Our collaboration
with Microsoft to create a
Pest Risk Prediction API
enables farmers to get
predictive insights on the
possibility of pest infestation.
This empowers them to plan
in advance, reducing crop
loss due to pests and thereby
helping them to double the
farm income.”
–Vikram Shroff,
Executive Director, UPL
Limited
predicted three months in advance
for major markets in the state.
At present, price forecasting for
agricultural commodities using
historical data and short-term
arrivals is being used by the state
government to protect farmers from
price crash or shield population
from high inflation. However, such
accurate data collection is expensive
and can be subject to tampering.
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 geo-
stationary satellite images to predict
crop yields through every stage of
farming.
This data along with other inputs
such as historical sowing area,
production, yield, weather, among
other datasets, are used in an elastic-
net framework to predict the timing
of arrival of grains in the market as
well as their quantum, which would
determine their pricing.
“We are certain that digital
agriculture supported by advanced
technology platforms will truly
benefit farmers. We believe that
Microsoft’s technology will support
these innovative experiments
which will help us transform the
lives of the farmers in our state,”
says Dr. T.N. Prakash Kammardi,
Chairman, Karnataka Agricultural
Price Commission, Government of
Karnataka.
The model currently being used
to predict the prices of tur, is
scalable, and time efficient and can
be generalized to many other regions
and crops.
AI in agriculture is just
getting started
Shifting weather patterns such
as increase in temperature, changes
in precipitation levels, and ground
water density, can affect farmers,
especially those who are dependent
on timely rains for their crops.
Leveraging the cloud and AI to predict
advisories for sowing, pest control
and commodity pricing, is a major
initiative towards creating increased
income and providing stability for the
agricultural community.
“Indian agriculture has been
We are certain that
digital agriculture supported
by advanced technology
platforms will truly benefit
farmers.”
– Dr. T.N. Prakash
Kammardi, Chairman,
KAPC, Government
of Karnataka
traditionally rain dependent and
climate change has made farmers
extremely vulnerable to crop loss.
Insights from AI through the
agriculture life cycle will help reduce
uncertainty and risk in agriculture
operations. Use of AI in agriculture
can potentially transform the lives of
millions of farmers in India and world
over,” says Anil Bhansali, CVP C+E
and Managing Director, Microsoft
India (R&D) Pvt. Ltd.
Photos courtesy of ICRISAT
31 | May 2018 | www.smartgovernance.in