Google’s charitable division The company announced on October 31 that Wadhwani AI, which develops and uses AI to support farmers throughout India, has received a $3.3 million grant from Google.org for its CottonAce app.
“As it expands and integrates the image-classifying AI technology underlying CottonAce into the digital systems of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Government of India to cover India’s staple food crops, Wadhwani AI is receiving a new $3.3 million grant from Google.org under the AI for Global Goals call,” the company stated in a blog post.
The CottonAce app, created by Wadhwani AI, is accessible in nine Indian languages and offers farmers up-to-date guidance on managing pests and crops, including the prudent and suitable application of fertilizer and pesticides.
The company also stated that the system will allow players in India’s agriculture ecosystem to make data-driven decisions to reduce crop loss by using Natural Language Processing techniques to deliver management recommendations for pests and diseases nationally.
The CEO of Wadhwani AI, Shekar Sivasubramanian, describes the goals of this initiative: “We want to use AI to increase productivity and efficiency in the Indian agricultural sector.”
He asserted that farmers’ income have already improved by 20% and pesticide costs have decreased by 25% thanks to the platform’s Cotton Ace app. With Google’s grant, technology to protect staple crops like rice, wheat, and corn will advance.
The Cotton Association of India projects that cotton production for the cropping year 2023–2024 will reach 29.5 million bales. This development coincides with their projections. According to President Atul Ganatra, these cotton harvest forecasts are the lowest in India since 2008–2009. He continued by saying that El Nino, a 5% decrease in cotton sowing area, and a loss in cotton yields are mostly to blame for this production decline. The group has noted that the unfavorable weather will cause a 5–20% decrease in yield. In terms of yields, Rajasthan is predicted to suffer greatly—a decrease of more than 40%.
In addition, Google.org awarded a $4 million grant to the cybersecurity advocacy group CyberPeace Foundation to create and implement a national awareness and capacity-building program that will provide people with guidelines for responsible online behavior and fact-checking techniques through an extensive online learning center that offers resources in more than 15 Indian languages.
