Microsoft and Government of Karnataka to leverage AI for digital agriculture

The Government of Karnataka has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft Corporation India to empower smallholder farmers with technology-oriented solutions that will help them increase income using cloud-based technologies, machine learning and advanced analytics.

The MoU will experiment with the Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission (KAPC), Department of Agriculture, to help improve price forecasting practices to benefit farmers. Microsoft with guidance from KAPC is attempting to develop a multi-variant agricultural commodity price forecasting model considering the following datasets – historical sowing area, production, yield, weather datasets and other related datasets as relevant. For this season, Tur crop has been identified for this prediction model.

Dr T.N. Prakash Kammardi, Chairman, Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission, Government of Karnataka, said, “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.”

The MoU is also aimed at using digital tools that have the potential to deliver cutting-edge innovations and artificial intelligence to help farmers get higher crop yields in the state. Technology partner Microsoft in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has deployed a Sowing Advisory Service in the kharif season on a limited pilot, under the Bhoochetana project.

Built on the Microsoft Cortana Intelligence Suite including Machine Learning and Power BI or Business Intelligence, these technology solutions aim at promoting digital farming practices in the state.

Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice-President, Cloud & Enterprise, Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt. Ltd, said, “At Microsoft, we want technology to empower every person and organization in the world. This MoU will help enable the use of intelligent technologies to deliver solutions in the agriculture sector. Artificial Intelligence in agriculture can play a major role in the digital transformation of India.”