Open source data platform for 'smart agriculture' proposed

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A plan to create an open source data platform for "smart agriculture" was mooted by the Department of Biotechnology in a two-day conference that concluded today.
It has been envisaged that the data platform 'FarmerZone' will help cater to the needs of farmers by providing market intelligence, weather predictions, and information on soil, water and seed requirements.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave here in partnership with the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Research Councils UK (RCUK), India.
The objective of this conclave was to set the stage for 'FarmerZone' -- a collective open-source data platform for smart agriculture that will use biological research and data that can be beneficial for small and marginal farmers.

The platform will work on getting relevant quality data related to agriculture into the cloud, develop sentinel sites to help link with farmers and evolve PPP based enterprises for data delivery.
It will connect farmers and scientists, government officials, leaders in agriculture, economists and representatives from global companies who work in the big-data and e-commerce space to bring about technology-based localised agri-solutions.

"FarmerZone has been envisioned by the DBT and aligns with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for effective decision-making in agriculture that integrates science, technology, innovation and the farm ecosystem," a statement by the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

With the agricultural conclave, DBT aims to advance the process of technological intervention to help small and marginal land-holding farmers, who constitute a major component of Indian agriculture.
The conclave also identified the challenges faced in each agro-climatic region, and discussed possible solutions through scientific interventions.
"This conclave has brought together a diverse group of stakeholders ranging from farmers, scientists and businesses from the national and international arena, who share DBT's vision to use research and technology to deliver 'FarmerZone'," DBT secretary Vijay Raghavan said.