IBM Watson Decision Platform for farmers

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with IBM for undertaking an AI-weather pilot study in 3 districts of Bhopal, Rajkot and Nanded in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, respectively.

IBM’s Watson Decision Platform will give solution in the field of agriculture through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and weather technology at village level and farm level to provide weather forecast and soil moisture information on pro bono basis to help farmers take decisions on water and crop management for better production and productivity.

The SoI was signed in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary, and other senior officials of the Ministry in Delhi on 3 July 2019.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Tomar said “Our nation is foraying further into the digital age towards achieving the goal of doubling the farmers’ income.

“It has been the Ministry’s assurance to bring digital technologies to help our farmers to increase their income and transform Indian agriculture.”

The Minister also added that enabling use of next-generation technologies such as AI and advanced weather data for better insights to make faster and more informed agricultural decisions is a testament to our commitment.

As part of the collaboration, IBM Watson Decision Platform for Agriculture will be leveraged to obtain farm level weather forecast and village level soil moisture in three districts in Central and Western India.

This pilot study will be conducted for the Kharif crop season 2019. fiinews.com