Satya Nadella lauds Sharad Pawar-led body on AI use for farmers

The Baramati-based agricultural trust, in collaboration with Microsoft, has been conducting experiments on sugarcane farming using AI tools. A total of 1,000 farmers have been selected for these trials

Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on Wednesday lauded the Agriculture Development Trust (ADT) of Baramati for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help farmers. Nadella visited the ADT team in Delhi while expressing satisfaction with their use of AI tools in sugarcane farming. 

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Nadella said, “It was great to meet the team at ADT Baramati today, who are using our AI tools to help farmers grow healthier, more sustainable harvests.”  (HT FILE)

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Nadella said, “It was great to meet the team at ADT Baramati today, who are using our AI tools to help farmers grow healthier, more sustainable harvests.” 

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar also reacted to Nadella’s post, stating, “Thank you, Satya Nadella, for highlighting the benefits of AI for agriculture. We are committed to bringing the latest technology to farmers so they can benefit from it. We look forward to working with Microsoft to ensure technological advancements reach our agricultural community.” 

The ADT was founded by Pawar and his elder brother Appasaheb Pawar in 1968 with the objective of ushering in agricultural and educational development. ADT’s early activities include the construction of percolation tanks in the drought-prone areas of Baramati tehsil in Pune district, to meet water requirements for drinking and agriculture. 

The Baramati-based agricultural trust, in collaboration with Microsoft, has been conducting experiments on sugarcane farming using AI tools. A total of 1,000 farmers have been selected for these trials. 

Rajendra Pawar, an office bearer of the Baramati Agricultural Trust, said, “Some of our farmers met Nadella in Delhi, and his team visited Baramati recently.” 

He further explained, “The Agricultural Development Trust’s College of Agriculture, Baramati, and the Atal Incubation Center, Baramati, have been designated as centres of excellence for Microsoft’s FarmVibes AI project.” 

Pawar elaborated, “FarmVibes is a new suite of farm-focused technologies developed by Microsoft Research. Microsoft has recently open-sourced these tools, empowering researchers, data scientists, farmers, and students to turn agricultural data into actionable insights that can boost yields and cut costs.” 

According to information provided on the Agricultural Trust’s website, “FarmVibes AI algorithms, which run on Microsoft Azure, enable the creation of the ‘farm of the future.’ These algorithms gather data from soil sensors, drones, and satellites, helping farmers predict optimal amounts of fertilisers and herbicides, forecast temperatures and wind speeds, and optimise farm output. Additionally, FarmVibes empowers farmers to address larger systemic challenges such as climate change and food security.”