Nasscom joins hands with MeitY to take tech to farms, help improve productivity, crop quality

Know produce quality

The MeitY-Nasscom CoE has done several projects, among which it recently helped farmers in Ahmedabad to detect the quality of their produce before they take it to the agri-terminal markets (mandis).

“Farmers can know the quality of their produce before they take it to the mandis. They get to know the quality through the use of an AI (artificial intelligence) application on their phone. They get to know if there is a problem and what it is,” CEO of the MeitY-Nasscom CoE in Agriculture.

This can help them from being misled by buyers, while after knowing the quality of their produce, farmers can sell it online. This project was done at a few locations in the Gujarat capital. It also helped buyers as it was easier to judge the produce’s quality than to depend on a third person.

 “We did another similar one in Karnataka, where we help some of these organisations using AI for the judging of the output and the quality of the produce,” he said. 

Done-based imagery

The CoE did another project on drone-based imagery, where it was used to detect the pest attack. Some of the pest attacks can be detected early, which helps farmers to take remedial measures early and bring things under control. It also prevents the spread of the disease once it is detected early. 

The MeitY-Nasscom CoE has also done other projects, including one on controlling irrigation. On the number of farmers who have gained through its initiatives, Malhotra said the CoE’s objective was to create a few successive stories and then make it viral for people to pick up.

“What we do is to educate some sections of people in different parts of the country, assuming it will then become a movement, and others will learn from it. Typically, in all these areas, we tend to learn from the success of somebody else,” he said. 

The CoE funds some of the initiatives to bring out success stories. This is because once people see them, they will begin to grow. The objective of the organisation is to show people the application and a few success stories, and then let the system take care of itself.

Using AI, IoT

On the use of AI and Internet of Things (IoT), Malhotra said using a drone over a farm, any disease outbreak is found in multiple ways. The cameras in the drones detect that the naked eye cannot through symptoms such as a change in colour or other symptoms such as drooping or prospects of a pest attack.   

Similarly, AI and IoT can detech if there has been use of excess water of the crops and provide solutions for optimum irrigation. These technologies can provide images of crops such as tomatoes or rice from high-resolution cameras to help in understanding how they are shaping up. 

On the problems of communicating the success, Malhotra said it is a difficult job and the organisation depends on intermediaries to get the message to the farmers. They have to be told what benefits these technologies offer rather than telling them they are being offered the technology. 

“We don’t tell them technology; we tell them we are doing something which is going to benefit in the long run and even in the short run without having to make too much expense or too much investment,” said the CEO of the organisation.

Communication improving

The CoE’s job is to make the demonstration, show the success, and spread it in pockets. “We can only show it to a few people and leave the communication part to other people who know how to do it with the farming community,” he said. However, with most people using smartphones, communication has turned a little better. 

The smartphones help in getting updates on weather, advisory through government and start-ups such as what crops they can grow.  Soil testing is another service that farmers gain from the CoE.

“Farmers know what to look for. They look for advisories, both in terms of pricing, demand, weather and such things,” he said.  

Farmers now are aware of what pesticides to buy, their costs, what is available online, where they can get good seeds at a competitive cost, which variety to grow, Malhotra said, adding that these have ensured that farmers can no longer be taken for a ride. 

Last-mile reach

However, the MeitY-Nasscom CoE depends on last-mile organisations to reach the technologies and success stories. “They become the point of contact either for us or whoever else is doing it. We depend on others who specialise in this to reach the masses,  especially on the agriculture side of things.  

The CoE works with some of the medium-sized and large companies and shows them the value of the solution offered by startups, which are connected in a number of ways.

“We have a pretty solid connection with the start-ups engaged in deep technology across the country. That is what we do. So, start-ups also benefit from us. They also reach out to us. We show some path to them, bring out some success stories with them if it is a new one, and connect them to some governments because we work closely with the government,” said Malhotra.

The CoE depends a lot on State governments because they have a lot of programmes.  “We try to piggyback on them. We know our limitation.  We have limited people. For good things, there are takers. So, that’s the job we have done in the last 3-4 years. In our lab, start-ups have been operating,” said the CEO of the organisation.  

Published on July 28, 2025