DCM Shriram Agwater Challenge

16

AgTech organisations

13

States

25,000+

Smallholder farmers

Launched in June 2023 with a prize pool of INR 2.6 Cr, the DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge aims to improve water efficiency, productivity, and profitability for 1 million smallholder farmers in India, focusing on four major water-intensive crops

sugarcane

wheat

paddy

cotton

16 AgTech organizations in the cohort drove innovation across four key technology categories - Irrigation as a Service, Advisory & Information Services, Irrigation Mechanisation/Automation and BioAg Inputs.

Over a 18-month period, the cohort underwent a 3-stage evaluation—Baseline, Midline, and Endline—assessing progress, impact, and scalability. Four finalists have been selected for their potential to solve, scale and create breakthroughs.

Providing farmers with precision irrigation guidance using IoT and AI-driven remote sensing analytics

Hemendra Mathur

Venture Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund

Arindom Datta

Senior Adviser, Agri & Fintech

Aruna Rangachar Pohl

Agri Value Chain and FPO Expert, IFHD

“Agriculture needs unprecedented attention & technological support to empower smallholder farmers and make their practices resilient in the face of unseasonal rains, groundwater depletion & unpredictable climatic shifts. At the MoAFW, we have taken major initiatives for agriculture modernisation through infrastructural shifts, mechanization, policy and promoting technological proliferation. It’s in times like these that we need initiatives like the DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge, to discover, spotlight & champion modern solutions to address systemic challenges in improving water efficiency & productivity at scale; for our largest crops”

Manoj Ahuja,

Secy - Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

"Water is a vital resource, as much as 80% of water in India is utilized for agriculture and what's concerning is that up to 60% of this precious resource is said to go to waste. Over the years, unregulated extraction of groundwater has resulted in an alarming fall in the water table across the country. Such a scenario can be a threat to food security as well as livelihood for millions of farmers. With this background, there is a pressing need to enhance water usage efficiency in agriculture through innovative and sustainable solutions. Hence any intervention for large-scale water conservation will essentially need to work closely with the needs of agriculture."

Mr Ajay S Shriram

Chairman & Managing Director, DCM Shriram Ltd.

“Water stress in agriculture is a multifaceted issue, which requires a collaborative approach from multiple stakeholders. Here is an unprecedented opportunity for innovators ro demonstrate scale the world has never seen before - especially for the benefit of the smallholder farmer, who is at the intersection of water stress & poverty”

Hemendra Mathur

Venture Partner - Bharat Foundation Fund

PARTNERS

Helping on scale

Access to sufficient clean water is still a significant issue in many parts of India, and adoption at the scale of effective solutions has not happened due to poor service and enablement of long term use (especially in rural India).

With “Clean Drinking Water for All”, The/Nudge Prize, powered by Ashirvad, aims to solve this problem through entrepreneurial initiatives.

see all partners

Partners

see all partners

DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge

Overview of challenge

16

13

25,000+

Finalists

Challengers

Challenge glimpse

Program timeline

Helping on scale

Partners

Ready with your application?

Need more time with your application?

Unlock secure livelihoods with us!

DCM Shriram AgWater Challenge

Overview of challenge

16

13

25,000+

Finalists

Challengers

Challenge glimpse

Program timeline

Helping on scale

Partners

Ready with your application?

Need more time with your application?