Awareness and attitude of stakeholders are main challenges for sustainable agriculture in India

Dr Hetal Bhinde thank you for your contribution to the discussion

Continuous fall in soil fertility is one of the major problems in many parts of India. Sustainable agriculture improves fertility and soil structure. Water: Irrigation is the biggest consumer of fresh water, and fertilizer and pesticides contaminate both surface and ground water. The barriers to green entrepreneurship are limited knowledge of green technology, high investment costs, lack of funds, difficulty in tapping the market due to high costs involved. Depending on the sector, location, and scale of their operations, green entrepreneurs may encounter various legal and administrative obstacles, such as licensing requirements, taxation regimes, environmental standards, trade restrictions, or intellectual property rights. These grand challenges include (a) providing a sustainable supply of food, water and energy, (b) reducing climate change and adapting to its impacts, (c) designing a future without pollution and waste, (d) creating efficient, healthy, resilient cities, and (e) fostering informed decisions and actions. The major marketing problems faced by agri-entrepreneurship are lack of marketing channels and networks, promotional facilities, support system, poor quality of products, and competition with medium and large-scale enterprises. The enterprises run by agri- preneurs often do not possess any marketing organization. India's crop productivity significantly lags behind that of advanced and emerging economies due to several factors. These include fragmented landholdings, limited farm mechanization, and insufficient public and private investments in the agricultural sector. Poverty and illiteracy of the farmers prevent them from making large-scale capital investments and adopting scientific methods of cultivation. Small land holdings due to fast-growing population which leads to fragmentation of land at quick succession. One of the biggest hurdles for green entrepreneurs is securing adequate funding for their ventures. Green businesses often require higher upfront costs, longer payback periods, and more uncertain returns than conventional ones. Startups in India face several obstacles, such as a lack of skilled workers, bureaucratic obstacles, and stiff competition from established businesses. Startups face significant challenges as a result of regulatory ambiguity, inadequate infrastructure, and difficulties scaling up operations. Factors such as access to funding, knowledge, competence, information access and government and private sector support are critical to sustaining green entrepreneurship. Green entrepreneurs are motivated by a vision of creating value for both customers and the planet, and they often adopt innovative approaches to reduce their environmental footprint. Some examples of green entrepreneurship are renewable energy, organic farming, green transportation, eco-tourism, and circular economy.

Land degradation due to continous cropping and non ecosystem friendly farm practices such as bush burning and persistent application of inorganic fertilizer which increases the soil pH are some of the challenges against sustainable sustainable agriculture in India and Nigeria as well

Dr Effiwatt Iwatt thank you for your contribution to the discussion

High population growth is the main cause of pressure on land, forest degradation, and land fragmentation. Several challenges are being faced by the agricultural sector in India. The sector is plagued by the problem of low productivity due to outdated farming techniques, lack of proper irrigation facilities, and inadequate use of fertilizers and pesticides that led to lower yields and lower profits for farmers. Green entrepreneurs are problem solvers and are very resourceful. They are proactive and demonstrate considerable initiative and don't generally accept or believe in limitations. They tend to be the ones who find a way when everyone else thinks they have reached a dead end. Entrepreneurship, after all, is not an easy path. It's the less-traveled one, with more treacherous terrain. It comes with higher rates of failure, financial instability, unknowns, and stiff competition. And despite what so many say, it's incredibly difficult to create a successful business. The barriers to green entrepreneurship are limited knowledge of green technology, high investment costs, lack of funds, difficulty in tapping the market due to high costs involved. Green entrepreneurship refers to a special subset of entrepreneurship that aims at creating and implementing solutions to environmental problems and to promote social change so that the environment is not harmed. Therefore, green entrepreneurs need to be aware of and comply with the relevant regulations, advocate for more supportive and harmonized policies, and collaborate with other stakeholders, such as governments, civil society, or industry associations. Green entrepreneurs who adopt these practices can reduce their environmental impact and create new economic opportunities. Fourth, green entrepreneurship raises awareness about environmental issues and promotes sustainable consumption and production patterns. Despite the immense support being raised for startups to blossom in India, several challenges still exist on the entrepreneurial road. Some of the commonly faced challenges include the difficulties of obtaining funds, lack of guidance and resources to grow, and complex regulatory environment to operate. Not enough capital allocations to support green initiatives and collaboration between sustainability teams and financial teams and lack of metrics to account for the level of environmental sustainability and lack of comprehensive and integrative strategies.