Automation in agriculture is an emerging subject across the world. In recent time, Artificial Intelligence has been seeing a lot of direct application in farming AI-powered solutions will not only enable farmers to do more with less, it will also improve quality and ensure faster go-to-market for crops.

Advances in computer vision, mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are enabling the development and deployment of remote sensing technologies to identify and manage plants, weeds, pests and diseases. This also provides a unique opportunity to develop intelligent seeding methods for precise fertilization. Artificial intelligence solutions can enable farmers not to only reduce wastage, but also improve quality and ensure faster market access for the produce.

Cognitive computing has become the most disruptive technology in agricultural services as it can learn, understand, and interact with different environments to maximize productivity. Microsoft is currently working with 175 farmers in Andhra Pradesh to provide agricultural, land and fertilizer advisory services. This initiative has already resulted in 30% higher average yield per hectare last year.

Proximity sensing, remote sensing, Internet of Things (IoT) and image-based Precision Farming are being used for intelligent data integration related to historical meteorology, soil reports, recent research, rainfall, insect infections and along with drone imagery is being used for in-depth field analysis, crop monitoring and field surveys.

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The authors are Naman Agrawal, Senior Associate, NITI Aayog and Himanshu Agrawal, Young Professional, NITI Aayog. Views expressed are personal.