Maharashtra : From data to harvest: Innovative project to use AI, machine learning and IoT to address key challenges in sugarcane farming
Sharad Pawar highlighted the benefits of AI in farming during a visit to the Agricultural Development Trust in Baramati, noting that AI can increase agricultural yields by 30% and save on resources like fertilizer. The project, developed in collaboration with Oxford University and Microsoft, focuses on AI, IoT, and machine learning to address challenges in sugarcane farming, such as pest control, water management, and climate impacts. Currently implemented on 200 farms, it aims to boost production sustainably, with promising results already shown in Baramati’s fields.
Shedding light on the benefits of Artificial Intelligence in farming, Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) Chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday took a view of work at Agricultural development trust in Baramati and said that AI-based farming can benefit farmers with a 30 per cent increase in their production.
“Farming is becoming barren, but artificial intelligence can help. In Maharashtra, AI-based farming can benefit farmers by Rs. 30-35,000 crores, with a 30 per cent increase,” he said.
Rajendra Dinkarao Pawar, chairman of Agricultural Development Trust, while speaking to ANI shed light on how the institution is using AI and how it can benefit the entire country.
He said, “This is not just limited to Baramati but can be used for any type of agricultural activity all over the world. This is a new technology that is required now. This technology needs data for it. it works on whatever data is said to it. This technology will help in saving a lot of fertilizer. It sprays the exact required amount of fertilizer on the crops. This will save some money. We see a lot of crop wastage due to the change in temperature and weather. Using this methodology will enhance the crop and the yield. Yield is the most important thing for a sugarcane farmer and when it increases the amount of sugar will also increase which will also benefit the sugar factory.”
This project will use AI, computational approaches machine learning and IoT to address the key challenges of sugarcane farming like low yield, increased production cost, pest and Disease Control, Fertilizer and water management and low sugar yield. It aims to increase production sustainability for farmers by using AI-based solutions.
Oxford University, Microsoft and Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati have been collaborating for the past three years on the use of artificial intelligence. It has been successfully tested at the Agriculture Science Centre in Baramati.
The Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati is implementing the research findings in fields of thousands of sugarcane farmers. In the first phase, 200 sugarcane farmers fields out of thousands are using modern technology such as climate change, satellite-based geographical systems, machine learning, internet in farming across the state.
This research and the use of AI aim to enable more productive sugarcane farming at lower cost in the future.
