The Karnataka Government today announced signing of a MoU with Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited with anintention to empower small holder farmers withtechnology-oriented solutions that will help them increaseincome.
The solutions would use "ground-breaking", cloudbased technologies, machine learning and advancedanalytics.
The Memorandum o Understanding will experiment with KarnatakaAgricultural Price Commission and Department of Agriculture to help improve price forecasting practices to benefit farmers, a joint release said.
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, Turcrop has been identified for this prediction model, it added.
"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 livesof farmers in our state," KAPC Chairman T N Prakash Kammardi said.
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.
Microsoft, in collaboration with InternationalCrops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), has deployed a Sowing Advisory Service in the kharif season ona limited pilot, under the Bhoochetana project, it said.
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, it added.
"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," Microsoft India (R&D)Pvt. Ltd Corporate Vice President, Cloud & Enterprise AnilBhansali said.
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