Visakhapatnam: Robots for milking of cows, prediction of crop damage and various other global agricultural technology innovations were discussed by panelists at a discussion at AgTech-2017. The technical session was conducted on Thursday to understand how global technologies could be used to solve local challenges faced by small and marginal farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Director Dr Nick Austin, Iowa State University Global Programme Coordinator Dr Dileepkumar Guntuku, ICT Programme Coordinator (Africa) Dr Benjamin Kwasi Addom, Bosch Global AgTech Business Unit Rajendranath Goswami and Microsoft Research principal researcher Dr Ranveer Chandra presented the global technologies being used across the world. Responding to the presentation of the panelists, principal secretary (agriculture) B. Rajasekhar said the state government would use them in the agricultural practices. Dr Nick Austin said they were partnering with Andhra Pradesh in Agri technologies project because of its enthusiasm in IT. The idea could be extrapolated to other states too, he said.
IOWA State University Global Programme coordinator Dr Dileepkumar Guntuku mentioned about how automatic milking system or robotics are being used to harvest milk from cows. “Aided by sensors, lasers, and data collection, automated technology is cropping up on dairy farms around the world. The shift offers benefits for farmers who struggle to find workers willing to do the manual labour. But now after the cows adjust, they seem to like the robots better. This could be affordable for even a small farmer. One robot can milk 60-80 cows,” he said.
CM keen on Virtual Reality Andhra Pradesh CM is keen to implement Virtual Reality facility for farmers. Ever since he visited IOWA University, this has been on top of his mind. The farmers could see and understand properly the presentation on this where using VR Technologies several farming skills were taken care of. The bit about identifying crop damage area in advance for instance left them quite impressed.
Farmers switching from chilly to cotton Advanta Limited Board member said instant loan and insurance to farmers would help the farming in a big way. He mentioned about how algorithms are being used to predict the crop damages in view of natural calamities and assess the insurance coverage details within a short time.He also said that exclusive credit bureau of farmers should be formed.
