Agriculture

Jan
25
2021
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By Poulami Mondal
Agri-food startups to play a key role in developing self-reliant India: Shiksha Mantri

Agri-food startups to play a key role in developing self-reliant India: Shiksha Mantri

Events, , , , , , ,
Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ flagged off the Agri-Food Techathon at IIT Kharagpur and also laid the foundation for Agri-Business Incubation Centre, which will incubate innovative ideas in the agriculture and food technology domain for creating Agri-preneures. Addressing the first Agri-Food Techathon organized by NABARD and IIT Kharagpur, Union Education Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said that the country's agricultural sector, including our farmers, our villages, are the pillars of self-reliant India. "If they remain strong then the foundation of self-reliant India will be strong and I believe that the role of agri-food startups will be very important in developing a…
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Jan
18
2021
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By Guest Contributor
Promotion of Micro-irrigation installation for improving horticultural production

Promotion of Micro-irrigation installation for improving horticultural production

Expert Insight, , ,
By Prof. K N Tiwari, Dept. of Agricultural and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur Adoption of micro-irrigation system in the country rose from a meagre 1500 hectares in the 1980s to nearly 86.21 lakh hectares in 2016, yet the technology adoption is confined only to 18 States and the area is negligibly small in most of the eastern and North Eastern States. Presently, this technology is in vogue only for very few crops. Among the horticultural crops, drip technology is adopted mostly, in fruits with a penetration of 34%. This is followed by vegetables (14%), plantation crops (13%), coconut (12%). citrus…
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Jan
06
2021
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
Automating sugarcane plantation to boost profitability

Automating sugarcane plantation to boost profitability

In-Depth, , , , , , , , , ,
Researchers at IIT Kharagpur have developed devices for automating a range of functions for planting sugarcane buds, fitted with an autonomous fungicide application with the aim to reduce labour hours and raw material wastage.  Sugarcane is a global industrial crop popular for the production of sugar, bioenergy, paper, ethanol, electricity etc. The economic importance of the crop in India is paramount with the country registering 17% of global sugarcane production, second only to Brazil. But each year the farmers are losing excess cane stalk as seed material due to conventional cultivation practice which is also labour and time-intensive thus increasing…
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Jul
17
2020
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
IIT KGP Forecasts Facilitating Farming Decisions

IIT KGP Forecasts Facilitating Farming Decisions

In-Depth, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
IIT Kharagpur's Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa is forecasting climatic risks and advising farmers for better agricultural decision-making Hindustan Times       Live Mint        India Blooms        News 18 (Hindi)         Careers360        The Week      Outlook         News Nation      USA Science News             Financial Express        Republic World       Navbharat Times      The Arunachal Times       Deccan Herald Researchers at IIT Kharagpur have developed an advanced weather prediction system to facilitate better decision making in agricultural production and reduction of…
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Jul
13
2020
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
Towards Farm Digitization

Towards Farm Digitization

In-Depth, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
IIT Kharagpur Training Researchers in Application of Digital Technologies in Agriculture for bringing Digital Revolution in the Farm sector In 2015, the Government of India had launched the Digital India programme to transition India’s public service sector into the digital space. Agriculture is the largest employment vertical with a GDP share of 14% holds a key place in this mission to digitization. Over the years, India has witnessed a substantial increase in yields, crop diversity due to mechanization and knowledge dissemination programmes. However, the steeping consumption due to population explosion and rising income has been a constant challenge despite the…
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Jul
12
2020
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
Transforming Rural Economies

Transforming Rural Economies

Social Impact, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
COVID-19 has given a clarion call for a technology-enabled world, more so in the context of the Indian rural sector which has always stayed several steps behind the urban way of living. The slow progress could be attributed to not just lack of financial resources but also towards weak communication of functional knowledge, for a large population lacking literacy (M: 80.9%, F: 64.6%), and reliance on western technologies failing to cater to the requirements of the rural population of India. Researchers at IIT Kharagpur have come forward to bridge this gap by rolling out farming technologies as well as non-farming…
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Feb
20
2020
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By Poulami Mondal
Reaching Out to Rural Community

Reaching Out to Rural Community

Social Impact, , , , , , , ,
IIT Kharagpur Reaches out to Village Youth at the Agri Food Expo 2020 for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Rural Technologies with contributions from Guru Sanjeev Kumar The Dept. of Agriculture & Food Engineering organized the Agri Food Expo 2020 during February 14-16, 2020, under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan programme of the Government of India. A Workshop on Technologies for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was conducted wherein 300 participants from West Bengal and neighbouring states were trained. The workshop was primarily targeted towards unemployed rural youth who at least have a college degree and a zeal to undertake livelihood projects.…
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