ROURKELA: In a bid to boost the farm sector, the Sundargarh administration is all set to implement digital agriculture initiatives in the tribal-dominated district. An MoU was recently signed by the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad to implement agri monitored re-engineering transformation (AMRT) system over a period of five years.
The AMRT involves use of remote sensing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the internet of things, big data and drone technologies to integrate agriculture sector information and help make informed decisions, enhance productivity and serve farmers’ interests.
ICRISAT sources said the AMRT system involves the concept of ‘farm to fork’ and would identify crop patterns and monitor growth to issue necessary advisories. It also envisages automation and integration of all relevant data including land records of farmers, crop pattern and condition, soil condition and variability of rainfall among other things.
With all information available on a single platform, it would help farmers and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to enhance income and resolve issues of loans, farm inputs, marketing link and the right price. In case of crop loss due to vagaries of nature, the administration can easily identify the affected crops. This would also be helpful in the delivery of welfare schemes to farmers.
The sources further said areas under organic and natural farming would also be integrated with the system. The overall data ecosystems would support the development and delivery of timely, targeted information and services to make farming profitable and sustainable.
Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said advanced availability of right information about climatic and crop conditions besides soil fertility would help farmers. This would also help the administration to prepare effective agriculture strategy.
In this connection, a meeting of the stakeholders was chaired by the Collector at Sundargarh town on Saturday. Among others, chief district agriculture officer RC Nayak, DMF chief executive officer Maheswar Nayak, scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and officials of NABARD and MARKFED were present.