-By ArdorComm News Network
November 7, 2023
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), in partnership with the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI), has introduced ‘Krishi 24/7,’ India’s inaugural AI-driven solution for automated monitoring and analysis of agricultural news. Developed with support from Google.org, this innovation will enable the DA&FW to identify pertinent agricultural news, issue timely alerts, and take swift actions to safeguard farmers’ interests and encourage sustainable agricultural development by enhancing decision-making.
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare underlines the necessity for an efficient mechanism to pinpoint and manage agricultural news articles that can facilitate prompt decision-making. Krishi 24/7 scans news articles in various languages, translates them into English, and extracts crucial information, including headlines, crop names, event details, dates, locations, severity, summaries, and source links, ensuring that the ministry receives timely updates on pertinent events found on the internet.
During the launch of this initiative, Manoj Ahuja, Secretary (A&FW), emphasized that this news monitoring system not only keeps stakeholders informed but also empowers them to shape the narrative. He encouraged continuous improvement and adaptability to the evolving landscape of information.
Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary (Extension), explained the system’s functions, which aim to provide near real-time monitoring of online agricultural news articles, helping the DA&FW identify relevant news and establish a comprehensive mechanism for event selection, alert creation, and timely action.
JP Tripathi, Associate Director (Ag) at Wadhwani AI, highlighted their commitment to developing AI solutions for addressing challenges where news monitoring and validation have been manual and time-consuming.
He mentioned the successful deployment of a similar solution for tracking and analyzing disease outbreaks in collaboration with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). By collaborating with the DA&FW and other central government bodies, their goal is to provide effective tools that enhance information flow through data-driven decision-making.