Agri-startups Showcase Farm-ready Innovations at AgriNext Summit

KOCHI:
More than 150 agri-startups from across the country showcased their technology-driven solutions at the AgriNext Summit 2026 at the Kerala Startup Mission campus in Kalamassery here today, aimed at addressing critical challenges faced by farmers.

“Technology to the Fields, Transformation to the Harvest” is the theme of the summit, organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with the Kerala Agriculture Department and the World Bank.

The event seeks to bridge the gap between lab-based innovation and real-world farming by taking advanced technologies directly to farmers, offering a comprehensive look at how technology is reshaping agriculture.

The exhibition reflected the diversity and dynamism of India’s agri-innovation ecosystem, featuring an amazing variety of products from vacuum-fried jackfruit chips developed in Wayanad to a robotic grafting machine prototype for nurseries, AI-driven robotic crop monitoring systems and banana fibre-based leather alternatives crafted into bags and shoes by a Jaipur-based startup.

A major attraction at the show was Cocobot, a coconut-harvesting robot developed by Altersage. The prototype, expected to hit the market within six months, is designed to address the growing shortage of skilled coconut tree climbers.

“Cocobot is the world’s first commercially viable coconut-harvesting robot—mounting a tree in seconds, climbing in under a minute, harvesting in minutes, and eliminating risky human tree climbing. Shortage of labour to fetch coconuts led us to come up with the idea,” said Gokul Krishnan, CTO of Altersage.

Innovative wildlife deterrent technologies that use controlled sound, light, and spark- based systems to safely keep animals such as monkeys and wild pigs away from fields were also demonstrated.

A wide array of digital platforms and smart applications are also on display to support farmers in their day-to-day operations. These include tools for weather forecasting, soil assessment, AI-powered crop health monitoring, and precision aerial spraying systems that target only affected plants.

Among the digital initiatives showcased is the Kerala Farmer Confidence Copilot, developed in collaboration with the Digital University, which functions as a one-stop advisory and support platform for farmers.

Another notable platform, Canopy, is an AI-driven solution enabling coffee growers to monitor yield, detect diseases and manage plantations in real time.

The summit also features a range of value-added farm products, including ginger and fruit wines, cassava-based textile care sprays, fish-waste-derived organic fertilizers, banana plant-based biodegradable products such as organic tea cups and several farmer-focused e-commerce platforms that help producers directly market their value-added goods.

By bringing together innovators, policymakers, investors, and farmers under one roof AgriNext Summit 2026 is aimed atcatalysing a new wave of technology-led transformation in Indian agriculture, empowering farmers to become modern, resilient, and future-ready.