And for a Friday……. as distressed sugarcane farmers are agitating…back on highways crying for help ……some thoughts ….. some musings ….
Urban India is obsessed with plausible job losses due AI to IT industry … the huge opportunities AI possesses to solve historically chronic Agri sector problems with some focused interventions & Investments is completely missed out …….sugar industry is a classical example …..India is the world’s second largest producer after Brazil but we consume our entire sugar production locally largely for commercial use like beverages .. confectioneries , bakeries etc whilst Brazil the largest producer exports almost 70% & earns more than 15 Bn $s …..the Indian sugarcane eco system is very large, subsidised by tax payer money & inefficient….. 58 lakh hectares planted …..more than 50mn farmers … 5 lakh workers in Sugar factories & allied industries ….. our farmers are totally at the mercy of entrenched Politicians & Babus who control the entire crop cycle……its always a Catch-22 …….GOI fixes the FRP ( Fair & remunerative price) …. State Govts top up with SAP ( State advised Price ) ……. Prices to be paid to farmers by the Sugar factories who struggle to survive …….. they have vey low product discretion or incentives to modernise …. as most aspects of sugarcane conversion to Jaggery , Sugar … Ethanol … Potable alcohol by Sugar factories are all prescribed by Govt policies ……a perfect recipe for outdated , archaic , corrupt managerial & Agri practices ……question ……is it a unsolvable problem or a huge opportunity ????
Given India’s Agri Universities infra ….tech stack & AI capabilities we can potentially convert majority of current sugar mills into Power houses of Bio-Energy producers ……. not just sugar …. Potable alcohol , ethanol but also ….. compressed bio gas ( CBG) .. ….. bio plastics …..sustainable aviation fuel ( SAF) … isobutanol ….etcetc ……the AI -ML network programme in partnership with Microsoft & Oxford University has already successfully undertaken trials with Agri Tech platforms using Map My Crop in sugarcane growing states like Maharashtra , UP , Karnataka etc pioneered weather stations , soil sensors , satellite imagery to help farmers with predicting pest breakout…. soil conditioning … optimal fertilisation ….timely harvest for peak sugar content etc etc …… tech is proven …. Adoption & implementation at scale is needed …a full scale revolutionary approach to change the Sugarcane eco system is the clarion call.
India’s opportunity is in using AI to leap frog to become a Developed nation with Agri investments ….…… let’s support India’s Agriculture ….. the understanding way ….. the sustainable way …. the SEEGOS way.