Govt signs MoU with IBM for weather forecast

Agriculture ministry has signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with IT major IBM for undertaking a pilot study on weather forecast and soil moisture information in three districts of Bhopal, Rajkot and Nanded in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra respectively for the Kharif crop season 2019.

IBM’s Watson Decision Platform will give solution in the field of agriculture through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and weather technology at village or farm level to provide weather forecast and soil moisture information on pro bono basis to help farmers for taking decisions regarding water and crop management for better production and productivity.

Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that use of digital technologies will help farmers to increase their income and transform Indian agriculture.

“Use of next-generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced weather data for better insights will help make faster and more informed agricultural decisions,” he said.

Implementation:
The pilot study will be conducted for the Kharif crop season 2019 in three districts namely Bhopal, Rajkot and Nanded, in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, respectively.
Once the study is done, the Watson Decision Platform of IBM will give solution in the field of agriculture through AI and weather technology at village level/ farm level. 
The platform will provide weather forecast and soil moisture information on pro bono basis. 
This aims to help farmers to take decisions regarding water and crop management for better production and productivity.