INDIA’S SMART AGRICULTURE STRATEGIES

 


Smart Agriculture in India 

Smart farming has emerged to be the need of the hour for the Indian agriculture sector. It is much more efficient than the traditional methods of farming. Smart farming, which involves the application of sensors and automated irrigation practices, can help monitor agricultural land, temperature, soil moisture, etc. This would enable farmers to monitor crops from anywhere. Moreover, smart farming can help integrate digital and physical infrastructures which would benefit small farmers. The small and marginal farmers of India find it challenging to integrate digital and physical infrastructures which hampers their revenue growth. 

Agro-based start-ups can reach out to the farmers and help them gain access to such viable and cost-effective solutions. According to a report published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in 2019, there were more than 450 argi-based tech driven start-ups in India as of 2019. This number has skyrocketed in the last two years as the sector witnessed a surge in investments and funding. Agri-based tech-driven start-ups have been very innovative in assisting farmers and revolutionising farming techniques. They have also addressed one of the most powerful headwinds (climate change) through climate-smart farming.


Climate-smart Agriculture 

The rising population and changing diets have created a huge pressure on land in India. Farmers are struggling to keep up as crop yields level off, soil degradation rises, water shortage increases, biodiversity declines, and natural calamities become more frequent. Furthermore, agriculture accounts for almost 14% of India’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can help transform agri-food systems in a responsive manner and mitigate the devastating effects of climate changes while producing food and energy in a sustainable manner. Farmers in India are gradually realising the benefits of CSA. CSA is an integrated approach of managing cropland, livestock, forest, and fisheries. CSA also addresses the interconnected challenges of food security and rapid climate change. CSA can help India in achieving the following outcomes:

  • Enhanced productivity: CSA can help in producing more food without compromising the quality which would promote nutrition security and boost growth in income among farmers, especially the poor and marginal groups.
  • Improved resilience: CSA can reduce vulnerability to pests, drought diseases and climate-related shocks and risks. It can also help farmers nurture and develop the long stressed and unfavourable environment.
  • Reduced emissions: One of the most important benefits of CSA is expected to be emission reduction. Automation leads to less labour-intensive activities which would help reduce emissions per calorie of food produced, prevent deforestation, and reduce emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This will lead to a human power reduction from non-environment friendly sources.


India is slowly adapting to climate-smart techniques of farming which will help to change the environment of India and reduce greenhouses gases from agriculture practices. For instance, the farmers of Dhundi village in Gujarat have started using clean energy sources like solar power for irrigation. The solar power programme benefits farmers in two ways:

  • Under the programme, farmers transfer electricity to the local grid; for this, they are provided incentives.
  • Smart farming enables crop diversification which helps farmers reduce their dependence on monsoon for water.


Government Partnerships

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the government is taking various smart agriculture initiatives such as:

  • Crop yield prediction model using artificial intelligence (AI): In 2018, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) partnered with IBM for developing a crop yield prediction model using AI. This helps in providing real-time advisory to farmers.
  • AI sensors for smart farming: The Indian government has partnered with Microsoft for empowering small-holder farmers in India. The partnership seeks to increase the income of the farmers through greater crop yield and superior price control using AI sensors. The partnership would help boost the adoption of AI in farming.
  • Drones for monitoring soil and crop health: The government has launched a project, Sensor-based Smart Agriculture (SENSAGRI), involving six institutes. In this project, drones would be used for smooth scouting over land fields, for collecting precious information and transferring the data to farmers on a real-time basis. The project would be funded by institutes such as Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Information Technology Research Academy (ITRA) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Environmental Responsibility

Image
Safeguarding the future of our food and our planet The fertilizer industry is taking the lead to initiate and support both research and regulations that develop standard practices designed to limit, or prevent entirely, any negative environmental repercussions due to the use fertilizers and other nutrients. We are accomplishing this is several ways : 4R Nutrient Stewardship Nutrient stewardship is a science-based approach to nourishing crops and suggests the “right” ways to use fertilizer. Our approach is that there are four “rights” which make farming more productive, resulting in higher yields, improved soil health, and cleaner air and water. The concept is to use the   right nutrient source   at the   right rate   at the   right time   in the   right place .  Managing Nutrients Nutrient deficiencies can lead to lower yields or plants that are less able to handle external stresses. Successful agriculture then begins even before the first seed is...
Read more

Crop Diseases Caused By Virus

Image
  Crop Diseases Caused By Virus : Crop Diseases Caused By Virus : The most minor but most critical plant  enemies are viruses and viroids (subviral contagious agents). After infection, it is almost impossible to save a plant. Therefore the effect of plant diseases on crop production is of critical importance throughout the world. In most cases, the infection spreads as a result of healthy plants with sick contact. Viruses can also spread through vegetative reproduction, through seeds, pollen, and insects. But viruses most often spread through the soil. Symptoms Of Viral Crop Diseases : The symptoms of crop diseases caused by virus are usually divided into four types: Malformations , such as abnormal growth of shoots, distortion of leaves and flowers; Necrosis , wilting and the appearance of annular stripes and spots; Dwarfism , growth retardation of both individual parts and the whole plant; Discoloration , e.g. yellowing, and vein clearing. Root crop diseases, which are expre...
Read more