Microsoft sowing app sees 30% higher average yield in a pilot study

(ICRISAT, Microsoft and Andhra Pradesh govt have collaborated on these digital technology tools

A pilot project that tested a new sowing application for farmers combined with a Personalised Village Advisory Dashboard in a small area in Andhra Pradesh has demonstrated a 30 percent higher average in yield per hectare.

The International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), global technology firm Microsoft and Andhra Pradesh government have collaborated on these digital technology tools. The results of the pilot project were announced today at the 20th National Conference on e-Governance, which began in Visakhapatnam on a Monday.

The personalised Village Advisory Dashboard has been developed to enable officials of Andhra Pradesh Primary Sector Mission to better manage programmes of scale.

Using powerful business intelligence tools, this dashboard provides important insights around soil health, fertiliser recommendations, and seven-day weather forecasts derived from the world's best available weather observations systems and global forecast models. This data is then downscaled for the highest possible accuracy at the village level, to transform how small holder farmers tackle climate change to drive effective decision-making for their crops, according to Microsoft.

"This result is proof of the efficiencies that cloud technology can bring and thereby help farmers economically by improving agricultural productivity. The applicability of the intelligent cloud is a significant start for digital agriculture and we hope more governments and stakeholders come forward to reap benefits of this innovation," said Anil Bhansali, managing director, Microsoft India(R&D) Private Limited.