AI to Drive Farm Productivity, Says GITAM VC
Artificial Intelligence is poised to transform farming practices by enhancing efficiency and ensuring long-term sustainability, GITAM Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Y. Gouthama Rao said on Monday.
He was addressing the inaugural session of a week-long Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on “Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture and Health,” organised by the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, GITAM School of Technology, in collaboration with IIT Guwahati’s Electronics and ICT Academy.
Prof. Rao observed that marginal cultivators continue to face erratic weather, pest infestations, and shrinking yields. Intelligent technologies, he noted, can strengthen productivity, raise rural incomes, and bolster food security. He recommended voice-enabled chatbots and visual applications in regional languages to support non-literate farmers with crop and soil health management.
GITAM School of Technology Director Prof. K. Nagendra Prasad remarked that intelligent systems can analyse vast datasets from diverse sources to guide better decision-making. He added that automation is simplifying sowing, irrigation, and harvesting, while sensor-based IoT devices, drones, and modern equipment are improving overall output.
Head of the EECE Department Prof. P. Bharani Chandra Kumar highlighted Andhra Pradesh’s push for drone adoption in precision spraying, soil analysis, crop surveillance, and real-time information gathering. The State government, he said, is offering subsidies, establishing service centres, and training pilots to aid cultivators.
Experts from IIT Ropar, NIT Warangal, CSIR-CSIO Chandigarh, and ICAR-IARI New Delhi are serving as resource persons for the FDP.