PM Modi to Address a Webinar on Smart Agriculture Today

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address at a webinar on smart agriculture, according to an official statement released on Wednesday. 

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister Parshottam Rupala, and Food Processing Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras will also attend the webinar. 

In addition to various government officials, the webinar will include Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma. 

The day-long webinar will focus on five key areas, including natural farming and creating a digital agro eco system, as well as approaches to attain self-sufficiency in edible oils. 

What is Smart Agriculture? 

Smart agriculture decreases farming's ecological footprint. In precision agricultural systems, minimized or site-specific application of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides will reduce leaching issues as well as greenhouse gas emissions. With today's ICT, it is possible to build a sensor network that allows for near-constant monitoring of the farm.

Similarly, theoretical and practical frameworks for connecting the states of plants, animals, and soils with the need for production inputs such as water, fertilizer and pharmaceuticals are in reach with current ICT globally. 

Smart farming can increase the farmer's profitability. Reduced resource inputs save money and effort for farmers, while greater dependability of spatially explicit data reduces risks. Crop cultivation will be optimized using optimum, site-specific weather predictions, yield estimates, and probability maps for diseases and disasters based on a dense network of meteorological and climate data. 

Site-specific data also opens up new insurance and commercial opportunities for the entire value chain, from technology and input providers to farmers, processors, and the retail sector in both developing and developed nations. When all farming-related data is collected by automated sensors, the time required for resource prioritization and administrative oversight is reduced.