CEO Insights Magazine

As a primary supplier of both sustenance and basic materials, the agricultural industry plays a vital role in today's economy. Poor infrastructure, a lack of access to contemporary technology, and limited resources are just some of the many obstacles that farmers in many areas of the country must overcome. As a result, they have a hard time keeping up with the market and end up with reduced profits and crop returns. Technology-based initiatives and practices are essential for future-proofing agriculture and bolstering the agricultural sector in the face of these concerns. In this regard, Pramod John is a pioneer in the effort to introduce technical initiatives and methods to financially disadvantaged sectors of society, with a focus on the agricultural industry.

Below is an excerpt of Pramod Johns exclusive interaction with CEO Insights magazine.

As the CEO, what is the motivation that fuels your daily routines?
To me working on cutting-edge technologies is an exciting experience that ignites enthusiasm and motivation to keep going. Also, being involved in the development of technology that directly impacts the lives of small farmers is an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding experience. The equipment interventions that we implement not only reduce the burden of labour but also improve the quality of life for these hardworking individuals. Seeing the smiles on their faces as they reap the benefits of our efforts is a truly heart warming experience. The positive impact that our work has on their lives serves as a driving force, fuelling my energy to continue pushing forward and innovating.

How would you define Solidaridad Network India as an organization and its current position in the market?
We are a young company in the agritech industry, having started operations only twenty months ago.

Most importantly,among our record breaking selection of 16 digital products, 1 is patented and 3 are firsts in their respective industries. Because we run an efficient and orderly operation, we were able to introduce so many new goods in such a brief time frame. As a group, we are committed to helping local farms.

Give a brief account of your flagship offerings and what are the value additions that customers can expect from offerings.
The agricultural industry has witnessed remarkable advancements in technology, particularly in the development of innovative products designed to enhance farming practices. SOLIPROBE is a unique product that has revolutionized the traditional, tedious soil testing process. With its instant testing capabilities, SOLIPROBE saves farmers the time and cost of sending soil samples to laboratories and delivers accurate results onsite within seconds. The device measures critical soil components such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, pH, electrical conductivity, soil temperature, soil moisture, salinity, height from mean sea level, and land map contour, which are essential for plant growth and yield optimization.

SOLIMET is another cutting-edge technology that provides farmers with hyperlocal weather, soil, and plant monitoring data. With its advanced features such as pest and animal detection systems, SOLIMET helps farmers control pest infestations and optimize their inputs, ultimately increasing their yields and profits. The device measures wind speed, direction, rainfall, temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, light intensity, and altitude, making it an indispensable tool for farmers.

The Ballotronix-Tea Leaf Reader is a state-of-the art invention that simplifies the process of grading tea leaves based on their quality using Artificial Intelligence. With its ability to detect external moisture on tea leaves, identify diseases and grade leaves fairly and efficiently,

Ballotronix saves farmers time and resources while improving the accuracy of quality assessments. The device's high accuracy rate of 93 percent makes it a reliable alternative to manual quality assessments.

Could you reflect on some of the toughest challenges you have encountered in your journey so far?
I feel that we are in a race against time to bring out innovative and sustainable products with scantily available resources. It demands to keep our creative juices flowing and requires us to streamline our processes, be frugal with available resources, and most importantly to have a deep understanding of the problem at hand. However, I believe this is an opportunity to create efficient, cost-effective, and farmer-friendly solutions which have the potential to significantly impact people’s lives for the good.

What market possibilities are you planning on investing your time in to meet your goals?
Agri tech and robotics have the potential to revolutionize agriculture by reducing human labour, improving efficiency, and increasing yields.By harnessing the power of technology, we can reduce the suffering of farmers and workers, while also ensuring sustainable and profitable agriculture for the future.

Pramod John, CEO, Solidaridad Network India
Pramod is a social entrepreneur with experience over three decades in the social and environmental sectors bringing in technological interventions and practices to the needy sections of society, especially the farming sector. He has been instrumental in training farming groups to adopt various resource saving and environment friendly agricultural practices.He has worked in the commodities sector such as coffee, cotton, tea, sugarcane and garments, in different capacities in cleaning and greening the supply chain for the benefit of all stake holders.

Pramod actively designs programmes for tracking, tracing and predictability of agri-produce using digital interventions. He has polyvalent experience in blending the needs of the social sector with cutting-edge technology and is currently leading a team of programmers and IT professionals to develop different tools for farmers and other vulnerable sectors using the prowess of the digital domain.