Today, Indian agriculture sector is receiving immense support from the Indian government and this is acting as a thrust to bring about a major transformation in agri sector. Agriculture accounts for more than 15 percent of the country's GDP while about 58 percent of rural households rely on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. However, while agriculture has been the backbone of human existence since time immemorial, adoption of new techniques has always been a delayed process within the industry. With farmers having pre-conceived negative notions about modern methods, it is always a challenge at hand to convince the farmers using chemical inputs about its hazards and the damage it causes. The rampant use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers has brought about a decline in soil fertility and crop health across the world. This realization has marked the advent of organic farming globally. With a vision to change the agricultural canvas in India, Santosh Nair an industry veteran vested his ideas into shaping Miklens Bio, an agritech startup offering bio-based agricultural inputs that aid alternative, chemical free farming.

A seasoned industry professional with hands-on experience at banking and finance organizations like Merrill Lynch and HDFC, Santosh acknowledged technology as the key aspect for the growth of agriculture in India and wanted to provide revolutionary avenues to the farmers to increase their productivity and also help maintain the ecology.“Having grown up in a middle-class family, I always dreamed of rising my way up the corporate ladder at the best banking and financial institutions of the world, when I decided to exit the corporate life, it seemed irrational to everyone. The unending potentials of agriindustry, the power of the microbes and my personal

inclination towards residue-free cultivation led to the establishment of Miklens Bio. What started out as a personal hobby has now become a life goal,” shares Santosh Nair, Founder and Managing Director, Miklens Bio.

Miklens Bio is Going an Extra Mile to Meet Its Inception Objective and the Efforts Of the Firm Are Evident From the Way the Firm has Evolved Since Its Inception

Manufacturers of Chemical Free Bio-Agri inputs
Chemical agriinputs are synonyms of damages than betterment. Deteriorating the health of the farmers,degrading soil quality, environmental damage and much more are the major effects these inputs have. With its products containing microbial extracts which kill the target pathogen in unique ways and do not harm the beneficial micro-organisms in the soil, Miklens bio aspires to reduce the dependency of farmers on chemical inputs.“At Miklens Bio, we offer products in the categories of Plant Growth Regulator, Plant Protection, Bio-Pesticides, Bio-Fertilizers. We have been successful in developing NPK from microbial sources having better efficacy. Our products help in increasing the productivity of the farmers by increasing their yields by 12%-15%. Also helps in increasing the profitability as repeat ability of the product is reduced, thus the per acreage cost of product is a lot lesser than others. Higher productivity coupled with higher profitability is the best combination which Miklens Bio offers. To add to the trust, our products have been certified as “Approved Input for Organic Agriculture” by Control Union; a reputed certifying agency worldwide,” speaks Santosh.

A bootstrapped venture, Miklens Bio uses its patented AgriMicrobial Technology (AMT)to manufacture biotech-driven organic inputs catering to the entire agricultural landscape. This technological approach helps the firm to overcome the health and environment hazards caused by chemical based farming. Miklens Bio’s research has been focused on microbes that are found in soil,

water and air and potent exotic plant extracts as well. As a response to stress, microbes release specific extracts. “Our products contain these microbial/plant extracts which kill the target pathogen without harming the beneficial micro-organisms in the soil. To improve their efficiency, our products are made using a combination of microbial extracts from various microbes thus combining multiple modes of action to inhibit the pathogen. This microbial approach of product development holds strong potential to change the agricultural canvas of India,” mentions Santosh.

Sketching the Path Ahead
As a young firm, Miklens Bio is going an extra mile to meet its inception objective and the efforts of the firm are evident from the way the firm has evolved since its inception. Renowned for its uniqueness, Miklens Bio has been shortlisted as one of the Top30 companies in India by Your Story during their event TechSparks Tech30 held in September 2017. The firm has also been recognized as one of the top 3000 startups in India by Department of Science and Technology and IIM Kolkata Innovation Park. With a total headcount of 30, out of which 11 people belong to the Research and Development Team, the firm calls the Miklens Bios family as ‘Miklenial’. Presently operating in some selected markets of Kerala, Gujarat, North East, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and having recently paved its way into Maharashtra, in the years to come Miklens Bio plans to set its foot into other selected markets as well.

Concluding the discussion by sharing the future roadmap of the firm, Santosh says, “The technology we use at Miklens Bio holds the potential to change the way agriculture is done in India. Our short term goal over the coming 12 months is to open up certain key markets and shape them up for growth, while in the next 10 years, we Miklenials will be on the fore-front of Innovation and Research. Considering the way government is portraying chemical free farming, we have a good head start. Also, in terms of research capabilities, we are way ahead of the competition (both chemical and non-chemical). In the long run, Microbial Agri Inputs will prove to be the perfect solution for any and every agricultural problem, and we are all set to make the best out of this.”