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Media coverage of DBT’s Smart Agriculture Conclave in partnership with the UK

DBT concludes Smart Agriculture ConclaveIndia Infoline News Service | Mumbai | September 03, 2017 13:25 IST

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology,convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi from August 29 to August 31, 2017, inpartnership with the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)and Research Councils UK (RCUK) India, said a government release.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology,convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi from August 29 to August 31, 2017, inpartnership with the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)and Research Councils UK (RCUK) India, said a government release.

The objective of this conclave was to set the stage for FarmerZone - a collective open-sourcedata platform for smart agriculture which will use biological research and data to improve thelives of small and marginal farmers.

It is envisaged that FarmerZone will help cater to all needs of the farmer, from dealing withclimate change, weather predictions and soil, water, and seed requirements to providing marketintelligence.

THE NEWS SCROLL01 SEPTEMBER 2017 Last Updated at 12:04 AMOpen source data platform for 'smartagriculture' proposedNew Delhi, Aug 31 A plan to create an open source data platform for "smart agriculture" wasmooted 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 farmersby providing market intelligence, weather predictions, and information on soil, water and seedrequirements.

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 andBiological 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-sourcedata platform for smart agriculture that will use biological research and data that can bebeneficial 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 datadelivery.

It will connect farmers and scientists, government officials, leaders in agriculture, economistsand representatives from global companies who work in the big-data and e-commerce space tobring about technology-based localised agri-solutions.

"FarmerZone has been envisioned by the DBT and aligns with the Prime Minister NarendraModi'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 Technologysaid.

With the agricultural conclave, DBT aims to advance the process of technological intervention tohelp small and marginal land-holding farmers, who constitute a major component of Indianagriculture.

The conclave also identified the challenges faced in each agro-climatic region, and discussedpossible 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 touse research and technology to deliver 'FarmerZone'," DBT secretary Vijay Raghavan said.

It will focus on solutions in the farming eco-system, especially for small and marginal farmers,the officer said

https://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/

Government plans to create FarmerZone.

September 1, 2017.

The Union Ministry of Science and Technology is planning to create FarmerZone, a collectiveopen-source data platform for smart agriculture by using ...

........ currentaffairs.gktoday.in/tags/farmerzone © GKToday

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RT @BBSRC: "Traditional & modern ways of farming are needed to help farmers & savefarming" @DBT #SmartAgriConclave

DBT’s Smart Agriculture Conclave underway atDelhi





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The conclave being held on 30th-31st August, 2017 by the Department of Biotechnology aims to underpin the challengesfaced by farmers and discuss the possible cloud based solutions accessible to the remotest farmer

By BioVoice Correspondent -

August 31, 2017

New Delhi: The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, isholding a ‘Smart Agriculture Conclave’ on 30th to 31st August, 2017. The conclave aims tounderpin the challenges faced by farmers and discuss the possible cloud based solutionsaccessible to the remotest farmer to see as to: How existing farm- related data can be accessed,collated, curated and translated into information useful for the farmer, Identification oftechnological gaps in data acquisition and transfer from farm to cloud and vice versa.

The expected outcome of the Conclave is to provide a roadmap for setting up a cloud-service “FarmerZone” where the right kind of agriculture data is collated leading to maximumimpact, vis-a-vis farmer needs and make this data useful for the farmer (data related to weather,disease and pest surveillance and control, soil, market etc).

DBT is collaborating with different stake holders including the international, national andindustry to set up a “FarmerZone”. It would be a multi-purpose window for solutions and will beavailable for farmers anywhere in the world. Solutions will provided at the farm, similar to thatdone by e-commerce companies at the doorstep. The farmer can access the service directly orthrough an intermediate structure such as local co-operatives. The FarmerZone will include aMarketZone where farmers can directly sell their produce which can be picked up by directlyfrom the farm.

The key international partners at the event include the Research Councils, United Kingdom andUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA). From the industry’s side the Infosys,Microsoft Research and Jain Irrigations are partnering the event. Aprat from that the NGOs suchas GODAN, Ekgaon, FARMER are also supporting it. The participants expected at the event areagriculture experts from UK, USA and India.

As per the government’s top biotech agency, the event has been held keeping in line with thevision of the Prime Minister of India for the need for effective decision making in agriculturethat integrates science, technology, innovation and the farm ecosystem by asking for an‘Evergreen Revolution’.

As per the DBT, this Conclave is much in sync with the Prime Minister’s repeated emphasis onthe need is to modernize all aspects of agriculture to this purpose by bringing to bear qualityanalysis of the ecosystem, well-thought decisions and an efficient use of cutting-edge sciencetechnology to the very complex Indian farm environment.

The conclave will focus on small and marginal land-hold farmers who constitute a majorcomponent of Indian agriculture and challenges faced by them in context of soil, diseases,weather, and impact of climate change and market supply chain.

It aims to create an interface for the usage of advanced cyber-physical systems, machine learningand artificial intelligence, to collect- and analyse- data and create a service for the farmer, whichwill cater to the farmer’s needs and requirements (disease and pest surveillance, climate change:biotic and abiotic stress etc and advice thereof); Data availability for algorithm development isthe key and how best to use AI, cloud computing and drone/phone mapping etc for creating aviable, usable FarmerZone are all expected to be discussed at the two-day Conclave.

The Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan will attend the concluding sessionto review the outcomes of the Conclave.

Government has planned to create FarmerZoneCurrent Affairs

National Events

- Published: 03 September 2017

Under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Indian Department of Technology (DBT)convened a Smart Agricultural Conclave in New Delhi from 29-31 August 2017 in partnershipwith Britain's Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Research CouncilUK. (RCUK) India

The objective of this conclave was to make “FarmerZone” - a collective open source dataplatform for smart agriculture that will use biological research and data to improve the lives of




National Events







National Events




small and marginal farmers. It is believed that “FarmerZone” will help in fulfilling all the needsof the farmer by dealing with the requirements of the market, changes in the weather, weatherforecasts and the supply of soil, water to providing market intelligence.

This conclave is the approach of DBT which aligns with the desire of Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, to make effective decisions in the agriculture of which integrates science,technology, innovation and agro ecosystem.

With the Agriculture conclave, the purpose of DBT is to promote the process of technicalintervention to help small and marginal farmers who are a major component of Indianagriculture.

The conclave identified the challenges faced by each of the agro-climatic zones, and discussedpotential solutions through scientific interventions. Farmers' zone platforms will connect farmersand scientists, government officials, agriculture, economists and representatives of globalcompanies, who are working in large-data and e-commerce space, will bring about technology-based local agricultural solutions.

The platform will work to achieve relevant quality statistics related to agriculture in the clouds,linking with farmers to develop sentinel sites and developing PPP based enterprises for datadistribution.

Food security is a global concern and livelihood of millions of families depends on small-scaleagriculture. The conclave has demonstrated the massive research power of India and itsinternational partners in addressing this challenge collectively and in a global context, achievingthe effectiveness and building strong and sustainable research and innovation partnership.

Appreciating the initiative of FarmerZone, the Indian Union Minister of Science Technology andEarth Science and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harshvardhan said, "The initialtemplate is very impressive, our Prime Minister has the dream of doubling the income of thefarmers till 2022 and accordingly, the recommendations of the conclave will be implementedwith utmost need."

Government Planned to CreateFarmerZone – Open Source DataPlatformadmin

September 2, 2017

Agriculture Current Affairs, Science and Technology

With an aim to improve lives of small and low marginal farmers, Union Ministry of science andtechnology has planned to launch an open source data platform called FarmerZone. The dataserved will be from biological researches which will help farmers to improve the ways andmethods of agriculture using that data. The motive of the programme is to implement smartnessin agriculture which will include new and improved ways of agriculture.

The announcement was made by (DBT) at New Delhi at Smart Agriculture Conclave which wasorganized recently. Along with DBT that organized the conclave, UK based Biotechnology andBiological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Research Councils UK (RCUK) India areamong other partners for the conclave.

Objective:


September 2, 2017




Objective:


September 2, 2017




Objective:

FarmerZone by DBT will connect farmers, government officials, economists and representativesfrom global companies that are continuously working in the big-data and e-commerce space toprovide technology-based localised agricultural-solutions. FarmerZone will collect relevantquality data related to agriculture and data will be stored on cloud. More websites will bedeveloped to link farmers and evolve PPP based enterprises for data delivery.

FARMERZONE THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE

FARMERZONE: THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE

Why in News: The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science andTechnology, had recently convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi, in partnershipwith 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”.

What you need to know about FarmerZone?

It is a collective open-source data platform for smart agriculture which will use biologicalresearch and data to improve the lives of small and marginal farmers.

FarmerZone has been envisioned by the DBT and aligns with the Indian Prime Minister, Mr.Narendra Modi’s call for effective decision-making in agriculture that integrates science,technology, innovation and the farm ecosystem.

It is envisaged that “FarmerZone” will help cater to all needs of the farmer, from dealing withclimate change, weather predictions and soil, water, and seed requirements to providing marketintelligence.

The FarmerZone platform will connect farmers and scientists, government officials, thoughtleaders in agriculture, economists and representatives from global companies who work in thebig-data and e-commerce space to bring about technology-based localised agri-solutions.


Insights Daily Current Affairs, 01 September 2017BY INSIGHTSIAS · SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

Topic: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; PublicDistribution System objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks andfood security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.

Farm loan waivers a quick-fix, may have adverse impact

Terming farm loan waivers a “quick-fix”, the RBI has again voiced its concern, saying they willlead to a lasting adverse impact on farm productivity.

What’s the concern?

According to the Economic Survey 2016-17 (Volume 2), the burden of farm loan waivers couldbe as much as `2.2-2.7 lakh crore if all states start offering the relief and would stoke short-termdeflationary shock in the economy. The survey estimates that loan waivers by all states couldreduce aggregate demand by as much as 0.7% of GDP. This is because the states funding theloan waiver would have to prune spending and possibly raise taxes to improve revenue and stickto their fiscal deficit limits, although private demands tends to get a boost from the loan waivers.Even as the central government makes significant efforts toward fiscal consolidation, the higherdebt burden of the states could push up general government debt.

Why worry about this?

In the absence of coordinated and sustained efforts to put in place elements of a virtuous cycle ofuplift of farmers’ income, loan waivers have periodically emerged as a quick fix to ease theirdistress. Recently, states including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have announced farm loanwaivers adding up to Rs 1.3 trillion or 0.8% of GDP this fiscal.

Increased discrimination: Loan waivers also lead to faulty targeting of beneficiaries and resultantdiscrimination, incentivise wilful defaulters and erode credit discipline.

Deteriorating assets quality: Since waiver announcements and actual dole-out come with a timelag, in this interregnum, the quality of assets deteriorates and bridge provisions crowd out newloans. It impacts public finances via higher than budgeted revenue spends. This will have to befinanced by additional market borrowings which push up interest rates, not just for the states butfor the entire economy.

Collateral damage: A collateral damage is that private borrowers are crowded out as the cost ofborrowing rises. Even if loan waiver is accommodated within the budget, it will force cut-backsin other heads of expenditure.

Therefore, these loan waivers could impact credit discipline, vitiate credit culture anddisincentivise borrowers from repayment. Ultimately loan waivers involve a transfer of resourcesfrom tax payers to borrowers which can also crimp consumption redistribution.

Reasons for recurring farm distress:

The recurring farm distress is mainly because of “perennially low investment, archaic irrigationpractises, monsoon dependence, fragmented land-holdings, low tech adoption, lack of propertyrights and low initial networth of farmers.” All these can potentially imprison farmers in a circleof indebtedness with a disturbing frequency.

Way ahead:

There is a need for lasting solutions like building irrigation capabilities and cold storage chains,increased crop insurance coverage, farm infrastructure building, tech-enabled productivityimprovement and opening the sector to market forces and open trade can also help.

Sources: the Hindu.

http://www.dailycurrentaffairs.in/

You are here: Home / Daily Current Affairs / Govt to plans create Farmer Zone

Govt to plans create Farmer ZoneSeptember 1, 2017 By currentaffairs

Govt to plans create Farmer Zone

The Union Ministry of Science and Technology is planning tocreate FarmerZone, a collective open-source data platform for smart agriculture by usingbiological research and data to improve lives of small and marginal farmers.

It was announced by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) at recently convened SmartAgriculture Conclave in New Delhi.

The objective of conclave was to set stage for “FarmerZone”.

It was organised by DBT in partnership with UK’s Biotechnology and Biological SciencesResearch Council (BBSRC) and Research Councils UK (RCUK) India.

Daily Current Affairs with important short notes on current events and newspaper summary.

Filed Under: Daily Current Affairs, Science and Technology

http://www.business-standard.com/

Open source data platform for 'smart agriculture'proposedPress Trust of India | New Delhi Last Updated at September 1, 2017 00:13 IST

A plan to create an open source data platform for "smart agriculture" was mooted by theDepartment 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 farmersby providing market intelligence, weather predictions, and information on soil, water and seedrequirements.

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 andBiological 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-sourcedata platform for smart agriculture that will use biological research and data that can bebeneficial for small and marginal farmers.


It will connect farmers and scientists, government officials, leaders in agriculture, economistsand representatives from global companies who work in the big-data and e-commerce space tobring about technology-based localised agri-solutions.

"FarmerZone has been envisioned by the DBT and aligns with the Prime Minister NarendraModi'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 Technologysaid.

With the agricultural conclave, DBT aims to advance the process of technological intervention tohelp small and marginal land-holding farmers, who constitute a major component of Indianagriculture.

The conclave also identified the challenges faced in each agro-climatic region, and discussedpossible 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 touse research and technology to deliver 'FarmerZone'," DBT secretary Vijay Raghavan said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from asyndicated feed.)

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/

Open source data platform for smart agricultureproposed

PTISeptember 1, 2017 | UPDATED 00:10 IST

A +A -

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) 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 farmersby providing market intelligence, weather predictions, and information on soil, water and seedrequirements.The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology,convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave here in partnership with the UKs Biotechnology andBiological 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-sourcedata platform for smart agriculture that will use biological research and data that can bebeneficial 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 datadelivery.It will connect farmers and scientists, government officials, leaders in agriculture, economistsand representatives from global companies who work in the big-data and e-commerce space tobring about technology-based localised agri-solutions."FarmerZone has been envisioned by the DBT and aligns with the Prime Minister NarendraModis call for effective decision-making in agriculture that integrates science, technology,innovation and the farm ecosystem," a statement by the Ministry of Science and Technologysaid.With the agricultural conclave, DBT aims to advance the process of technological intervention tohelp small and marginal land-holding farmers, who constitute a major component of Indianagriculture.The conclave also identified the challenges faced in each agro-climatic region, and discussedpossible 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 DBTs vision to useresearch and technology to deliver FarmerZone," DBT secretary Vijay Raghavan said.It will focus on solutions in the farming eco-system, especially for small and marginal farmers,the officer said PTI PR ANB

AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY TODAY

A Service For Professionals • Friday, September 1, 2017 • 11462 Sources • 401,440,081 Articles • 3,328,029 Readers

<em>FarmerZone</em> in the making: DBT's Smart AgricultureConclave in partnership with the UKAug 31, 2017 - BBSRC

The Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology,convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi from 29-31 August 2017, in partnership

with the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and ResearchCouncils UK (RCUK) India.

World news story: FarmerZone in the making

Published: Friday, September 01, 2017 - 04:43 AM

Fri 1 September 2017: Department of Biotechnology's Smart Agriculture Conclave inpartnership with the UK was held in New Delhi, 29 to 31 August 2017.

The Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science andTechnology, convened the Smart Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi, in partnership with theUKâ€™s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and ResearchCouncils UK (RCUK) India.

The objective of this conclave was to create â€˜FarmerZoneâ€™ - a collective open-source dataplatform for smart agriculture which will use biological research and data to improve the lives ofsmall and marginal farmers. It is envisaged that â€˜FarmerZoneâ€™ will help cater to all needsof the farmer, from dealing with climate change, weather predictions and soil, water, and seedrequirements to providing market intelligence.

This conclave is DBTâ€™s vision which aligns with the Indian Prime Minister NarendraModiâ€™s desire for effective decision making in agriculture that integrates science,technology, innovation and the farm ecosystem.

With the agricultural conclave, DBT aims to advance the process of technological interventionto help small and marginal land-holding farmers, who constitute a major component of Indianagriculture.

The conclave identified the challenges faced in each agro-climatic region and discussedpossibleÂ solutionsÂ through scientificÂ interventions. The FarmerZone platform will connectfarmers and scientists, government officials, thought leaders in agriculture, economists andrepresentatives from global companies who work in the big-data and e-commerce space to bringabout technology-based localised agri-solutions.

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 datadelivery.

Food security is a global concern and the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of families dependon small scale agriculture. The conclave worked to address this challenge collectively andshowcased the enormous research strength of India and its international partners in a globalcontext, to achieve impact and build strong and sustainable research and innovationpartnerships.

Over two days, national and international experts in policy, IT, agritech companies, academics,farmers and representatives, along with research and innovation agencies from India, the UKand other countries, brought ideas, implementable solutions and discussed their potential role inbuilding new partnerships that will help co-design and develop â€˜FarmerZoneâ€™ - a publicgood that can be scaled up and applied across a number of different agro-climatic zones acrossthe world.

Appreciating the FarmerZone initiative, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Indian Union Minister for ScienceTechnology & Earth Sciences & Environment, Forests & Climate Change said the initialblueprint is very impressive, our the Prime Minister has a dream of doubling the income offarmers by 2022 and in accordance to that the recommendations of the conclave would beimplemented with utmost urgency.

The conclave was chaired by Professor VijayRaghavan, Secretary DBT. He said:

This conclave has brought together a diverse group of stakeholders ranging from farmers,scientists and businesses from the national and international arena, who share DBTâ€™s visionto use research and technology to deliver â€˜FarmerZoneâ€™ that will focus on solutions in thefarming ecosystem, especially for small and marginal farmers.

Sir Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India said:

The joint initiative at the official as well as the academic level will further strengthenburgeoning relationship between the UK and India, and will go a long way to put to effect theenthusiasm of the Prime Ministers of both the nations to use research, innovation andtechnology for peopleâ€™s benefits.

Steve Visscher CBE, Deputy Executive, International for BBSRC said:

The UK Research Councils have a strong, growing partnership with India â€“ a vital researchnation. BBSRC and RCUK India are delighted to work with DBT to help make their vision ofâ€˜FarmerZoneâ€™ a reality that will benefit India and other areas in the world. Thispartnership demonstrates the vital role that research and innovation has in delivering prosperityand addressing shared global challenges.

The India and UK are delighted to be partnering on a new joint initiative under Newton-BhabhaFund - â€˜UK-India Agricultural Data: enhancement by integration, interpretation and

reusabilityâ€™ led by the UKâ€™s Science and Technology Facilities Council(STFC), BBSRC and DBT. This joint programme aims to enhance the value of existingagricultural data focussing on animal and plant health to generate new knowledge that willinform effective pest and disease management.

The total UK budget available for this programme is Â£3.5 million (Â£1.75 million BBSRC andÂ£1.75 million STFC) with matched resources from DBT.

This joint initiative programme is supported by the Newton-Bhabha Fund - a programme thataims to strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK and emergingknowledge economies.

The UK delivery partners and DBT will work together to develop this programme over thecoming months, please visit the DBT and BBSRC websites regularly for updates and furtherinformation.

http://www.uniindia.com/home.aspx

Posted at: Aug 29 2017 8:23PM

2 day Smart Agriculture Conclave from tomorrowNew Delhi, Aug 29 (UNI) Department of Bio-Technology (DBT), Ministry of Science andTechnology, is holding a two-day ‘Smart Agriculture Conclave’ here from tomorrow.The expected outcome of the Conclave is to provide a roadmap for setting up a cloud-service''FarmerZone'' where the right kind of agri data is collated leading to maximum impact, vis-a-vis farmer needs and make this data useful for the farmer (data related to weather, diseaseand pest surveillance and control, soil, market etc).The Department is collaborating with different stake holders: international, national andindustry to set up a ''FarmerZone'', an official from Ministry of Science and Technologysaid.The "FarmerZone'' would be a multi-purpose window for solutions and will be available for















farmers anywhere in the world.The ''FarmerZone'' will include a MarketZone where farmers can directly sell their producewhich can be picked up directly from the farm.

Smart Agriculture Conclave to be held on August 30-3129 August 2017

Author: RM Bureau

Section: Industry

Category: Technology

With the vision of “the need for effective decision making in agriculture that integrates science,technology, innovation and the farm ecosystem by asking for an ‘Evergreen Revolution’ the needis to modernise all aspects of agriculture to this purpose by bringing to bear quality analysis ofthe ecosystem, well-thought decisions and an efficient use of cutting-edge science andtechnology to the very complex Indian farm environment”, Department of Bio-Technology(DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, is holding a ‘Smart Agriculture Conclave’ on 30-31August, 2017.

The expected outcome of the Conclave is to provide a roadmap for setting up a cloud-service“FarmerZone” where the right kind of agri data is collated and leading to maximum impact, vis-a-vis farmer needs and make this data useful for the farmer such as data related to weather,disease and pest surveillance and control, soil, market among various related information. TheDepartment is collaborating with different stake holders - international, national and industry toset up a “FarmerZone”.

The "FarmerZone” would be a multi-purpose window for solutions and will be available forfarmers anywhere in the world. Solutions will provided at the farm, similar to that done by e-commerce companies at the doorstep. The farmer can access the service directly or through anintermediate structure such as local co-operative. The FarmerZone will include a MarketZonewhere farmers can directly sell their produce which can be picked up by directly from the farm.

The Conclave will have International Research Councils, United States Department ofAgriculture (USDA), Infosys, Microsoft Research, Jain Irrigation, GODAN and EkgaonTechnologies as partners. It will be attended by experts from UK, USA and India.

The Conclave will focus on small and marginal land-holding farmers who constitute a major



Author: RM Bureau

Section: Industry









Author: RM Bureau

Section: Industry







component of Indian agriculture and challenges faced by them in the context of soil, diseases,weather, impact of climate change and market supply chain.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

INDIA

India to set up cloud-based digital platform to provideagriculture solutions to farmers at their doorstepsVishwa Mohan| TNN | Aug 30, 2017, 21:38 IST

NEW DELHI: Seeking to provide precise solution of complex farm-related problem to farmersat their doorsteps, the government has planned to set up a cloud-service - called 'FarmerZone' -where right kind of agri data will be collated, analysed and then distributed to take care of day-to-day needs of farmers.

Data related to weather prediction, disease and pest surveillance & control, soil nutrition,irrigation needs, seed selection, credit linkages and market access will be used for the developingthe cloud-based platform.

The concept is conceived by the department of biotechnology (DBT) of the science ministry,taking lessons from similar digital platform available to farmers in the United States, Israel andEuropean countries.

"The department has collaborated with different national and international stakeholders andindustry partners, including Infosys and Microsoft India, to set up the 'FarmerZone' usingcutting-edge technology", said an official.

The Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK) and the United States Department ofAgriculture (USDA) are also involved with the DBT to build a multi-purpose cloud-basedplatform for providing solutions to farmers anywhere in the country.

"Solutions will be provided at the farm, similar to that done by e-commerce companies at thedoorstep. The farmer can access the service directly or through an intermediate structure such aslocal co-operatives", said the science ministry in its concept note of the project.

It said, "The 'FarmerZone' will include a 'MarketZone' where farmers can directly sell theirproduce which can be picked up directly from the farm".



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DBT’s Smart Agriculture Conclave in partnership with … · Media coverage of DBT’s Smart Agriculture Conclave in partnership with the UK ... partnership with the UK’s Biotechnology