Pervasive benefits. Wadhwani AI receives $1 million Google.org grant to build AI solutions in agriculture

The Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence, on Friday, announced receiving a $1 million grant from Google.org.

The institute will use the grant to build AI-powered solutions that will help farmers gain timely, localised, and accurate weather-related, crop, and other farm-related information, and improve the efficiency and capabilities of agriculture knowledge systems in India, said the company.

“With roughly half of India’s population dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, this is a sector where technological advancements can lead to pervasive benefits. We’re therefore happy to announce a new 1 million dollar grant to Wadhwani AI via Google.org to support their deployment of AI-based solutions to improve agricultural outcomes,” said Manish Gupta, Research Director, Google Research India.

In India, it is estimated that six million cotton farmers face the constant risk of severe crop damage, inflicted by pests such as pink bollworms and American bollworms. Small farmers in India, and worldwide, depend heavily on government and nonprofit programs for advice on what to do at every step of the crop cycle, according to the institute.

“Creating and deploying effective AI solutions requires experience in working in the field with the communities most affected by the problems. Ensuring that our solutions reach these communities and can create a meaningful impact at scale is only possible by working closely with the government, and through support from our donors. We are excited by the opportunities that this new Google.org grant will help us generate. It will help us to identify and address multiple challenges affecting agriculture in India through the use of timely and effective AI-based interventions,” said Shekar Sivasubramanian, CEO, Wadhwani AI.

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