spot. Like your Provider X SIM will work but not provider Y sims. Our solutions can accept any SIM and we also provide long range Sub Giga Hz connectivity to cover over missing spots of GSM reception. This is where we excel. We provide multiple communication options in GSM/GPRS, satellite-based communication and local wireless network. No
What is the smallest farmer you have worked with till date?
5-10 acres. As stated above we are also working with farmers who even do farming on 1-2 acres of land but via FPO’s, NGO”s and SHG’s.
What kind of revenue would a 10 acre plot generate for you?
There are multiple levels of services. So, it depends on what the user wants to go for. If the client only requires to understand the soil moisture of their land, the cost is different versus if someone wants to get information on soil moisture, rainfall, etc.
Is it affordable for a small-time farmer?
Right now and in a direct to customer model, the correct answer is NO. That is the situation as of now and that is one of the reasons we are trying to work with partners to reach economies of scale. It would be hard to service 5 small holders in a geography. However with numbers crossing hundred, the economies of scale kick in and the cluster is serviceable.
Where are we as a country in terms of agro-technology at a global level?
I have been to different parts of the world, like Poland, Germany, Japan etc. where the level of technology usage is quite high. We are definitely behind the curve in technology adoption. However what I can see is a great wave of technology in play right now. People are more aware and they know technology can help. Earlier, I have heard stories of how farmers were highly intuitive about everything including the weather. But, times have changed. So, technology is playing a big role and I am optimistic about this change. We are getting a lot of queries.
In your opinion, were we behind because the awareness in the market was low?
No! The reason we are behind is because the average land holding size in India is low. Money can be the biggest bottleneck.
Yuktix Technologies Private Limited
New technology innovations to feed a growing population in a sustainable way is the need of the hour and that is what Mr. Shailendra Singh is trying to do at his company, Yuktix Technologies Private. Ltd.
“We at Yuktix Technologies Private Limited provide digital tools to manage risks and increase yields for farming. Yuktix provides a unique blend of sensors and software to help growers ”
Today, data rules. Data is the key to enable decisions everywhere. Even if you go to investors, they want data from companies to understand the market and estimate its worth. You go to an ecommerce site and they can provide recommendations based on your data. However the extent of digital penetration is very low in agriculture even in a world where the ubiquity of data is well understood and applied.
For example, you won't find a single sensor that collects data on the micro weather of a farm even though weather affects crop growth and disease and pest risks. There are hardly any tools to collect data to enable informed decision making or utilize the repertoire of existing research knowledge base.
That is what we are aiming to change. We are developing next generation digital tools for growers, FPO and plantations that helps remove the guess work, grow more in a sustainable way and cut down on the risks.
How did it all begin?
Rajeev came out of his corporate job and was looking to start in this space. I am an electronics engineer who was working with one of Rajeev’s friend, Dr Priya Ranjan at IIT Kanpur. Rajeev told me about the problems he had seen and how data based decisions can actually help. That time our focus was more on climate controlled agriculture.
We spoke to researchers in agriculture institutes, greenhouse owners, farmers and orchards owners. They were either importing expensive instruments or using very simple tools like SMS based motor controllers. The only tool at farm most of the people had was a mercury thermometer. We started working with rose growers in Hosur area.
We were team having complementary skills. Rajeev had worked in the software industry, Dr Ranjan was an expert in networking and wireless sensors and I had experience working on hardware. we believed we could do something for the agricultural sector. Like I said, it is the sector that has least amount of digital intervention. This is how we started in 2013.
What did you start with in 2013?
We started with a automatic micro weather station. Automatic weather station helps people who work on the agricultural field to measure the micro climate. One way of measuring it is by installing one weather station in the whole village. The other is to measure micro-weather at farm level.
The farmer really needs conditions of his field not from a station installed at district HQ.. We could create specific advisories for his farm and crop using the hyper local data.
We started deploying the weather stations by creating the open weather network in Bangalore. This is one of its kind open weather network in India. it is open to the public and You can access real time weather conditions in Bangalore. This has worked as our technology demonstration. After the public weather network we started working closely with research institutes like IISC, IIHR and ATREE.
The nice thing about Yuktix weather stations are that it is developed right here in Bangalore. The ownership of intellectual property allows us to try different models and price structures. We are offering the micro weather stations and our ankiDB software in OPEX model to farms. That way the growers can get weather forecasts, soil data, irrigation scheduling and reporting benefits without incurring capital expenditures. This model is possible because we own the design and thus costs.
Are you still manufacturing the weather station?
Yes, we are. The micro weather station is available along with the GreenSense product for the farms. You can buy directly from us or through one of the partners. .
What other products do you manufacture? Our product for farms is Green Sense that is suitable for open field agriculture. GreenSense is a solar powered sensor machines that work together with our ankiDB software to provide data and advisories to plantations, orchards, other open field growers and greenhouses. GreenSense sensor devices are small form factor hand and can run from solar or battery. There are options to purchase GreenSense devices with multi-level soil moisture, Temperature and humidity, Rain, Lux or Leaf wetness. There is one available for every need.
Data collected by GreenSense nodes are processed and analysed to provide crop specific advisory to the grower. That helps them optimize their daily operations, reduce the losses due to disease and pests, schedule irrigation save working man-hours that was not possible earlier.
Another product we have is the ColdSense that is a true wireless solution for cold storages and ware houses. This innovative product was the winner of Indo Israel innovation challenge.
Our understanding is that people across the agricultural value chain need access to the information. After harvesting, people need to store their produce. The stored produce can rot If the right environment is not maintained at the cold storage and the warehouses. There is a need to measurement the environment variables at multiple levels.
We developed ColdSense as an easy to use and affordable wireless solution for the cold storage and warehouses. The properties in this space are typically leased and there is little incentive to deploy digital systems by wiring the place. The cost of wiring is prohibitive and typical PLC based controller solutions cost upwards of 4 lakhs to wire one warehouse. Compared to that, our product can be deployed at ¼ of the cost and without requiring any wiring. We have done deployments for ITC in Guntur and Ongole area and Pilot for PepsiCo in Jalandhar.
The management could view the produce quality in real time and shared it easily with their customers. The operations team automatically got alerts for action before the situation deviated from the set norms. We provided performance based scoring that made the job of management easier.
The ankiDB™ micro is our hardware and firmware for gathering data from sensors, machines and processes. The ankiDB micro solution is optimized for low power and provides next generation technology to create ad hoc wireless sensor networks from fields to factory floors.
Our products are build on f Yuktix ankiDB™ IoT cloud software. The ankiDB™ cloud software provides facilities for device management, data storage, alarms for anomalies and analysis.
The ankiDB™ stack allows for rapid deployment of data gathering and analysis solutions in multiple situations. You can create apps for your specialized needs quickly and without capital expenditures.
Is this a funded company?
We have raised from family and friends. Right now we are in the market looking for funds..
So, your main customers would be vineyards, tea plantations, etc. - people who are in the organised and corporate level set up, right?
The way we like to put it is that we need a certain size right now. If you are an individual plantation of 1000 acres you are our customer and if you are an FPO working with 1000 tribal farmers then also you are our customer. We do not go to individual farmers right now. I would like to put this more as a distribution model. However that does not mean that our solutions do not benefit small holders. We had good success working with Gram Vikas in Orissa with small holder tribal farmers.
We are developing a network of weather station and green sense devices. We are also working with their agronomist and creating advisories and sending to farmers working with Gram Vikas.
We are also working with Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, based in Hyderabad in the Kadappa region. Likewise, we have previously worked with Keystone Foundation in Nilgiri hills . Currently we are in conversation with another foundation in Madhya Pradesh.
Hence, we do work with end farmers, but via cooperatives, NGO’s and FPO’s by enabling them with our technology. .It is just that we do not have a direct distribution model right now. We prefer working with distributors and partners. . A farmer in India, unlike other countries, don't own huge tracts of land.
Do you measure how much of this data and advisories are actually being used?
I will explain that with examples. There is this tea plantation in Nilgiris. They are one of the biggest tea plantations in South India. We have deployed 10 Green Sense sensor machines and 1 weather station for them.
Data collection is just one part of the operations. After that it has to be analysed and delivered in terms of actionable points. The soil moisture plays a very important role and multi-level soil moisture plays the second most important role. This is important data when people need to put manure and that should happen depending on the soil moisture.
The collected data is processed, analysed and made available to Yuktix compute engine. Yuktix compute engine run ML algorithms specific to crop and provide actionable insights. In addition to insights additional information like weather forecast, Satellite images, soil analysis is also provided to the operation’s team. For example
a. Disease forecast specific to the crop
b. Pesticide and insecticide scheduling
c. Irrigation scheduling
d. Manure spraying in field
These insights help the operation team save up to 25% on pesticide spray, reduce losses due to disease by 15%, save 100-150 man-work hours a week and optimize farm operations.
Another example is one of the NGOs working with tribal farmers in Orissa. They want to use digital technology to improve the livelihood of tribal farmers. With the global warming, weather patterns have changed. They wanted to deploy a network of weather station in remote locations where they work with farmers. They needed a digital tool that can help them get insights out of data. That is where we provided them Yuktix weather station and dashboard to enabled them to closely monitor real time weather conditions, weather forecast and get advisory specific to the crop the farmers are growing. Using our tool, they were able to provide advisory to the farmer in their local language throughout the crop life-cycle.
How does the business model work; how do you charge for your service?
The model is that we provide the package in an OPEX model. This is what we are pushing in the market because people view hardware as capital expenditure. This model allows people access to our digital tools on a per month subscription basis.
This model works well for FPOs, NGOs and progressive farmers.
Are your services available across India?
The focus is South India because we are based out of Bangalore. Though we have deployments in Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, UP and Punjab in association with our partners. Our areas of focus are Karnataka, AP, Telangana, Tamilnadu and Kerala. We are trying to expand our reach via partners.
What is the process for a progressive farmer, owning for example, 25 acres of coconut plantation, to reach out to you?
It is very easy. We have a help line number – 88843 15300. We can speak Kannada, Telugu , Tamil, Hindi and English. You just give us a ring and we can talk. You can talk about your needs and we can suggest the solution based on your input.
For instance, we were working with a coconut plantation near Coimbatore. That region has water scarcity. People pay tankers to irrigate their land. They buy abot 10 tankers a day because coconut is a water intensive plant. Here soil moisture measurements plays an important role. If we can automate their irrigation on right soil moisture measurements then they only irrigate when required and can save tons of water.
Is the irrigation automation a possibility right now?
There are SMS based irrigation controllers. We actually have true wireless soil moisture sensing based controllers. You do not have to cover the field in wires using our solution. The trials are going on at Kuppam and we can arrange a visit. We have exported same devices for field trials in Qatar and Australia.
Are there connectivity issues or any such hassles that you deal with?
There are provider specific problems once you move out of the metro areas. SIM based network access typically only works for particular provider in a spot. Like your Provider X SIM will work but not provider Y sims. Our solutions can accept any SIM and we also provide long range Sub Giga Hz connectivity to cover over missing spots of GSM reception. This is where we excel. We provide multiple communication options in GSM/GPRS, satellite-based communication and local wireless network. No
What is the smallest farmer you have worked with till date?
5-10 acres. As stated above we are also working with farmers who even do farming on 1-2 acres of land but via FPO’s, NGO”s and SHG’s.
What kind of revenue would a 10 acre plot generate for you?
There are multiple levels of services. So, it depends on what the user wants to go for. If the client only requires to understand the soil moisture of their land, the cost is different versus if someone wants to get information on soil moisture, rainfall, etc.
Is it affordable for a small-time farmer?
Right now and in a direct to customer model, the correct answer is NO. That is the situation as of now and that is one of the reasons we are trying to work with partners to reach economies of scale. It would be hard to service 5 small holders in a geography. However with numbers crossing hundred, the economies of scale kick in and the cluster is serviceable.
Where are we as a country in terms of agro-technology at a global level?
I have been to different parts of the world, like Poland, Germany, Japan etc. where the level of technology usage is quite high. We are definitely behind the curve in technology adoption. However what I can see is a great wave of technology in play right now. People are more aware and they know technology can help. Earlier, I have heard stories of how farmers were highly intuitive about everything including the weather. But, times have changed. So, technology is playing a big role and I am optimistic about this change. We are getting a lot of queries.
In your opinion, were we behind because the awareness in the market was low?
No! The reason we are behind is because the average land holding size in India is low. Money can be the biggest bottleneck.
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