In business school, we always hear that "no business plan survives the first contact with a customer." This aphorism is reinforced when we work with farmers from different regions who think differently and have different needs. Thus, there is no substitute for talking directly to manufacturers to get a feel for what they are thinking. Only then can we adapt the technologies we develop to their needs and thus create better products.

Sometimes the needs and factors that drive farmers to shop can be very different from your expectations. Here I have listed some of the common needs of farmers and some unexpected areas in which they arise or are absent unpredictably.

1. Labor

Labor shortages are a problem all over the world. Rising wages have made it increasingly difficult for farmers to hire enough people to manage their farms, and in most countries, the rural population is shrinking. This pressure on the farmer could manifest itself in some expected ways, such as the rise of robotics and automation. It can also show up in very unexpected ways. I spoke with the CEO of one of the largest irrigation companies in India and I asked him what he learned from talking to his clients - his response was quite shocking: the main motivator for farmers in India buying drip irrigation and other advanced irrigation systems. the equipment is not intended to conserve water, although water is also in short supply, but to reduce labor costs.

2. Water

At first glance, water seems to be the easiest resource to understand: in arid regions or during a drought, there is not enough water. As a result of this deficit, the costs of farmers are increasing. However, in reality, the picture can be much more complicated. For example, in California, water shortages often make electricity, rather than water, one of the biggest costs. Nearly 20% of California's electricity is used for water-related purposes. In agricultural areas this is due to the extensive use of groundwater to recharge surface water, which may not be sufficient. Excessive abstraction of groundwater leads to the fact that the level of groundwater falls deeper and deeper every year, which leads to an increase in the demand for electricity. Thus, for many producers in these regions, the reduction in water use will actually translate into lower electricity bills rather than direct purchases of water.

Even if direct water purchases have been an important driver of cost increases, there can be interesting local dynamics that unexpectedly complicate markets. In parts of Israel, we have found that groups such as the Druze pay significantly more for agricultural water than new immigrants. In these scenarios, water saving innovation is more attractive to those groups that face positive price discrimination because they have a much stronger need.

3. Industrial raw materials (eg fertilizers and pesticides)

For many farmers, industrially produced inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides can be among the biggest costs. Naturally, you might suspect that farmers are therefore always motivated to minimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and will be the first to introduce technologies that will help them become more efficient. Unfortunately, the reality is still more complex. In India, other South Asian countries, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, fertilizer is currently or historically heavily subsidized by the government. Typically, these policies were aimed at improving the lives of subsistence farmers who could hardly afford to buy the necessary inputs.

In practice, the incentives for the farmer are changing, and now the agronomical entrepreneur is left with the challenge of finding a stakeholder with the right incentives. Although the end user of the fertilizer reduction technology will be the farmer, the government now has a stronger incentive to get farmers to reduce their consumption, and the sales cycle of this technology has become much more complicated - now you have to get: from both the government and the farmer.

4. Illness

Farmers always want to keep their plants healthy and one of the most important things is to minimize the incidence of disease. As expected, with advances in artificial intelligence and computing, we have seen a rise in the number of applications that can help identify diseases and suggest cures simply by picture. On the other hand, there are interventions that farmers use that may seem completely unrelated to disease. In many areas where water is scarce, farmers may actually use precision irrigation technology not primarily to reduce water consumption, but rather to minimize the occurrence of disease. Certain diseases, such as rot, especially suspensionare prone to occurrence in conditions of excessive irrigation.

Of course, farmers have a lot more needs than just these four. But, as we have seen, the needs that spark a farmer's interest in a given product may not be exactly what you might expect at first glance. So, I encourage you to get out of the office and talk to as many people as possible.

Adit Murti,

founder and CEO | ConserWater Technologies