Having evolved into an extension of next-gen AV, artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are taking the technology application to places. Places that have not been touched till now. The latest area being powered by AI is agriculture.
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NEC Laboratories India (NLI), an entity of NEC Corporation India – which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation – will contribute its AI/ML expertise to detect crop diseases and help develop remedial programmes for Indian agriculture sector.
NLI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), aimed at creating newer solutions to resolve agricultural issues using analytics and AI/ML.
The signing of this MoU with TNAU marks NLI’s first partnership in the ‘agri-tech’ space in India. It was signed virtually by Dr. Keiji Yamada, SVP & Head, NEC Laboratories India, and Dr. A.S. Krishnamoorthy, Acting Vice-Chancellor & Registrar, TNAU, Coimbatore. The MoU was done in the presence of Dr. K.S. Subramanian, Director of Research, and Dr. K. Prabakar, Director (Centre for Plant Protection Studies).
Through this co-creation partnership, NEC aims at creating a solution which helps identify major crop disease and deficiency categories, and provide appropriate remedies. As part of this initiative, NLI will develop a mobile app with AI/ML capability, while TNAU will provide expert guidance and assist in data collection activity for detecting diseases.
It is observed that by combining the best of both the parties, early detection of disease onset through artificial intelligence and machine learning is more effectively achieved, and farmers will be able to take remedial actions promptly.
Since its establishment in 2018, NLI has been developing digital transformation solutions to transform the industries in India and other countries. NEC aims at covering majorly impacted crops within India, with enhanced accuracy over the next 12 months.
According to the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO), farmers globally lose up to 40 per cent of their crops to insects and diseases every year, costing industries in excess of US$70 billion.
Similarly in India, the agriculture sector faces significant crop yield variations, which are aggravated by increased weather fluctuations (climate change), plant diseases, macro-economic developments and other uncertainties. A cumulative effect of all this is found to be resulting in as much as 30 to 60 per cent crop losses of every annual harvest.
The on-site solution helps farmers to increase the yield and minimise crop loss by accurately recognizing crop diseases at an early stage; providing an efficient and immediate advisory system; and monitoring growth through a constant supply of information on what to do to maintain crop health through the various phases of growth.
“India is a predominantly agricultural economy, and farmers today face a wide array of problems in the field that need to be addressed instantly,” said Dr. Subramanian. “With the signing of this MoU, the University intends to use AI for the early detection of pests and diseases, and it is our honour to be joining hands with NEC Laboratories India and the NEC Group,” he said. “Their decades of deep-tech expertise, and problem-solving capabilities for both critical social problems, as well as industrial challenges, makes them an ideal technology partner for this endeavour.”
Dr. Keiji Yamada, SVP & Head, NEC Laboratories India, said on the occasion: “We are proud to be partnering with TNAU in new ways of applying AI and Analytics to resolve crucial issues in agriculture in real time. This partnership is critical and timely because, apart from being an agricultural society at large, India is also the second largest food producer in the world. India’s importance in the global food supply chain necessitates the deployment of immediate and effective measures that can anticipate and address challenges ahead of time”.
NEC has a product called Cropscope and is looking to provide further value to farmers through this activity. The initial solution idea for crop disease detection using AI was conceived through NEC’s hackathon on Agri-tech – Food wastage, which was conducted in partnership with Infobridge Holdings at Bengaluru in December 2019. Similar hackathons that NEC organised in India have been instrumental in identifying key social challenges and developing relevant solutions, across domains.
