Agriculture needs a booster shot of digital technology: KTR

Hyderabad: Stating that agriculture has been one of the most important sectors for the government, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday said that it was the right time to bring digital technology led revolution in the sector.

Delivering a keynote address at the Launch of AI4AI: Artificial Intelligence for Agricultural Innovation in collaboration with Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, India (C4IR), World Economic Forum, Rama Rao said, "We strongly feel that AI will offer immense possibilities for the farmers, governments and all other stakeholders of the ecosystem." He said that the team from Center for 4th Industrial Revolution (C4IR), WEF India has worked closely with PJTSAU, agricultural research university and Telangana government's IT department to identify high impact use cases of AI – which would benefit both the farmers and the policymakers.

Rama Rao said that Telangana had clearly defined its vision to be a global leader in emerging technologies including AI and has made rapid strides towards achieving the vision. "Government of Telangana declared 2020 as the Year of AI to accelerate AI readiness and develop a conducive AI innovation ecosystem in the state, opening new avenues of Artificial Intelligence led innovation for social impact – especially in the public sector," said Rao.

He also said that as part of '2020 - Year of AI', Government partnered with several reputed organisations from industry and academia and introduced several initiatives including AI strategy for Telangana- In consultation with experts from industry, academia, startup community, civil society – we have developed a six-pronged AI strategy for Telangana, Telangana's AI Mission (T AIM)- With a vision to position Telangana as a global hub for Artificial Intelligence and foster social innovation, government launched T-AIM (Telangana's AI Mission) – a dedicated body for AI specific initiatives in partnership with NASSCOM, launched Centre for Research in Applied AI (CRiAA)- an organization with special focus on healthcare – in collaboration with Intel, IIIT Hyderabad and Public Health Foundation of India.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, "We are happy to be partnering with Telangana in piloting many AI in Agriculture initiatives. There is no better place than Telangana in our country and we are happy to work with Minister KTR."