GUWAHATI, Dec 15 - AgSpert, an agri-tech startup co-founded by the students of IIT Guwahati (IIT-G) and alumni of NIT Silchar and Dibrugarh University, has developed AgSpeak, a multi-lingual smartphone application for farmers to smartly manage their farms and remotely monitor distress activities, according to a press release issued here on Tuesday.
AgSpeak was launched by IIT-G Director Prof TG Sitharam here on December 13.
Developed with a goal of optimising the in-farm productivity through artificial intelligence (AI), this application will help the farmers in making decisions and managing farm activities by the click of a single button on their smartphone or computer.
Co-founded by Siddhartha Bora (NIT Silchar alumnus), CEO; Manik Mittal (IIT Guwahati student), COO; Akash Sharma (IIT Guwahati student), SDE; Nitin Chauhan (IIT Guwahati student), cloud systems architect; Dhritiman Talukdar (NIT Silchar alumnus), SDE and Kookil Pran Goswami (Dibrugarh University alumnus), hardware developer, AgSpert is leading the initiative in north-eastern India which has untapped potential with diverse ecosystems having agriculture as the major economic activity. The developed application is multi-lingual and has an option of Assamese as well. This feature is a first among all the agri-tech applications available on the market, the press release claimed.
Driven by hyper local crop data coming from satellite and smart IoT (Internet of Things) devices, AgSpeak considers up to 20 local crop parameters which are key indicators of their health like temperature, rainfall, sunlight hours, soil health status among others, to alert farmers about probable crop threats in advance and suggest best practices to tackle the incoming threat, hence optimising the resources used and maximising productivity.
The app along with the IoT hardware has been tested for the past three months with 500 farmers and two tea estates. Some of the major breakthroughs by the algorithm were precise prediction of blight in potato and tea mosquito bug, along with water stress in winter crops. These are major reasons of woes for farmers and small tea growers of Assam and cause major crop damage if not controlled in time.
Major commercial users of the product include commercial plantation farms (tea, lemon orchards, grape vineyards).
Nearly 250 farmers have already been provided hands-on training in utilising the full potential of the app. However, the user friendliness and multilingual features of the app make it extremely easy for farmers to use and seldom require training.
The mobile app is completely free for general small farmers. There are in-app purchases like soil testing and agri-doctor consultation. Besides this, the IoT devices can be rented on monthly/yearly basis by commercial farms to further enhance precision farm management. The app has been tested with many farmers and its practical utility established.
Congratulating the young entrepreneurs, IIT-G Director Prof Sitharam said, �It is a matter of immense pride that our students are working to bring out state-of-the-art technology for India�s farmers. India is a leading agricultural country with immense potential, yet 2 billion people globally did not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food in 2019 alone. To end this global starvation, we need to double agricultural productivity in the next 15 years. Unless we use technology appropriately in the agricultural sector, this would be impossible. Additionally, to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), we have ten more years to fulfil this SDG and to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. In all these directions, unless new technology is used, we will not be able to succeed. India aspires to become a US$ 5 trillion economy, and unless the younger generation of today�s India don�t stand up we cannot take on this challenge. I�m immensely proud of our students and wish them all the best for the immense contribution they are making for the farmers of our country.�