AI-Driven Farming Transforms Samastipur Village with RPCAU Support, Says VC

While India is the epicenter of international deliberations on what will be the impact of Artificial Intelligence globally, Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU), through different media, has informed about the endeavors made to be at the forefront of digital agriculture in Bihar with the integration of AI, drones and other cutting, edge technologies in farming.

The university Vice Chancellor, P.S. Pandey said that the university is acting as a torch bearer in the transition from the use of traditional farming methods to data, based precision agriculture through the implementation of their Fasal IoT, SaaS platform. The initiative has helped convert Kothiya village in Samastipur district into a model for digital agriculture.

“The platform enables farmers to move away from instinct-based decisions and adopt scientific, real-time data monitoring,” Pandey said. The Fasal system gives farmers information on soil moisture and temperature along with hyper, local weather forecasts, which helps them decide when to irrigate and other crop management activities.

As per the university, the platform includes features like precision irrigation, automated fertigation, early pest and disease warning and AI, based crop monitoring. Farmers from Kothiya and surrounding areas are adopting smartphone, operated drip irrigation and IoT sensors to raise efficiency and output.

Pandey claimed the impact has been substantial. Farmers participating in the programme have noticed crop yields going up by 30 to 40 per cent besides significantly lowering the costs of inputs. The technology has further facilitated the cultivation management of prized crops like litchi, maize and turmeric.

RPCAU's extension services have been instrumental in farmer training and adoption of digital tool facilitation, thus helping to connect the dots between research in the lab and implementation in the fields. We concentrate on equipping farmers with technology that enables them to make knowledgeable, data, supported decisions, Pandey stated.

The VC further remarked that following better productivity and quality control, some farmers have claimed annual turnovers of 34 crore. Besides yield improvement, the initiative has also led to more efficient use of resources, especially water and fertiliser.

RPCAU is keen on growing its digital agriculture activities and the university is hopeful that the model can bring about a change in the way farming is done not only in Bihar but throughout India by allowing AI, based agriculture to be more reachable to small and medium farmers.