Ram Bhoopal Poduvu, Co-Founder & CSO & Sudarshan R, Co-Founder & CTO
Vishnu Gorantala, Co-Founder & CEO
Farmers must spot problems in their fields daily; however, several crops make it tough for farmers to even enter the fields regularly. Stresses are thus noticed only when a large part of the crop is already affected. By then, the farmer has no choice but to rely on blanket pesticide sprays with little control over outcomes.
This is the challenge that three long-time collaborators, Vishnu Gorantala, Ram Bhoopal Poduvu, and Sudarshan R, set out to address. Sudarshan brings the lived experience of being a farmer, while Vishnu and Ram Bhoopal have spent years working closely with the farming community. Together, they created Krishivaas, a platform that reads each field without manual scouting or expensive devices. At less than two rupees a day, it helps farmers detect stresses early, act wisely, reduce inputs, and boost both productivity & profitability.
SmartPixels: Descriptive, Diagnostic, Prescriptive, & Predictive
SmartPixels is the company’s core technology platform that quantifies and interprets data at the pixel level, providing precise insights for agricultural decision-making. It integrates four analytical layers that work together seamlessly. The Descriptive layer captures both historical and current data. The Diagnostic layer quantifies stresses and plant health, detecting early signs of potential issues. The Prescriptive layer supports variablerate application to optimize resources, while the Predictive layer utilizes phenology, pest, and disease models to forecast future outcomes.
Currently, the company's primary focus is on automated detection, demarcation and quantification of crop stresses. While SmartPixels already integrates advanced weather-based models for prediction, its core strength lies in the early detection of stresses, a field where they have developed a unique edge. No other company has reached this level of precision. The system can detect stress factors seven to ten days before any visible symptoms appear, representing a major advancement in crop health monitoring.
Early Detection of Crop Stresses
Krishivaas’s AI-based smart farming platform detects crop stresses using daily satellite images, with no need for human intervention or ground based devices. Unlike conventional satellite-based solutions that rely on vegetation indices designed decades ago for broad land-use classification, Krishivaas applies a proprietary AI algorithm validated by leading research institutions, ICRISAT, IIRR, and the SBI Foundation.
How Krishivaas Works
SmartPixels are the smallest unit of analysis from satellite imagery, with a resolution of 3m x 3m, with each acre containing about 444 unique points. These points are processed to estimate crop health and detect stresses. The data is then used to draw new stress boundaries, allowing farmers to locate the exact spot and diagnose the issue using Krishivaas' tools. Once the stress is identified, the same tools suggest cultural, biological, or chemical interventions with precise formulations. The platform forewarns farmers about conditions conducive to problems at different crop stages, representing the Predictive capability.
This Early Detection gives farmers the time to try non-chemical interventions that are cheaper, safer, and targeted only at affected areas. This reduces costs, improves yields, and strengthens profit ability. Hundreds of farmers using Krishivaas have reduced costs by around 25 percent and increased productivity by nearly 40 percent.
Sudarshan R, Co-Founder & CTO, Krishivaas explains, “I have been a farmer since 2016. With my strong technology background, I wanted to explore how new-age technologies can help in reducing the gaps in agricultural activities”. This blend of on-ground understanding and technical insight has helped Krishivaas build a tool that is both scientifically sound and farmer-friendly.
Towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12
By detecting the stresses early, much before the economic threshold limit (ETL), Krishivaas provides ample time to the farmer to try out sustainable interventions without the need to do an expensive and harmful chemical spray of the whole farm. Instead of treating an entire farm uniformly, SmartPixels identifies specific zones that require attention. This allows variable rate application of inputs like fertilizers water and pesticides, ensuring they are used only where needed. By reducing over use, it minimizes environmental impact, improves soil health, and enhances productivity. In doing so, Krishivaas supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12, which focuses on responsible and sustainable production.
Reaching Farmers Through Collaborative Partnerships
One of the biggest challenges in agri-tech is trust. A few startups let down farmers by overpromising and underdelivering, creating skepticism toward any new technology, especially app-based ones. With hundreds of tools and apps flooding the market from both private players and research institutions, none have yet stood out as clearly reliable. As a result, farmer adoption of technology remains low.
Krishivaas is addressing this by partnering with institutions that already have strong relationships with farmers. This approach may slow down market expansion, but it ensures genuine understanding and trust among the farming community.
So far, the company has collaborated with a wide range of partners across academia, government, and the private sector. Its collaborations include ICRISAT, CIMMYT, PJTSAU (Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University) UAS Raichur and the National Seeds Corporation, among others. It has also worked with private institutions such as VSI, as well as universities like Raichur University in collaboration with ICRISAT and Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), ICAR institute with both projects funded by the SBI Foundation.
In addition to institutional partnerships, the company works closely with several FarmerProducer Organizations (FPOs). One notable collaboration is with the Manakota FPO, where the impact of their work has been well recognized by both the CEO and the farmers involved, particularly within the chilli-growing community.
Scaling Impact
Looking ahead, Krishivaas plans to expand its reach from individual crop fields to entire farms, villages, mandals, and states. The team is in active discussions with several state governments to bring this technology to their farmers and are piloting in couple of states.
At the same time, the founders urge policymakers to make it easier for entrepreneurs to work with governments. As Vishnu Gorantala, Co-Founder & CEO, Krishivaas explains, “If this process were simplified, more entrepreneurs working on advanced technologies could scale faster and deliver meaningful impact”.
SmartPixels are the smallest unit of analysis from satellite imagery, with a resolution of 3m x 3m, with each acre containing about 444 unique points. These points are processed to estimate crop health and detect stresses. The data is then used to draw new stress boundaries, allowing farmers to locate the exact spot and diagnose the issue using Krishivaas' tools. Once the stress is identified, the same tools suggest cultural, biological, or chemical interventions with precise formulations. The platform forewarns farmers about conditions conducive to problems at different crop stages, representing the Predictive capability.
Our core innovation is the early detection of crop stresses, where we can identify issues a week before any visual signs appear
This Early Detection gives farmers the time to try non-chemical interventions that are cheaper, safer, and targeted only at affected areas. This reduces costs, improves yields, and strengthens profit ability. Hundreds of farmers using Krishivaas have reduced costs by around 25 percent and increased productivity by nearly 40 percent.
Sudarshan R, Co-Founder & CTO, Krishivaas explains, “I have been a farmer since 2016. With my strong technology background, I wanted to explore how new-age technologies can help in reducing the gaps in agricultural activities”. This blend of on-ground understanding and technical insight has helped Krishivaas build a tool that is both scientifically sound and farmer-friendly.
Towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12
By detecting the stresses early, much before the economic threshold limit (ETL), Krishivaas provides ample time to the farmer to try out sustainable interventions without the need to do an expensive and harmful chemical spray of the whole farm. Instead of treating an entire farm uniformly, SmartPixels identifies specific zones that require attention. This allows variable rate application of inputs like fertilizers water and pesticides, ensuring they are used only where needed. By reducing over use, it minimizes environmental impact, improves soil health, and enhances productivity. In doing so, Krishivaas supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12, which focuses on responsible and sustainable production.
Reaching Farmers Through Collaborative Partnerships
One of the biggest challenges in agri-tech is trust. A few startups let down farmers by overpromising and underdelivering, creating skepticism toward any new technology, especially app-based ones. With hundreds of tools and apps flooding the market from both private players and research institutions, none have yet stood out as clearly reliable. As a result, farmer adoption of technology remains low.
Krishivaas is addressing this by partnering with institutions that already have strong relationships with farmers. This approach may slow down market expansion, but it ensures genuine understanding and trust among the farming community.
So far, the company has collaborated with a wide range of partners across academia, government, and the private sector. Its collaborations include ICRISAT, CIMMYT, PJTSAU (Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University) UAS Raichur and the National Seeds Corporation, among others. It has also worked with private institutions such as VSI, as well as universities like Raichur University in collaboration with ICRISAT and Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), ICAR institute with both projects funded by the SBI Foundation.
In addition to institutional partnerships, the company works closely with several FarmerProducer Organizations (FPOs). One notable collaboration is with the Manakota FPO, where the impact of their work has been well recognized by both the CEO and the farmers involved, particularly within the chilli-growing community.
Scaling Impact
Looking ahead, Krishivaas plans to expand its reach from individual crop fields to entire farms, villages, mandals, and states. The team is in active discussions with several state governments to bring this technology to their farmers and are piloting in couple of states.
At the same time, the founders urge policymakers to make it easier for entrepreneurs to work with governments. As Vishnu Gorantala, Co-Founder & CEO, Krishivaas explains, “If this process were simplified, more entrepreneurs working on advanced technologies could scale faster and deliver meaningful impact”.
