|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) has collaborated with an industry player to introduce Krishi 24/7, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven system that automates the monitoring and analysis of agricultural news published online.
Krishi 24/7 is the first of its kind and will enable DA&FW to identify relevant news, generate timely alerts, and take prompt action to protect farmers’ interests. It offers near real-time monitoring of news updates, empowering more informed decisions regarding the sector.
The tool scans news articles written in multiple languages and translates them into English. It retrieves critical data from news articles, including the headline, crop name, event type, date, location, severity, summary, and source link. This guarantees that the ministry remains up-to-date with timely reports on relevant events available on the Internet.
“The introduction of Krishi 24/7 addresses the need for an efficient mechanism to identify and manage agricultural news articles of interest to aid timely decision-making,” a press release wrote. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Secretary, Manoj Ahuja, remarked that the news monitoring system would not only keep the organisation informed but also empower it to “shape the narrative”.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, he further recommended that the Ministry remain open to enhancing the system as they move forward.
As the world evolves, so should its tools and methods, he said. Stakeholders in the industry should work together to ensure that the news monitoring system becomes a dynamic force, adaptable to the changing information landscape, and an asset in the mission to better serve India’s farmers.
The industry player aims to develop AI solutions for current challenges, particularly in cases where news monitoring and validation have traditionally been manual and time-intensive processes. The organisation has also deployed a similar event tracking and analysis solution for disease outbreaks. It is being used by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Through partnerships with the DA&FW and other central government entities, the organisation is committed to providing them with effective tools that enhance the flow of information and enable data-driven decision-making.
As part of its efforts to digitally transform the agricultural sector, in September, the government launched the Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics (UPAg Portal). It is designed to optimise and improve data management within the sector.
As OpenGov Asia reported, the portal standardises data about prices, production, area, yield, and trade, bringing it all together in a single repository. It eliminates the need to compile from multiple sources.
The portal is able to perform advanced analytics, offering valuable insights into production trends, trade connections, and consumption patterns. It can produce granular production estimates with increased frequency, improving the government’s capacity to respond swiftly to agricultural crises.
Commodity profile reports can be generated using algorithms, reducing subjectivity and providing users with comprehensive insights. Users can also use the portal’s data to create their own reports, fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making.
The portal empowers stakeholders with real-time, reliable, and standardised information, laying the foundation for more effective agricultural policies. It plays a pivotal role in the Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture, focusing on harnessing the diversity of the agriculture sector and leveraging data as a catalyst for growth.
