Aquaconnect and Fyllo win Mint’s 2024 All about AI Tech4Good Award and are transforming agriculture

Agriculture accounts for 17% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and is India’s largest single source of employment, making innovation in the sector critical to the country’s growth. The country’s small farmers face significant challenges due to pest infestations, declining yields, financial constraints and the increasing impacts of climate change. According to the World Economic Forum, about 40% of the country’s agricultural produce is lost after harvest due to issues including crop waste, lack of proper logistics and market access for farmers to sell their produce.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence can be used to address key challenges in agriculture, food security and sustainable livelihoods. All About AI | Mint celebrates the intersection of technology and purpose with the 2024 Tech4Good Awards, sponsored by Salesforce. In the category ‘Best Application of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture and Food Security’, Aquaconnect received a Gold Award for its transformative approach to aquaculture, while Fyllo won for using AI tools to help thousands of farmers maximize their yields. Silver Award.

Using artificial intelligence to increase productivity

Agriculture remains a cornerstone of global food security, and artificial intelligence is unlocking new opportunities to optimize practices and increase sustainability. With the global population expected to reach the 9.8 billion mark by 2050, the agriculture and food security sectors will be under intense pressure to innovate to increase food production and maximize crop yields, even as they face issues such as limited land, labor shortages , climate change and reduced soil fertility. Watch the live webcast of the event below,

Artificial intelligence can use data to gain insights into supply chains, analyze market demand, and predict prices. With AI-led precision farming, farmers can combine the best technologies in processes such as soil management, pest control and pricing to minimize expenses and maximize yields. Automation can also be used to reduce labor requirements and make processes more efficient. The “Best Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture and Food Security” category recognizes solutions that empower farmers and transform supply chains.

Gold Medal Winner: Aquaconnect

India’s aquaculture industry is a major player in global seafood production, accounting for 14% of the global market and supporting millions of rural and coastal communities. Despite a $25 billion market, the industry still struggles with inefficient market linkages, preventing farmers from accessing input and output markets.

India’s fisheries and seafood industries are traditional industries, and India’s vast geographical landscape makes physical capture of data impractical. This makes it difficult for major players to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency of the entire supply chain of fish and shrimp farming. Aquaconnect takes a different approach, combining geospatial technology with artificial intelligence models to inject efficiency into the Indian seafood value chain. The company is revolutionizing the aquaculture industry through artificial intelligence-driven predictive analytics and real-time insights, increasing productivity and promoting sustainable fish and shrimp farming practices.

“Artificial intelligence provides unparalleled advantages in processing large amounts of geospatial imagery, helping to accelerate our mission of industrial revolution. Prior to the implementation of AquaSAT, the aquaculture industry suffered from inefficient market linkages in acquiring inputs and selling harvested products. Struggle. Understanding production trends can take up to a year, delaying critical decisions and hampering efficiency across the value chain. With AquaSAT deployed, we provide the industry with near-instant intelligence.

They map pond boundaries, identify fish and shrimp ponds, assess culture stages, determine input requirements and forecast harvest supplies. This makes it easy to track production status, monitor stocked and harvested ponds, detect disease-prone areas, and predict yields from single ponds to national levels. Government agencies use these insights to develop policy, address gaps and opportunities, produce zoning and strategic responses. “Our platform increases transparency and efficiency, providing stakeholders with actionable data across the entire value chain,” he further said.

Silver Medalist: Fyllo

The agricultural sector faces many challenges, such as unpredictable weather, poor soil health and pests and diseases, which can severely impact crop quality and yields. Farmers often lack access to timely, accurate data, hampering their ability to make informed decisions and leading to inefficiencies and reduced profitability. Fyllo supports farmers with precision agriculture tools, using artificial intelligence to optimize resource utilization and make agricultural practices more sustainable. They leverage cutting-edge agronomic models and AI-based predictive models to help farmers make data-driven decisions to maximize crop potential and achieve stable yields. To date, the company has helped more than 11,000 farmers.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize agriculture by analyzing large amounts of data from soil, weather and crop health to provide actionable insights. We see artificial intelligence as a solution because it allows us to quickly process real-time information, Identify patterns and provide predictive insights that support precision agriculture. AI-driven analytics help us provide personalized irrigation, nutrient management and pest control recommendations for each farm’s unique conditions, allowing farmers to make changes throughout the crop cycle. Smart, data-driven decisions.

When talking about the impact of AI tools on the industry, he explained: “Before implementing our AI solutions, farmers relied on traditional methods, which often resulted in overuse of resources, higher input costs and unpredictable yields. After adopting Fyllo’s artificial intelligence-driven platform, farmers now have access to real-time data on soil moisture, crop health and weather conditions. As a result, irrigation efficiency is increased by 30%, pest-related losses are significantly reduced, and the overall quality of our labor is improved. Intelligence-driven insights are already changing the way farming is done, delivering measurable benefits in productivity and sustainability, resulting in more consistent and profitable harvests.

About Salesforce About AI | About Salesforce Tech4Good2024 Awards

Mint All About Artificial Intelligence | The 2024 Tech4Good Awards, sponsored by Salesforce, set a benchmark for how artificial intelligence is being used as a force for good, from combating climate change to democratizing education and healthcare. This measure is in line with the growing demand for responsible and ethical AI solutions that prioritize social well-being.

These awards demonstrate the transformative power of artificial intelligence in solving some of society’s most pressing challenges. The event saw more than 100 entries vying for recognition, highlighting the breadth of innovative artificial intelligence applications in a variety of fields.

160 industry leaders, technology experts and change-makers hosted a grand awards night at Jio World Center in Mumbai. In addition, the event’s reach expanded globally, with 12,000 participants participating via live broadcast, demonstrating widespread interest in AI-driven solutions for social good. This incredible turnout highlights the importance of artificial intelligence in driving sustainable progress and the desire of audiences around the world to celebrate and learn from these groundbreaking efforts.