Satellite imagery, artificial intelligence to improve farm yields in Maharashtra

Launched in January this year, the Maha Agri Tech project seeks to use technology to address various cultivation risks ranging from poor rains to pest attacks, accurately predict crop-wise and area-wise yield and eventually to use this data to inform policy decisions including pricing, warehousing and crop insurance. When farmers in six districts of Maharashtra begin sowing for the coming rabi season, this project will enter its second phase where artificial intelligence and satellite imagery will be used to mitigate risks. Fields of the farmers that are part of the project will be monitored via satellite images at every stage right until the harvest. In its first phase the Maha Agri Tech project used satellite images and analysis from the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in Hyderabad to assess the acreage and the conditions of select crops in select talukas. In its second phase, various data sets from diverse data providers will be combined to build yield modelling and a geospatial database of soil nutrients, rainfall, moisture stress and other parameters to facilitate location-specific advisories to farmers.