An industry hungry for change

                                            

The threat that the world will struggle to feed itself in 2050 is very real. The UN projects that the world population is likely to reach 9.8 billion, up from 7.8 billion as of 2021. That’s a 26% increase in the span of 20 years. In the same time period, soil fertility is expected to be compromised while the weather is likely to become increasingly unpredictable. This congruence of situations means that the global food supply chain will be put under unprecedented stress due to a fluctuating output. The scenes which may follow, are likely to be right out of a dystopian science fiction novel. Children and adults in developing and underdeveloped nations starving. The developed world, at each other’s throats in order for each nation to secure enough rations to feed their population.

 

The circumstances are even more dire in India. While other countries may see off this threat by reallocating resources into agriculture, the structural changes predicted in the Indian economy are likely to prevent that. Agriculture is already an oversaturated field. 50% of the country’s labour force is directly involved, but it amounts only for 18% of the country’s GDP. Higher literacy rates have seen more and more people leave agriculture for roles in manufacturing or service industries, leaving less hands available for farm work. More concerning is the current imbalance in farmers’ allocation of resources. Time and time again, the excess use of fertilizers and chemicals has resulted in public health crises across the country. The cancer rate in Punjab, being only the most prominent of such examples.  Thus, the pressure to simultaneously increase allocative efficiency and production capabilities has risen. The most effective way to do so is by employing Artificial Intelligence(AI) to guide farmers on how best to work their fields to maximise their production capacity.

 

Multiple studies have revealed that Indian farmers have consistently over-fertilised their soil, and overwatered their crops. Both of these actions pose dangers to the sustainability of the environment, and the health of consumers and farmers alike. An AI centric approach would look to mitigate the excess costs borne by the farmers because of their overuse of chemicals, and irradicate the potential millions of rupees associated with the negative externalities of these farming practices. Doing so while systematically improving the productivity for farmers and creating an environment in which they can maximise yield will be of paramount importance as the world’s overpopulation spirals out of control.

 

Utilising AI will create an environment for a method of precision farming on a scale, never witnessed before. It cannot be understated, in any terms, the necessity to introduce a system which can appropriately inform rural farmers of the various quantities of input variables that they will require, to induce the highest possibility for their best harvests. If these measures are not taken, the ensuing financial and labour crunches will result in Indian farmers lose out to global competition, and be driven into poverty. Or worse, chaotic levels of pressure on food supply, leading to a mismanagement of unseen proportions.

All of which can be avoided, by encouraging the rural Indian farmer, to modernise. We can confidently conclude that the initial costs associated with employing such technology, though steep, is earned back over the long-run and is safer, healthier, and more economical for the community at large.

 

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