The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) has unveiled Krishi 24/7, the first-ever AI-powered solution for automated agricultural news monitoring and analysis. This tool has been created in collaboration with the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) and Google.org. A press release on the application was issued on 6th November, 2023.
Krishi 24/7 establishes a mechanism for leveraging artificial intelligence for efficient agricultural news monitoring. It contemplates the performance of the following functions:
- aiding the DA&FW in identifying relevant news,
- generating timely alerts,
- taking prompt action to safeguard farmers’ interests and
- promoting sustainable agricultural growth through informed decision-making.
Furthermore, the tool scans agricultural news articles in multiple languages and translates them into English. It extracts crucial information such as headline, crop name, event type, date, location, severity, summary, and source link. This ensures that the ministry receives timely updates on relevant events published on the web, enabling more responsive decision-making.
Launching the initiative, the Secretary (A&FW) expressed that Krishi 24/7 would keep the ministry informed of agricultural news. It would also empower them to actively shape the narrative. Emphasizing a commitment to continuous improvement, he urged openness to enhancing the system to adapt to the evolving information landscape.
Additionally, the Joint Secretary (Extension) also highlighted the application’s capability to provide near-real-time monitoring of news articles related to the agriculture ecosystem. This comprehensive mechanism allows the DA&FW to identify news of interest, create alerts, and take timely action.
Moreover, the Associate Director (Ag) at Wadhwani AI, emphasized the institute’s dedication to developing AI solutions for existing challenges in manual and time-consuming processes like news monitoring and validation. Drawing parallels with a successful event tracking and analysis solution for disease outbreaks deployed in collaboration with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), he expressed a commitment to equipping central government bodies with effective tools that enhance data-driven decisions and information flow.
Krishi 24/7 is poised to revolutionize agricultural news monitoring, leveraging technology for the betterment of the farming community and the agricultural sector as a whole.
