Data-driven farming can maximise yields: Nasscom

Artificial Intelligence, which is transforming the IT services and products landscape, has the potential to relieve the agriculture sector from most of its stressful input conditions. It can help the ecosystem players to tap enormous data generated and get better insights.

“Leveraging macro as well as farm-level data collected through sensors will help maximise yields and optimise the use of available resources,” the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has said.

The association, in association with Ernst & Young (EY), has released a report — Leveraging AI to maximise India’s agriculture output.

The India’s Agritech sector 2021 report cited several AI-led use cases, such as precision agriculture and farm management, agricultural robots, automated weeding, crop quality and pest prediction and prevention.

“The Indian agriculture sector can utilise the potential of AI’s transformative capabilities through effective data practices,” Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom, said.

The report said that multiple challenges held back the agricultural sector from performing to its full potential, despite being an agrarian economy, a top producer and exporter of several agri-commodities.

However, with increased government support, growing agritech providers, burgeoning start-up ecosystem, and rising AI adoption among the rural farming population, a strong transformation impetus is underway.

Challenges ahead

Data consolidation (both at macro and real-time farm-level), lack of infrastructure awareness in data processing, and its availability have been some of the key challenges faced by the sector today, the reported pointed out.

Precision farming, crop disease management and produce sorting and grading are top focus areas for start-ups.