A one-day industry-academia workshop on "Research Innovation for Commercialization" was successfully held at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. The workshop was organized by the Agrihub Centre of Excellence at IIT Indore.
At the beginning of the workshop, Prof. Aruna Tiwari, lead investigator at Agrihub Centre, emphasized the importance of collaboration between academic institutions and industries. She mentioned that such cooperation can help turn research into practical, market-ready solutions. She also highlighted the usefulness of workshops like this in fostering future innovations.
Dr. Anil Rai, Assistant Director General (ICT) of ICAR, stressed the need to bridge the gap between research institutions and industrial applications. He pointed out that such events can help introduce new technologies into farming, benefiting farmers and the agricultural sector overall.
Ms. Laxmi Pant, a scientist from C-DAC Pune, said that making agriculture more advanced will require collaboration among various experts and institutions. She stressed the importance of multi-beneficiary partnerships to boost productivity in farming through the use of technology.
AI and ML Can Lead to a Tech Revolution in Farming:
Prof. Narendra S. Chaudhary, Vice Chancellor of Assam Science and Technology University, shared the need for developing region-specific AI and machine learning models. Dr. Prashant Dhakephalkar, Director of Agharkar Research Institute, also emphasized that it's time for a "technical green revolution" in agriculture using AI and ML, which can help India lead globally in food production and agri-tech.
Open Discussion and Expert Insights:
The workshop featured an open panel discussion where experts from industry and academia talked about current challenges and possible solutions. Topics such as product commercialization, research bottlenecks, and intellectual property (IP) management were discussed.
New Partnerships and Future Plans:
An MoU was signed during the workshop between Agrihub and Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL). This partnership aims to strengthen technical cooperation in agriculture under the Department of Biotechnology. Additionally, key players in precision agriculture, genome analysis, and seed testing agreed to develop joint programs under the Agrihub project. Several startups and NGOs also expressed interest in launching collaborative initiatives for the benefit of farmers.
