Krishna, a farmer from Telangana, India, earns $120 monthly from cultivating his half-hectare plot. However, he must face unpredictable weather patterns, climate change, and a volatile economy, among other challenges.
His story is similar to other smallholder farms in the developing world. It’s why the World Economic Forum India’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial, in collaboration with India’s Union Ministry of Agriculture and the state of Telangana, launched the AI for Agriculture Innovation (AI4AI).
Over eight months from June 2020, the program held 45 workshops to discuss challenges among smallholder farmers and how AI could help. The discussions led to an AI4AI plan to help smallholder farmers harness the power of new technologies, including AI, drones, and blockchain.
Stakeholders tested the AI4AI framework among 7,000 farmers in the Khammam district of Telangana. It involved industry and start-up partners and used government data management tools to scale the initiative among the farmers.
The pilot took 18 months and three crop cycles to complete. During this time, farmers reported a remarkable surge in net income: $800 per acre in a single crop cycle in six months, effectively double the average income. The digital advisory services contributed to a 21 percent increase in chili yield production per acre. Pesticide use fell by 9 percent, fertilizers dropped by 5 percent, and quality improvements boosted unit prices by 8 percent.