The AgriTech Innovation Award
Agricultural technology is judged here at the farm gate. This category recognises work that changed yield, input cost, price realisation or risk for growers — including the unglamorous parts, from soil and water to storage and market access.
- Independent jury
- 250
- Innovations evaluated
- 4,500+
- Star rating
- 1–5
- Running since
- 2010
Academics, scientists, officials, investors
Across seventeen editions
Every nominee earns an AGBA Innovation Star
India’s longest-running innovation award
Three categories sit close to data. This is the one about method and evidence.
Most nominations that fail here fail because they were in the wrong category. Read across before you write anything.
Innovation in AgriTech
Farm productivity, inputs, water, post-harvest and market access, measured at the farm gate.
This category
Innovation in Climate Change
Emissions, resilience and resource work, including climate-smart agriculture.
Innovation in Supply Chain
Cold chain, storage and logistics between the farm and the buyer.
Who should enter
- Precision agriculture, advisory and input systems with measured yield or cost effects
- Water, soil and irrigation innovation adopted by working farms
- Post-harvest, storage and cold chain work that cut losses
- Market linkage, price discovery and finance for growers and producer organisations
- Livestock, aquaculture and allied sector technology with operating data
What this award recognises is a grower who is measurably better off — more yield, less input, a better price, less loss. Acreage under an app is not the same as impact.
If the case rests on emissions or climate resilience, enter Innovation in Climate Change. If it is storage and movement after the farm, enter Innovation in Supply Chain.
What the jury looks for
- Problem definition & market opportunityWhether the innovation solves a real problem, backed by evidence and a measurable impact on its target audience.
- InnovativenessNovelty and uniqueness — new technology, functionality or business model — measured against what already exists, including IP.
- Market potential & impactSize and growth of the addressable market, competitive landscape, and scalability across geographies.
- Social impact & sustainabilityContribution to society and the environment, including social responsibility and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
These are the same four criteria — problem definition, innovativeness, market impact and social/sustainability impact — used to assess every category. In this category the jury also weighs methodological rigour — including what you did to avoid fooling yourselves — the decision that changed as a result and what it was worth, the reproducibility and honesty of the evaluation, and the engineering quality of the data foundation underneath. Read the full evaluation criteria.
Who judges this category
Nominations are assessed by an independent jury, not by the organisers. Jurors are matched to the categories where their expertise lies. These are among those who read agriculture and allied sector entries.
Dr. Srikanth RupavatharamScientist, Digital Agriculture, ICRISAT
Dr. Ranjna NagpalDeputy Director General, Agri-Informatics Division, National Informatics Centre
Dr.Ashok AlurDirector, Centre of Excellence for Farmer Producer Organizations
Mr Akhil Kumar GawarDirector, Telangana State Food Processing Society
Dr. Anita GuptaScientist G and Head, Climate, Energy and Sustainable Technology, Department of Science & Technology
Dr. Jitendra KumarManaging Director, Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre
Dr. Anurag GargChair Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay
Prof. Emel AktasChair of Supply Chain Analytics, Cranfield School of ManagementEight of roughly 250. The full panel spans the IITs, the IIMs, the IIITs, the Indian School of Business, NITI Aayog and central ministries, the Department of Science & Technology, MeitY and CERT-In. See the full jury panel.
The farm gate on the podium
Agriculture has been recognised in every recent edition, as AgriTech and as Agriculture. These are among the most recent winners, photographed at the ceremony.
Previous winners
The category has alternated between AgriTech and Agriculture across the editions; each row carries the name the award had that year. The complete record sits in the winners archive.
Category names have changed across editions as the field has moved; the rows above are the closest equivalents in the published record. See the winners archive for the full 1st–16th edition history.
What happens after you submit
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Stage one · nowNomination registration
Register your company and category through the nomination process, then complete the detailed nomination form and processing fee.
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Stage twoJury presentation
Present the innovation to the jury and take questions. Jurors score each entry against the four evaluation criteria and rank it within its category.
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Stage threeStar Certification
Nominees are also assessed for AGBA Innovation Star Certification, an independent maturity rating alongside the category judging.
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Stage fourFinalists announced
Once every category has been evaluated, finalists are announced on the website ahead of the ceremony.
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Stage fiveAward ceremony
Winners are honoured on 18 February 2027 at Hotel Ashoka, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
Before you write your nomination
Do we need farm-level data, or is platform usage enough?
Farm-level. Registered acreage and app downloads describe reach; the panel is looking for what changed for the grower.
Is allied sector work eligible?
Yes. Livestock, aquaculture, agro-processing and farm inputs are all read here.
Are producer organisations and cooperatives eligible?
Yes, and entries with FPOs or cooperatives often carry the clearest evidence of price and cost effects.
How do I submit a nomination?
Nominations are submitted through the nomination process, which sets out the stages, the supporting material required and the current edition’s dates.
Put the farm gate in front of the panel
Nominations for the AgriTech Innovation Award are read by an independent jury of agricultural scientists, administrators and practitioners. Bring the grower’s numbers.