Google Deploys AI in India to Boost Farm Productivity and Climate Resilience

Google has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) project in India to increase farm productivity and climate resilience. The project, which uses two AI models for targeted agricultural solutions, aims to ensure global food security and higher agricultural production through interventions addressing current and future concerns.

Alok Talekar, Lead, Agriculture and Sustainability Research at Google DeepMind, said the effort is focused on solving agriculture using AI. 'We want to demonstrate how AI can responsibly solve and transform the lives of millions of farmers in many ways,' he explained.

The project, initially built to support India's ecosystem, has been extended to 11 countries across Asia-Pacific and Africa, including Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Zambia. The models' outputs have been made available as APIs and on Google Earth.

The AnthroKrishi team, set up by Google, is dedicated to supporting the initiatives. Talekar explained that using satellite imagery, they can identify every single field, tree, and water body across a country or region. 'We have one-to-one coverage across the country,' he said.