India, Sept. 20 -- Two friends, Yash Raut and Atharva Patki from Amravati, were waiting for their job offer letter after clearing their interviews. Since it seemed to be taking an inordinately long time, they decided to take a trip to Pune, a trip that changed their lives and led to starting "Shstra," a startup empowering farmers with smart, efficient, and sustainable harvesting solutions.

Curious minds

Says Yash, "Since we were at a loose end, Atharva, who had done an internship at Digital Impact Square, a Tata Foundation Initiative where he had some exposure to agri-tech, suggested that we take a trip to the sugarcane fields at the outskirts of Pune."

They met some farmers who had their farms along the Pune-Solapur Road and casually ...