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(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Artificial Intelligence in Agripreneurship

[October-2022]

Artificial Intelligence in Agripreneurship

Introduction

The demand for food is increasing at a rapid pace on account of the rising population but the availability of land is deteriorating. This adverse correlation between land availability and food demand calls for the adoption of AI in this sector in order to reduce the input cost and assure a continuous supply of the foodgrains.

Statistics related to agriculture practice in India

The world population is likely to touch the 10 billion mark by 2050. It would result in rising demand for food grains. This calls for the introduction of technology like AI, and biotech in this field.
By an estimation, there is a need to raise the production of food grains by 70% from the present level in order to meet future demands.
In India agriculture contributes 18-20% of the total GDP and is responsible for generating 11% of total export income.
Nearly 60% of India’s population relies on agriculture for their livelihood.

The major concern in the present context is that there is slow adoption of technology in the field of agriculture, resulting in higher input costs and lower productivity. The use of technology enables the country to generate high-quality food and higher yields and thus significantly reduces the need for chemicals.

Role of AI in the agriculture sector

Soil management:

With the help of AI, the farmers would have prior information regarding the type of soil, when to sow the crops and when to apply herbicides and when to anticipate insect outbreaks.
AI would help the farmers in acknowledging the practices which are harmful to the soil profile and cause long-term damage to its profile. Such information would help the farmers in practising sustainable agriculture.

Farm management:

Integration of technology like AI, with machine learning and others, would help in accessing the quality of the crops, and taking remedial measures in case of an aberration.
It can also advise farmers regarding the optimum practices that should be followed in the field of agriculture.

AI also helps in proper farm management through comprehensive planning and accessing the requirement of the labours to service the crop production.

With the help of AI, production can be boosted and farmers’ input costs can be reduced to a drastic level.
Another advantage of AI is to cut down waste production by a substantial level and make agricultural practices sustainable.

Weather forecast: It can also analyse the long-term weather in greater detail and recommend to the farmers the changes they need to introduce in agriculture in order to make it sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Market access:

It will help in improving the efficiency of the resources and overcome market asymmetry that prevent the farmers from accessing the markets.
The use of AI such as agriculture credit scoring and ‘smart’ farms will help in reducing the cost of servicing for small landholders.
It can play a role in precision farming. With the help of precision farming, every aspect of the agricultural practices is analysed in greater detail and effective measures are taken to improve the malpractices that have crept into the system.

Irrigation management: With the help of AI, soil quality is analysed in greater detail along with the type of crops to be produced. Thus, the amount of water needed by the crops is spelt by AI. It will thus help in reducing the wastage of farms.

Conclusion:

The adoption of technology is crucial to achieving the demands of food crops. The way the population is increasing in the world, only scientific tools can help us in achieving the task of food security. Adoption of technology is also imperative for making agriculture activities profitable for the farmers and saving the environment from the adverse effect of harmful emissions.