Mumbai-based Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) announced its partnership with the Karnataka State Department of Agriculture (KSDA) to improve the welfare of farmers across the state. The partnership is expected to explore opportunities for the scaled deployment of the AI-powered early pest warning and advisory solution for cotton and other crops developed by Wadhwani AI. 

Inaugurated by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, the company claims to identify problems that affect underserved communities and create AI-driven solutions for them. Since its inception, the company has focused on agriculture and aims to create a sustainable and social impact in the country. 

Talking about the latest development, Shekar Sivasubramanian, chief executive officer (CEO) of Wadhwani AI, said, "We are committed to use AI to meaningfully impact the lives of low-income populations, in India and other developing countries. Ensuring that our AI solutions reach the communities most affected by the problems we are trying to address and can create a meaningful impact at scale is only possible by working closely with the government.”

“We are excited to formally collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture to identify and address multiple challenges affecting agriculture in India through the use of timely and effective AI-based interventions," he added. 

BC Patil, Minister for Agriculture, Government of Karnataka, added, “We look forward to collaborating with Wadhwani AI and leveraging their expertise in developing cutting-edge AI-powered solutions to enhance agriculture systems in Karnataka and improve the income of farmers. We intend to unlock the value of the agriculture pest and disease data at our disposal and utilise it to create novel solutions in crops like cotton, maize, chili, and other crops in Karnataka, with the help of emerging AI-based technologies.”