Researchers’ Consortium Formed to Apply Disruptive Technologies in Farming

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
In a major initiative to apply disruptive technology in agriculture, a consortium of researchers has been formed with the partnership of three leading institutions in the country with the mandate of turning farming from an ‘uncertain’ to ‘assured’ activity.
The platform, the Consortium of Researchers for Disruptive Technologies in Agriculture (CDTA), is a joint venture of the academic-cum-research scientists of IIITMK, Thiruvananthapuram, GB Pant University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Pant Nagar (Uttarkhand) and Indian Institute Space Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.
The team will advocate and implement application of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics (DA), Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing (CC), Aerospace Observation and Miniaturised Sensors in the agriculture domain.
They together present the untapped potential to overcome challenges facing Indian agriculture and to transform it from an Uncertain to Assured one.
Assured agriculture represents a scenario where individual farmers are guided at every stage of crop growth and provided with timely advisories and physical or fiscal assistance, to ensure beneficial returns for investment; without compromising on biological diversity in the immediate vicinity.
Having seized the need for tapping the tremendous potential of disruptive technology in agriculture, it was considered necessary to create a platform for advocating, creating, applying and sharing the new knowledge for the benefit of the Indian farming sector.
Dr. R. Jaishanker(Associate Professor, Ecological Informatics, C V Raman Laboratory of Ecological Informatics, IIITM-Kerala), Prof. Ajeet Singh Nain (Head, Department of Agro-Meteorology, G.B. Pant University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, (Uttarakhand) and Dr. V. K. Dadhwal (Director, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram (Mentor) are the lead role players of the initiative.
They are currently engaged in integrating crop simulation models on Cloud, which will help deliver farmer specific advisories and constitute the first step towards Assured Agriculture. CDTA will also act as a travelator to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) # 2: Zero Hunger. Among its primary objectives, the CDTA envisions to become a platform to share knowledge, good practices and support training in disruptive technologies to interdisciplinary scientists and researchers, focusing on agriculture.
CDTA also welcomes interested researchers from within and outside India to support the venture. While there will be no financial commitment to become a member, those interested in joining the initiative, could become part of it by clarifying their interest and the nature of contribution, association or task specifics, by dropping a line to ei@iiitmk.ac.in by specifying name, affiliation and highlighting envisaged contribution.