How Absolute's research-driven tech is changing the face of India's Insuretech sector

Traditionally, insurance companies frequently relied on subjective assessments of crop damage, which could lead to disagreements and delays in claim settlements. However, with growing data technology, getting unbiased information about agricultural conditions is becoming easier, enabling more precise and efficient claim processing. In this regard, future-ready agri-tech solutions provide the right solutions to the many pain points of agri-dependent people. Take, for example; Absolute leverages satellite-enabled farm monitoring (7+ satellites) for optimal crop growth conditions and detection of environmental stresses for crop protection. Crop health monitoring is one of the important issues of successful farming; therefore, Vegetative Index Monitoring for crop health evaluation is essential at all stages.

With the recent launch of India’s first DIY insurance marketplace, Upaj - Absolute’s AgCloud Ecosystem, in collaboration with DigiSafe, is leveraging its fourth-generation data stack to efficiently help farmers with faster claim settlements. Developed by a team of experts in the field, Upaj provides valuable support and insight to farmers at every stage of the farming process - from parametric crop insurance and soil testing to precision advisory and post-harvest support.

Absolute’s Upaj is an AgCloud ecosystem that uses advanced data analytics to derive intelligible outcomes from agricultural data. The company's fourth-generation data stack goes beyond the capabilities of traditional IoT and satellite technologies and can analyze soil activity at the RNA level. This allows Upaj to understand the genetic diversity of the soil and provides farmers with valuable insights about optimising their growth cycle, input management, and improving their yields. It uses Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning to build algorithms and process the captured data, thereby removing the impact of cloud interference from the captured satellite images. Absolute has deployed 350+ proprietary IoT devices across India to supplement and validate data captured through satellites.

Severe yield penalties have increased steadily in the past decades, and extreme weather events such as floods, drought and heat are predicted to increase as a direct consequence of climate change. Determination of plant stress factors is challenging as it can be a compound result of water deficit, nutrient deficiency and disease infection. Hence, spectral imaging enables the quantification of crop responses to stress in controlled environmental conditions and field trials. Spectral reflectance measurements help to identify the select wavelengths sensitive to different types of plant stress. Biotic Stress is caused by living organisms, pathogens like fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and herbivores. In contrast, Abiotic Stress caused due to floods, drought, extreme temperature, salinity, and nutrient deficiency rarely occurs in isolation, and responses are highly variable depending on the crop, growth stage and combination of abiotic and biotic stresses found in the field. The effects of and adaptations to abiotic stresses can be related to imaging data to target specific stress responses. Irrigation stress caused due to insufficiency of water and NDVI, an indicator of vegetation density and crop condition, helps predict yield and provides quantitative high-resolution detection of structural damages induced by these stresses.

One of the key advantages of Upaj’s comprehensive data stack in terms of insurance offerings is that it allows insurance providers to quickly and easily collect detailed information about the location and condition of crops. This information can be used to accurately assess the extent of damage to crops, which in turn allows insurance providers to facilitate more precise settlements for farmers.

Upaj uses the same data stack to monitor the condition of crops in real time and generate actionable insights for farmers. This also allows Upaj to respond quickly to changing conditions and provide timely support to farmers during a natural disaster or another catastrophic event.

Sushan Rungta, Chief Technology Officer, Absolute, said, “While crop insurance programmes have historically existed, they have been plagued by poor uptake and slower evaluation rates. We hope to expedite the procedure while maintaining its accuracy with a tech-driven plan. We believe that by cultivating a sustainable ecosystem that intervenes at every stage of the farming life cycle, we can support the development of resilient producers by shifting to sustainable methods.”

Upaj’s cutting-edge, data-driven agriculture stack has also made it easier for insurance companies to provide tailored policies to farmers. By using detailed data about the location and condition of crops, insurance providers have specifically designed plans to meet the needs of individual farmers and their crops. This allows farmers to get the coverage they need to protect their crops and livelihoods. Upaj has greatly improved the accuracy and efficiency of crop insurance claim settlements. By providing detailed information about the location and condition of crops, insurance providers on Upaj’s insurance marketplace have better access to evaluate crop damage, leading to more precise settlements for farmers.