AGROVISION Foundation, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSSLUP), Nagpur and the Baramati Agricultural Development Trust on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to make AI-based technological guidance accessible to farmers of Vidarbha. Under this agreement, essential domain knowledge for major crops such as tur daal, sugarcane, and orange will be developed initially, after which collaborative efforts will be undertaken to enhance farmers’ productivity. Once these pilot projects succeed, more crops will be included.

 

The agreement was signed on the third day of the Agrovision exhibition held at the grounds of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University Amravati Road campus in Nagpur. Present on the dais were Nitin Gadkari, Chief Promoter of Agrovision and Union Minister; Padma Shri Pratap Pawar, Managing Director and Chairman of Sakal Media Group; Vivek Bhoite of the Baramati Agricultural Development Trust; Dr Sharad Gadakh, Vice-Chancellor of Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth; Dr H Biswas, Principal Scientist of NBSSLUP; Dr C D Mayee, Advisor to Agrovision Foundation; and Ravi Boratkar, President of Agrovision Foundation.

 

The MoU was signed by Vivek Bhoite, Ravi Bortkar, and Dr H Biswas. Informative compering and moderation of the panel discussion were done by Dr Mayee. Pratap Pawar made a heartfelt appeal stating that farmers must take responsibility for their own development. He emphasised that their mission has always been the upliftment of farmers. He shared the success story from Baramati, explaining how farmers there have achieved sugarcane yields of up to 150 tonnes per acre after the adoption of AI-based technology.