THEME FOR XPECTRM

S&T for Rural India and Inclusive Growth

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S&T can empower rural India as it demands a radical departure from the contemporary organ
izing sciences and technologies. Currently, S&T research problems formulation and technolo
gical solutions are organized according to the industrial model. The supportive institutions of
law, banking, and regulations have been designed primarily for volume-based energy and mat
erials intensive, and often unsustainable economically and environmentally, modes of high-gr
owth production. When simply scaled down for rural production, such production modes, esp
ecially of manufacturing types, bring about breaks in the integrated living of rural communiti
es.

Life in rural India has an integrative approach to the agricultural and non-agricultural modes
of wealth creation. It is imperative to understand that innovation is a model of redistribution.
Innovation redistributes assets, capabilities, capacities, consumptions, and earnings. Therefor
e, empowering the rural poor via manufacturing within rural areas can be brought about by in
novation. Over the last 60 years, the democratic governance system of our nation has created
a considerable number of institutions and structures whose original purpose was to address th
e innovation befitting rural India. However, the agenda capturing power of the dominant urba
n institutions have taken over a significant segment of the original intent. As a result, S&T for
rural manufacturing has currently been reduced to a subset.

Rural development in India has evidenced a significant number of changes in its emphasis, str
ategies, approaches, and programs with a view to developing the socio-economic conditions o
f the people: in providing good infrastructural facilities, employment opportunities, and supp
ort services. Many organizations are in support of the generation and promotion of appropriat
e technologies under various schemes. Moreover, engineering-based educational institutions,
non-government organizations, state government organizations, private establishments, and v
oluntary agencies augment these efforts. Despite the advances made, there remains a lot that
needs to be done to bring prosperity to the lives of the rural poor, thereby ending the divide b
etween Bharat and India.
AGRICULTURE

SUB THEME :

Geospatial Information Technologies in Agriculture: Integrating Sustainability and Em

powering Rural Poor
The advent of geospatial information technologies such as Remote Sensing (RS), Global Posi
tioning Systems (GPS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are playing a major role i
n the inclusive growth and development of the rural areas in India. The remote sensing applic
ations include agriculture and soil mapping, forest and wastelands mapping, land-use/land-co
ver mapping, ecology, and geo-morphologic mapping, land-form and land-degradation studie
s, mineral/ oil/water exploration, environmental monitoring, disaster management, and coasta
l and ocean resources studies.

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad, is engaged in the facilitation of several
remote sensing & GIS applications for natural resources and environmental management relat
ed to water security, food security, energy security, and sustainable development disaster man
agement support.

The incorporation of socio-economic data with spatial data has been increasing. National Info
rmatics Centre (NIC) assists several central, state, and local bodies in meeting their specific r
equirements. Using the hierarchical system approach along with spatial data handling, there is
a need to create a consistent spatial information database. In spite of problems with data accur
acy, completeness of data, and logical consistency, a potent tool for local and regional planni
ng should be formulated. It can serve as a framework for various planning programs at the re
gional and local levels and the transfer of know-how between governmental bodies and instit
utions using a relevant approach.
DEVELOPMENT

SUB THEME : TECHNOLOGY- AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL FOR DEVELOPMEN

T
India with its rich and vibrant demography has its task cut out. Upliftment of the marginalize
d and empowerment of the impecunious is the need of the hour. The mandate emanates from
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals- an ambitious charter formulated for the bett
erment of the entire humanity. The question though remains- how? The latest technological a
dvancements can help answer the conundrum.

A plethora of instances support the above argument- From Digital India Programme which en
visages the creation of highly specialized jobs for an estimated 156 million rural families of t
he nation to availing Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) through Jan Dhan Accounts, technology
has galvanized the entire governance landscape in India. Targeted interventions like ‘BharatN
et’- aiming for expedited internet access in Indian villages, e- NAM portal for displaying and
selling of agricultural goods and commodities, mapping of aquifers throughout the length and
breadth of the country to promote prudent use of water resources and the establishment of Co
mmon Service Centers to deliver various electronic and technical services to the local populat
ion are some of the ways in which technology has acted as a great enabler and catalyst for the
underserved and unserved population.

All said, there still remain bottlenecks to be addressed. We have to bridge the gap between te
chnology acquisition and technology implementation. This would require the enhancement of
digital literacy among the intended population and fostering a conducive atmosphere for reali
zing the true potential of every individual. Internet connectivity, electrification, infrastructure
development, and an insatiable appetite for knowledge on relevant and new technologies can
act as the driving forces to bring the change. This definitely is an exacting task. But once reali
zed, this would go a long way in fulfilling our national commitments and achieving the object
ive of AatmaNirbharBharat in the long run.
MARKETING

SUB THEME 1:
India is a vast country where around 506 million people are living and the market has a treme
ndous opportunity in the future. Years ago the big corporations were not focused on the rural
market as there was less scope of communicating with rural audiences but with the rise in dig
italization and internet connectivity this vast market is open for each and every player.

The rural people are now exposed to communication technologies and a gamut of services. T
he rural segment is growing at a pace of 9 – 10% per annum. Moreover, as per ASER report i
n 2012 , private school numbers in rural India have risen by 5.5% over the past six years and
the literacy rate is now 68.91%. With the increase in literacy rate the shifting of technology is
achieved from urban areas to rural one.

Coming to the topic, it is very much essential to know about social marketing. Social marketi
ng is an approach in which commercial marketing and techniques are to be used to improve t
he welfare of the specific targeted people.

The use of electronic media to communicate the advantages of products or brands for the spe
cific objective of creating, executing and further controlling an influence of social change or
overall societal well-being are included in this arena. The different commercials aired by the
government and the NGOs are responsible for consumption patterns in the rural households a
nd educational advertisements.

Most of the organizations are deliberately using many mediums to attract and bring about a c
hange in the mindset of the rural society. Digital Gangetic Plan (DGP) - a Wi-fi project conne
cting some villages in Uttar Pradesh is the best example to give here which has exposed many
rural people of the state to the internet. Another example can be taken with the launch of e-go
vernance services through E-sevas in rural Andhra Pradesh which is enabling the people to pa
y their bills, passport services and receive essential certificates at their doorstep. Vihaan Netw
orks Ltd. has come up with GSM towers called the WorldGSM which completely focused on
solar energy implementation in networking organizations to skyrocket their internet services
and broadband services in the rural markets. With this type of initiative by the governments a
nd the NGOs, the rural market is now open with lots of opportunities for the big players. Wit
h the use of social media like Facebook, Instagram, tik-tok, and others the marketing of the pr
oducts for rural reasons are now very much easier for corporates. Except that the initiative by
some of the companies to use tool-free call services has now emerged as a big opportunity for
marketing.
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SUB THEME 2 : Technology and Rural Market
India's economy is primarily based on agriculture. Rural Markets have a lot of room for grow
th and development. The demand for agricultural inputs on the marketplace such as Farm co
mmodities (seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, etc.), the cost of equipment (including tractors) has s
kyrocketed. Seventy percent of the total comes from rural markets of the population, which is
spread out among the entire nation. Comprehending the term "Rural Marketing" is necessary
for understanding the context. Any marketing effort that identifies and addresses the needs of
consumers living in villages is known as rural marketing. If and when marketers live in rural
areas, live rural lives, and grasp the intricacies of rural consumer behaviour, technological inn
ovation will be successful. In recent years, the focus of marketing has shifted to rural regions,
which present significant prospects that multinational corporations cannot afford to overlook.
The Green Revolution brought with it the intelligent use of fertilizers, herbicides, high yieldin
g agricultural crops, modern implements, and improved technology, resulting in an increase i
n farmers' disposable income, significant increases in purchasing power, a decent lifestyle, an
d a higher standard of living for the vast rural population. Because rural markets are enormou
s, attractive, dispersed, homogeneous, and roughly three times the size of urban markets, they
provide tremendous marketing prospects for growth and expansion.

The rural community's trends have shifted dramatically. The technologies and tactics that are
being promoted in rural regions are urban-based and unsuitable for the demands of rural peop
le. The technology developers' products and services solely cater to the needs of the elite farm
ers, leaving the poorer sections of the rural masses behind and neglected, compounding their
problems. Furthermore, the rural community's perspective must be aligned with that of techn
ology developers. Rural markets should be known for their inventiveness. The technologies d
eveloped should have solid after-sales service, ease of use, and reasonable prices, and they sh
ould be adapted to satisfy the demands of rural communities. An industry-funding agency int
erface can help the poorest members of society while simultaneously acting as a driver for jo
b creation. In our country, solar power is a fantastic solution for energy access. We must harn
ess it in order to better people's lives. Technology's impact on India's rural areas must be felt.

AGRI- MARKETING
 SUB THEME: Marketing Intelligence and Agri-Marketing
Indian agriculture could not meet rising food demand in the late 1960s, and the countr
y grew dependent on imports. More than 100 crores of people are fed, and the country
benefits from exports of clothing and raw commodities. It is true that increased agricu
ltural productivity raises farmers' incomes, but not their standard of living. As a result
of the general neglect of marketing efforts, we have failed to appropriately promote ag
ricultural products raised by farmers. The significance of agricultural marketing is und
ervalued by farmers and government leaders alike. India's farmers know how to produ
ce, but not how to sell. In a country like India, where more than 70% of the population
lives in rural areas and farms, knowing agricultural market pricing is vital. Market int
elligence is essential for farmers and merchants to make informed decisions about wh
at to grow, harvest, sell, and store.

The application of systematic collecting and processing of information from all releva
nt sources in order to obtain the latest information on agricultural marketing trends is r
eferred to as a Market Intelligence system. Collecting data from all accessible sources,
the producer/farmer/trader merges these into informative information that is of crucial
utility in decision making. Using marketing information has led to increased farmer pr
ofits and lower post-harvest losses. Also, in marketing intelligence, production resour
ces are better and more efficiently allocated. Price forecasting is an integral part of ma
rketing intelligence and for agricultural commodities, it could be derived from a variet
y of temporal forecasting models. The following are a few that are frequently used an
d produce decent results:
a.) Exponential Smoothing
b.) ARIMA Models (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average)
c.) Seasonality
d.) ARCH (Autoregressive conditional Heteroscedastic)
e.) GARCH (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic)
f.) ANN (Artificial Neural Network)
Farmers must have price intelligence to effectively promote their products. Having ex
cellent analytical skills and market intelligence understanding is rare among farmers t
oday. Recent technological advancements make it easier to offer farmers marketing in
formation. However, advanced facilities may not benefit farmers if badly maintained
or not intended for their needs. It is not enough to collect marketing data; it must be m
ade available to farmers and tailored to their requirements. Existing agricultural marke
t information services in India usually fall short. There was no method to analyze and
turn this massive volume of information into basic, accessible trade intelligence. This
necessitates a farmer-friendly market intelligence system. AGMARKNET connects k
ey regulated markets across India and provides real-time information.Thus, increasing
our country's agriculture marketing industry requires scientific and planned Market In
telligence implementation.
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MICROFINANCE SECTOR
SUB THEME : FINTECH- ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH INCREASED
FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN MICROFINANCE
In the developing and the third world nations, affordability, understandability and accessibilit
y through fintech to microfinance products has addressed numerous economic pitfalls. It not
only helps formalize lending but also increases financial literacy. It encouraged pluri activity
through better MSME financing alternatives. There is a famous proverb which goes - “If Mo
hammad won't go to the mountain, the mountain shall come to Mohammad, Something like t
his exactly is done by leveraging Fintech viz blockchain by creating prospects about mobile b
anks. Technologies enabled essential financing procedures through small portable devices bri
dging the gap between financial institutions and its beneficiaries. NBFCs, small finance bank
s and other innovative investing organizations have seen tremendous growth owing to increa
sed stress upon “ social impact financing'' and ''sustainability financing’ which had in turn led
to higher investments despite increased risk arising out of various industry variables in rural a
reas. Due to fintech inclusivity and customised repayment schedules inline with revenue sche
dules, credit default rate is low. Development in one sector doesn't happen in isolation but is
dependent on related sectors and opens avenues for other sectors to grow. This can been seen
in the case of robust investments in Impact financing through better prediction using AI techn
ologies especially cluster algorithms has taken us closer to the 17 sustainable development go
als major beneficiaries being
1. SDG 8 decent work and economic growth
2. SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and infrastructure
3. SDG 1 No poverty

Procurement of affordable finance in rural productivity systems is quintessential for success o

f MSME ventures. AI driven innovation for designing debt products for micro borrowers are
more accurate and less likely to fail since such models are built after much feature scaling an
d testing on historical as well as future data for precision enabling. This leads to inclusive deb
t alternatives.

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