On April 3, 2021, Department of Agriculture, Government of Telangana & the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI), Mumbai (Maharashtra) signeda Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for deploying AI solutions to assist Cotton farmers in beating pest infestations.
- The AI solution (Mobile App) will help farmers to catch pest infestations early& take corrective measures to avoid significant crop damage.
- It is set to be provided free-of-cost to the Telangana Government and will be delivered using Mobile App.
- The project is supported by Google and partners including IDH (The Sustainable Trade Initiative) & IGS (Intelligent Growth Solutions).
- The AI solution is capable of predicting pink and American bollworm infestation with an accuracy of over 90%. Pink and American bollworms are the two most devastating pests for the cotton crop.
Benefits
- The app will also be helpful in equipping the cotton farmers with the scientific knowledge of an agriculture expert
- It will help the farmers to improve the quality of cotton and also fetch more revenues to the farmers
Key Points
- Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad has agreed to procure traps and lures needed for the project on a free of cost basis.
- Wadhwani AI’s App & the components provided by IICT will be deployed in 2, 800 villages across 6 districts of Telangana.
- The solution has already been deployed by 700 lead farmers & 17, 000 Cascade Farmers in Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka & Gujarat during the 2020 Kharif season.
- Wadhwani AI has worked in 150 villages in Adilabad and Rangareddy districts of Telangana with around 7, 000 cascade farmers.
Cotton in India
- Cotton is one of the largest cash crops grown globally. India is the world’s largest Cotton producer followed by China & USA.
- It is India’s 3rd Largest crop after Rice & Wheat. Around 75% of cotton is grown by smallholder farmers.
- Leading Cotton Growing States in India – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana
- One of the major challenges facing cotton farmers is the inability to manage pests despite heavy usage of pesticides.
MoUs with Wadhwani
Wadhwani AI already has existing MoUs with,
- Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communication (ITEC), Telangana for facilitating AI based solutions
- Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) to help with Agriculture Science Research, Monitoring and deployment in Telangana.
Recent Related News:
i.August 13, 2020, The Government of Telangana has launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Agricultural Innovation Programme (AI4AI) in collaboration with Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) & World Economic Forum (WEF) – India.
About Telangana
Rivers – Dindi, Dhundhubhi, Kadem
Tribes – Koya, Gonds, Andh, Kolam
About Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence:
CEO – Dr. P. Anandan
Location – Mumbai, Maharashtra
