In this episode of the Discover India 101 Podcast, I speak with **Dr. Rimjhim Agarwal** about the fascinating intersection of **agriculture, food, research, innovation, technology and market intelligence**.
We explore how scientific research can move beyond laboratories and create real-world impact through **research translation, innovation and entrepreneurship**.
In this conversation, we discuss:
• Agri-food innovation and the future of agriculture
• How research can be translated into practical solutions
• Market intelligence and understanding emerging opportunities
• Agriculture, food systems and technology
• Innovation and entrepreneurship
• Organic farming, seeds and agricultural research
• Technology and AI in agriculture
• Education, careers and opportunities in research
• Life and work in Australia
• Farming and agriculture in Australia
• Differences between agriculture and food systems in India and Australia
• The journey from education and research to real-world impact
• Opportunities for young people interested in agriculture, science and innovation
Dr. Rimjhim Agarwal was also a **7NEWS Young Achiever Awards Semi-Finalist in 2026**.
This conversation is particularly relevant for students, researchers, entrepreneurs, agriculture professionals and anyone interested in the future of food, farming, technology and innovation.
🎙️ **Guest:** Dr. Rimjhim Agarwal
🌱 **Topics:** Agri-Food | Agriculture | Food Systems | Innovation | Research | Research Translation | Market Intelligence | AI | Technology | Australia | Farming
If you found this conversation interesting, consider **liking, sharing and subscribing** to Discover India 101 for more conversations about education, careers, technology, society, entrepreneurship and life around the world.
#DrRimjhimAgarwal #AgriFood #AgriFoodInnovation #Agriculture #Research #Innovation #ResearchTranslation #MarketIntelligence #FoodInnovation #AgriculturalResearch #Australia #AI #Technology #Podcast #DiscoverIndia101
**Disclaimer:**
This podcast is intended for educational, informational and conversational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Discover India 101 or its host. Information discussed during the conversation should not be considered professional, scientific, agricultural, financial, legal or medical advice. Viewers should independently verify information and consult qualified professionals where appropriate.
Some statements may reflect personal experiences, interpretations or opinions and should not be treated as universally applicable facts.
We explore how scientific research can move beyond laboratories and create real-world impact through **research translation, innovation and entrepreneurship**.
In this conversation, we discuss:
• Agri-food innovation and the future of agriculture
• How research can be translated into practical solutions
• Market intelligence and understanding emerging opportunities
• Agriculture, food systems and technology
• Innovation and entrepreneurship
• Organic farming, seeds and agricultural research
• Technology and AI in agriculture
• Education, careers and opportunities in research
• Life and work in Australia
• Farming and agriculture in Australia
• Differences between agriculture and food systems in India and Australia
• The journey from education and research to real-world impact
• Opportunities for young people interested in agriculture, science and innovation
Dr. Rimjhim Agarwal was also a **7NEWS Young Achiever Awards Semi-Finalist in 2026**.
This conversation is particularly relevant for students, researchers, entrepreneurs, agriculture professionals and anyone interested in the future of food, farming, technology and innovation.
🎙️ **Guest:** Dr. Rimjhim Agarwal
🌱 **Topics:** Agri-Food | Agriculture | Food Systems | Innovation | Research | Research Translation | Market Intelligence | AI | Technology | Australia | Farming
If you found this conversation interesting, consider **liking, sharing and subscribing** to Discover India 101 for more conversations about education, careers, technology, society, entrepreneurship and life around the world.
#DrRimjhimAgarwal #AgriFood #AgriFoodInnovation #Agriculture #Research #Innovation #ResearchTranslation #MarketIntelligence #FoodInnovation #AgriculturalResearch #Australia #AI #Technology #Podcast #DiscoverIndia101
**Disclaimer:**
This podcast is intended for educational, informational and conversational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Discover India 101 or its host. Information discussed during the conversation should not be considered professional, scientific, agricultural, financial, legal or medical advice. Viewers should independently verify information and consult qualified professionals where appropriate.
Some statements may reflect personal experiences, interpretations or opinions and should not be treated as universally applicable facts.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00है जाएज में एकर रिम्झी मघर्वाल वेलुकम टॉड्प्राइड झार्ट थाइज्ट के इस दूर्ट का।
00:07थार्थ वुडनावूचे वाखने हैं।
00:19यह डिया है वाज़े थी दूर्ट सूर्ट के वाखनागार इक मेंद्ट वी दूर्टॉट।
00:29my main choice of subject because I was interested in plants in general and basically using genetic
00:39engineering or those kind of things to make plants like pest resistant or have some nutritious
00:47fruits through plants using gene editing so after finishing my high school I was looking into what
00:56is the most suitable field to do this kind of work so I came across various kind of bio related
01:04technology work biophysics biomedicine bioengineering a lot of stuff but biotech was something that I
01:13thought that probably what I wish to do I will be able to do through this particular degree so I
01:19started I started my bachelor's doing that and then I realized that biotech is quite broad and
01:27biotech can be used in plants animals humans for some reason I did not think that vaccine generation
01:34was part of biotech I was thinking it would be part of medicine or something so when I was going
01:41through
01:41those courses over the for over the four years time I realized that I'm very much interested in food and
01:48plant biotech other than animal and human biotech so even when I was doing my bachelor's degree
01:55thesis project I chose something to work with food so that was some traditional winemaking using some
02:06traditional knowledge and him from Himachal Pradesh it was quite exciting even at even during that time I was
02:15quite interested in something called plant tissue culture I'm not sure if you have heard of plant
02:19tissue culture yeah I heard about it but I don't know deeper insight yeah so plant tissue culture is
02:28growing plants in labs instead of doing outside so I was quite interested in that but you can say
02:34fortunately or unfortunately I didn't get that project and I got this winemaking project so after that
02:41I was like I have to like specialize further and also like working day in day out in lab I
02:48was
02:48feeling like I was losing the touch with nature because it was very secluding work so then when I was
02:56thinking of like doing my further studies I was like probably masters of agriculture science sounds like
03:03something that I'm interested in anything related with plants that was my main criteria when I was choosing for
03:10masters and the reason why I chose masters or even PhD for that matter it was because I wanted
03:17to be a scientist since like forever I wanted to be a scientist and that was the pathway that I
03:23had to
03:23take so while looking for masters courses I was like applying in US I applied in Netherlands I applied in
03:33in Australia and New Zealand so there were like a lot of things happen I think just by the flow
03:41of
03:41it there were many universities in US which were going to start a year later just because the bachelor
03:49degree finishes in May or June so probably their intake would have happened the next year when I
03:55graduated I wasn't aware that Australia does two intakes for all the master's programs so they do
04:03two semesters and you can join in anytime so that was a surprise and in doing so I actually got
04:11an offer
04:11letter from University of Queensland University of Melbourne and there was another one in New Zealand
04:19Lincoln University so all these three came like within a short frame of time and then I also got
04:27rejected from some universities because of my background in biotech they thought that I wasn't suitable for
04:33agriculture and needed to have botany as my subject to qualify for their master's program so I think like
04:40while choosing for master's program it's much more about like you might be interested in some subjects but
04:47a lot of times for some reason you don't meet their criteria it can be any criteria it can also
04:53be
04:53English criteria a lot of people don't make it to master's program because they don't satisfy the
04:58English requirement or some grade requirements so I think a lot of these things play when you're choosing
05:05a master's you might want to go to Howard or places like that Cambridge but then you need to meet
05:13all the
05:14criteria to be in those universities so then when I got the offer letter from Australian and New Zealand
05:24unis I was just looking at things like what kind of ranking the universities have what kind of courses
05:33I would be doing over the course of two years so looking at all those things I kind of chose
05:41University of
05:42Queensland where I did my masters it was just that the subjects were a bit more interesting and
05:49that's what I wanted to do and learn about so that was one reason why I chose University of Queensland
05:55for
05:56doing masters and then so um maybe something about when I moved to Australia it was um it was quite
06:08shocking
06:09for me honestly because a lot of agriculture kind of fields happen in rural campuses of the
06:16universities so you might see a lot of things online which talk about the main campus of the university
06:25and so that might have all the facilities it might be the most multicultural place to be and a lot
06:31of
06:31student facilities but um many times the rural campuses don't have that so specifically moving from
06:40India where you have a lot of services it was kind of shocking to go to the campus that I
06:47went to
06:48it's 100 kilometers from Brisbane it's the agricultural campus of um University of Queensland
06:53I was taken aback by it I didn't imagine that Australia is going to be like that in my
07:00I think in my memory most of it was what I had seen through videos YouTube and movies so I
07:07had a
07:08different image of it so I would say that probably the first three months or the first semester was
07:15quite challenging coming here everything was like probably I would say 1990s in that campus
07:22and also it was my first time like being surrounded by like actual agriculture like I haven't been
07:32um on the field on field yeah so like because I did biotech and then I grew up in Delhi
07:40so of course there
07:41was a disconnect between water so actually Australia have a lot of landscape uh open landscape compared to
07:50India and Brisbane is also agriculture hub right in Australia they grow lots and lots of things
07:56and do a lot of research as well compared to Sydney Melbourne Perth
08:02yes so for various reasons of course the university had better ranking as you said the weather here
08:08is very similar to that of India like northern India so we can grow like heaps of fruits and
08:14vegetables here while if you compare it with Melbourne it's quite cold it's it falls under temperate
08:20region so most of the time it's winter there so that makes it really hard for them to do any
08:25agriculture
08:27and with Sydney also it's quite metropolitan they do some kind of things but I would assume
08:32that's going to be more lab specific than actual field work so I think yeah that was my first
08:39impression of it having courses all around the campus there were people still using voicemail
08:46having a tape recorder using FM and stuff like that so that was really an unusual experience for me
08:55to see um and then after three months I actually decided that I would move to Brisbane and I would
09:04go to
09:04that campus as in when required um just looking at all the facilities that were there in Brisbane and
09:11I thought it would be easier for me to actually study rather than just trying to um adjust to the
09:18place
09:18did you live on a campus or you uh live in a Brisbane and go to campus like that by
09:28car or so
09:28yes so the first semester I lived on campus the campus was Gatton um universities of
09:35University of Queensland's campus so the first three months were on campus
09:39and after that once I had seen how easily I can commute between the two uh campuses there was
09:48like a inter in the campus bus that the university had so I was like I might as well live
09:53in the city
09:55in Brisbane and a lot of other um colleagues of mine were also living in Brisbane and they were doing
10:02the same thing so I was like okay most of my classmates are living in Brisbane I will also go
10:08and live in
10:08Brisbane so for the next one and a half years I stayed in Brisbane and then there were a lot
10:15of
10:15courses that were being taught in both the campuses so I could attend the class either in Brisbane or at
10:23the
10:23Gatton campus and there was some which I could zoom in into so I didn't have to be physically there
10:30so mostly it was like once a week
10:33if I had to go for a practical or something so that worked out okay it wasn't that big of
10:41a hassle once a week was doable and if anybody wants to do agriculture science and they haven't spent a
10:49lot
10:49of time on sea uh or the quiet life I would suggest to them also to probably live in Brisbane
10:56and then commute on and off
11:02so yeah during um what is the exact difference because uh in India we can't uh get a time to
11:12go for
11:12a job while studying but if you study abroad anywhere probably you get a little bit of time not little
11:20bit
11:20you can uh work uh and study together so how it's possible if you can explain or I also heard
11:29about that uh people apply for university and after one or two semester they shifted to colleges so they
11:37can work more because they have less project work or assignments is it true or yes okay so for both
11:46the
11:46questions um for the first question um for the first question yes you can work while being on student
11:51visa but the number of hours are capped it's 20 hours uh 20 hours uh 20 hours fortnightly if I'm
12:00not wrong
12:01or 20 hours weekly something like that they keep keep changing the requirements um so during masters you can
12:08do 20 hours of work um uh your visa allows that but uh for the second question that you asked
12:16about
12:16students coming here and then changing to their different lower level universities and colleges
12:23that actually has been banned recently like last month it has been banned because a lot of people
12:30were using these kind of loopholes to not come and study but to work and earn money so they have
12:36actually
12:36completely shut down that you can no longer do that so whatever uni you come in you have to study
12:43in that uni and finish that course um and also they have shut down the fact that you cannot move
12:50from one bachelor degree to another bachelor degree a lot of people used to do that
12:54so sideways jumping in courses has been completely stopped you can do a higher degree
13:01if you're doing bachelor's you can do a master's and master's to a phd but you cannot move sideways
13:08so but uh how how people get a time you know if you're an example if you study in jp
13:16new city so
13:18can you go for a job uh means do you get a time to go for a job yeah so
13:26um to answer that
13:27i think universities in india are a bit more structured in the sense that they have a fixed
13:35timetable so when i was in jp i was i had classes 9 am to 5 pm which leaves me
13:41no time to work if
13:43probably i was living off campus in india maybe if someone hires me after 5 pm maybe i can do
13:49it
13:49but being on campus you cannot leave campus um after 6 pm or 7 pm and then also because i've
13:57my
13:57university was in a very remote area in india also it was close to solon and shimla and himachal pradesh
14:04so there weren't many avenues for you to be doing such kind of work and i also think in india
14:09a lot of
14:10people look down on you if you're working maybe because of the finances or social status or whatever
14:16but a lot of people in india do not are not in the support of people working if you can
14:22manage your fees i feel like whereas in australia i mean a lot of immigrants um international students
14:31work as well as domestic students work and like kids started start working here when they are 15 years
14:39of age so they are quite used to the fact that i have to earn some money if i'm going
14:44to do something
14:44extra other than the basic things that my parents can support but for example you want to
14:50go for a holiday or if you want to do some extracurricular competition that is costing a lot of
14:58money so a lot of kids go and work in mcdonald's and places like that to make their own money
15:03and
15:03sponsor themselves so they are in a habit of doing that and as far as international students um
15:11i feel like as i said so i had to go to the gatton campus only once a week other
15:19classes were
15:19also there but mostly classes are there three to four days maximum it's never five days a week
15:26so there are a few days where you either are studying on your courses your subjects you're exploring
15:33something else you're working on your assignments um and even on assignment front it's very
15:40like it's very free as compared to india in india you would know that this is the question someone
15:45has asked me and i have to just answer it there is only one way to answer it whereas in
15:50australia i feel
15:51like most of the universities give you very open-ended assignments so for example if you are interested in
15:57um say growing plants just for example so you are free to choose any plant that you want to study
16:05nobody is going to force you that you have to do an assignment on rice or you have to do
16:09an assignment
16:10on wheat maybe you're not interested in it maybe you're interested in something like flower growing or
16:15fruit growing or something like that so you're fully like free to choose whatever subject interests you
16:24within the scope of that area and then you can go to the libraries and you can find more information
16:30about it
16:30i'm not going to say that it's a very easy job it is quite hard as compared to doing assignments
16:36in india
16:37because you really have to invest your time and you have to think about so basically you can't do
16:42yes you cannot do that and also there is a policy in most of the big public universities
16:52so there is a plagiarism software which checks for all the plagiarism that you have done
16:58and it's also in india right um i'm not sure how many universities use it mine didn't use it
17:06and also a lot of our assignments were many times written also handwritten as compared to here where
17:13everything is digital so it's easy to check for what has been copied and pasted so if if you are
17:19flagged for
17:20high plagiarism for example 10 20 percent or they see a paragraph has been copied from somewhere
17:25your lecturer is actually going to like ask you to come have a chat with them and they will ask
17:31you why have you done this have you copied it why haven't you paraphrased it so it's it has quite
17:39serious repercussion here so and how they implement artificial intelligence means uh or adapt in university
17:47because now people can use it you know to do their yes assignment or job research work as well
17:56specifically people uh indian people who are not comfortable comfortable with english language
18:02so they can use it so do they allow it or they want everything do it from your mind like
18:09something
18:12so as far as i know because ai has come in last three years and i did my masters 10
18:17years ago
18:18so um i know that ai is welcome but the thing is the idea should be original of yours they
18:25don't
18:26have any problem for you to polish your english using that kind of software there were such softwares
18:31before or also like grammarly was one of them you could use it to fix your english but as as
18:37long as
18:37you're only fixing your english rather than generating ideas through ai which i know is going
18:42to be really hard going forward because the ai algorithms are becoming smarter and smarter and
18:48they can do a lot of idea generation also so i can't speak much on that but there has been
18:53like a
18:54lot of policy work happening in universities even in schools because in schools also here a lot of
18:59people use most of the homework is done using digital platform so so maybe teacher is also making
19:07it hard using ai to kids do or students do using ai you know teacher also maybe use the artificial
19:15intelligence to make a little bit harder maybe i don't know yeah that can be done but we'll have to
19:22see how that ai goes and