Big change in cotton cultivation: Phylo’s IoT devices are solving the problem of cotton pests in North India

Pink bollworm, a deadly insect, has wreaked havoc in cotton fields from Rajasthan to Haryana. This year, there has been an unexpected loss in cotton cultivation and the farmers growing cotton are very troubled by this loss. For some farmers, the future of cotton farming seems uncertain, but amidst this crisis, the story of Sumit Singh, a farmer from Sirsa, Haryana, has come as a ray of hope.

Sumit Singh’s success story lies with the intervention of Phylo, an agronomy platform powered by AI and patented Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Phylo’s technology provides farmers with valuable information and advice that is quite different from normal methods.

With the help of Phylo’s IoT device, Sirsa farmer Sumit Singh received precise guidance for five different stages of the crop, including important aspects like irrigation and fertilization. Phylo’s predictive capabilities play an important role in crop disease and pest management including pink bollworm, whitefly, thrips, aphids, mealybugs and jassids.

The biggest feature of this intervention is that farmers get timely advice. In August and September, when the threat of pink bollworm is most likely, Sumit Singh took immediate action on Phylo’s recommendations. Spraying the pesticide twice at the right time yielded good results and resulted in a significant increase of Rs 25,000 in his income. His cotton yield increased from the regional average of 4 quintals per acre to 8 quintals per acre. There is a possibility of further increase after the upcoming round of harvesting.

Apart from the huge increase in yield, regular irrigation and fertilization ensured uniform quality of the crop and better prices. This change was possible only by using Phylo’s IoT devices in the field. Farmers like Sumit Singh now have access to real-time data on critical aspects such as soil moisture, temperature, air pressure, rainfall, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and weather forecast.

The impact of Phylo’s IoT devices is not limited to individual farms. A single device can serve an entire village and around 200 farmers can benefit from it. Phylo’s journey has just begun with a focus on 50 farmers in the cotton sector across Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat.

Given the threat of pink bollworm, Phylo’s technology is a ray of hope for cotton farmers, signaling the beginning of a new era of precision and sustainable cotton farming in India.