How Google is using satellite imagery to revolutionize Indian agriculture
What's the story
Google is working on a digital agricultural platform, or "agri-stack," using satellite imagery. The first step would be to create a base layer to map out farm boundaries, Manish Gupta, a senior director at Google DeepMind, said. This data could then be used to improve subsidy payments, farm insurance, and loans. Gupta unveiled this groundbreaking project during his address at Mumbai Tech Week.
Tech details
Agri-stack can identify crops and field boundaries
Gupta explained Google has created a unique model, which leverages satellite imagery to detect field boundaries and crops. This model, part of the digital agri-stack project, gives a unique ID to every farm, just like UIDAI's Aadhaar system. Start-ups and other agri-tech companies could use the data generated by this platform to provide services such as crop insurance, loans, and subsidies.
Impact assessment
Transforming India's agricultural sector
Gupta stressed on the impact this platform could have, considering 40% of India's population are farmers. He also pointed out that India's annual farm lending is a $550 billion opportunity, most of which is still controlled by informal sector lenders. The development comes as India's banking system is looking for ways to improve its agricultural lending processes with satellite imagery-based inputs.
Language initiative
Google addresses language disparity with 'Vaani' project
Along with the agri-stack project, Gupta also touched upon the problem of limited online content in Indian languages. He said that while 10% of the world's population speaks Hindi, it only constitutes 0.1% of online content. To fill this gap, Google has launched the "Vaani" project which aims to collect voice recordings from across India's 700 districts. The first phase has already collected 14,000 hours of audio data from 80 districts in 59 languages.
Information
Gupta highlights importance of AI in scientific advancements
Gupta also highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in pushing science forward. He referred to DeepMind's contribution to a Nobel Prize-winning project in Chemistry. This statement further emphasizes Google's dedication to using advanced tech for the good of society and the advancement of science.