India:Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare talks of application of artificial intelligence in agriculture

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha last week, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar talked of using Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture in order to double the income of farmers. The technologies discussed by the minister included Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Block chain Technology, Internet of Things etc.

The Minister felt that by the use of these advance technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI), accurate and timely information regarding crops, weather and insects etc can be given to the farmers which may lead to improvement in the crop productivity, reduction in the risk. It would ultimately help improve the income of the farmers.

“Government has set a target of doubling of farmers’ income by the year 2022. The Government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee to examine issues relating to doubling of farmers’ income and recommend a strategy to achieve doubling of farmers’ income in real terms by the year 2022” said the Minister.

The committee has, inter-alia, appreciated the role of Digital Technology, which can play a transformational role in modernizing and organizing how rural India performs its agricultural activities, he added.

“Major technology interventions include Development of Kisan Suvidha mobile application to facilitate dissemination of information to farmers on the critical parameters viz., Weather; Market Prices; Plant Protection; input Dealers (Seed, Pesticide, Fertilizer) Farm Machinery; extreme weather alerts; Soil Health Card; Cold Storages & Godowns; Veterinary Centres and Diagnostic Labs”, Minister revealed.

With market information, farmers are better informed about markets to sell produce, prevailing market prices and quantity demanded in the market. Thus, they can make informed decisions to sell produce at the right price and right time, he stated.

Development of ‘Farm Machinery package for Different Agro-Climatic Zones in India’ mobile application, which gives information on farm machinery package available for state-wise, agro-climatic zone wise, district-wise, cropping pattern wise and power source wise, Tomar said.

Development of ‘My Ciphet’ mobile application to help farmers to get precise information regarding the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) developed post-harvest technologies, products and machineries, he said.

ICAR has also compiled more than 100 mobile apps developed by ICAR, State Agricultural Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras and uploaded on its website, Tomar said. Development of mKisan Portal (www.mkisan.gov.in) for sending advisories on various crop related matter to the registered farmers through SMSs, he added.

Using machine learning process along with different computer algorithm for crop classification and area estimation would go a long way in improving farmers’ income, felt Tomar.