Problem / Objective:

India has embarked on a journey to bring AI sensors into the agriculture field. The aim is to help the community to record information digitally, cut costs and increase yields with a smartphone in their hand.

Solution / Approach:

India has begun empowering smallholder farmers in India to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control with the help of Microsoft. It is working with farmers, state governments, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to create an ecosystem for using AI in farming.

Microsoft, in collaboration with ICRISAT, developed an AI Sowing App powered by Microsoft Cortana Intelligence Suite including Machine Learning and Power BI. The app sends sowing advisories to participating farmers on the optimal date to sow. The best part of the application is that the farmers don’t need to install any sensors in their fields or incur any capital expenditure. All they need is a feature phone capable of receiving text messages.

To determine the optimal sowing period, the Moisture Adequacy Index (MAI) is calculated. MAI is the standardized measure used for assessing the degree of adequacy of rainfall and soil moisture to meet the potential water requirement of crops. The real-time MAI is calculated from the daily rainfall recorded.

Additionally, Microsoft collaborated with United Phosphorous (UPL)- India’s largest producer of agrochemicals, to the create the Pest Risk Prediction API, which also leverages AI and machine learning to indicate the risk of pest attack in advance. This tool will empower the farmers to reduce crop loss due to pests and thereby help them to double the farm income.

Furthermore, Microsoft has developed a multivariate agricultural commodity price forecasting model to predict future commodity arrival and the corresponding prices. The model uses remote sensing data from geostationary satellite images to predict crop yields through every stage of farming.

Impact / Implementation:

The Government of Karnataka will start using price forecasting for agricultural commodities, in addition to sowing advisories for farmers in the state. Commodity prices for items such as tur, of which Karnataka is the second-largest producer, will be predicted three months in advance for major markets in the state. Now, farmers in the villages in Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are receiving automated voice calls that tell them whether their cotton crops are at risk of a pest attack, based on weather conditions and crop stage.