precision farming

Feb
21
2021
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
IIT Kharagpur Innovates DGPS-Enabled Soil Mapping Tech for Effective Fertilization

IIT Kharagpur Innovates DGPS-Enabled Soil Mapping Tech for Effective Fertilization

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Geospatial mapping is a buzzword today with the Govt. of India liberalizing the sector. There is another side of mapping that could transform the food security program of India; soil maps which could be accessed using differential GPS, developed by researchers at IIT Kharagpur for a variable rate of fertilization application in farmlands. The novel technology is aimed towards efficient use of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash for automated soil nutrition management by bypassing both manual labour based operations or sensor-based fertilization technologies which are still under development. Spatial variations in soil type and mineral content in large agricultural tracts are…
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Jan
20
2021
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
IIT Kharagpur to Incubate Agri-Food Startups to support Food Security

IIT Kharagpur to Incubate Agri-Food Startups to support Food Security

Spotlight Innovation, , , , , , , ,
Shiksha Mantri to Flag-off Agri-Food Techathon at IIT Kharagpur to promote Agri and Food Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship IIT Kharagpur in association with NABARD is organizing the first of its kind Agri-Food Techathon (AFT 2021), to promote the participation of India’s youth in innovation and entrepreneurship in different domains of the Agri-Food sector. AFT-2021 will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Shiksha Mantri Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on January 25, 2021. The foundation of the Agri-Business Incubation Centre will also be laid at the inaugural event, which will carry out the mandate to incubate innovative ideas in agriculture and food technology domain…
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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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Dec
03
2020
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By Shreyoshi Ghosh
Ammonia Hotspot Trends in India – First-time observations from India

Ammonia Hotspot Trends in India – First-time observations from India

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Indo-Gangetic Plain an atmospheric ammonia hotspot but India’s overall trends look promising Agro fertilizers containing high levels of ammonia have long been designated as a hazardous material for human health. For the first time in India, the seasonal and inter-annual variability of atmospheric ammonia emitted by the agricultural sector has been analyzed by researchers from IIT Kharagpur in collaboration with IITM Pune and European researchers. And the results are in agreement with the long-held apprehension of global environmentalists - the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is indeed the global hot-spot of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) due to intense agricultural activities and fertilizer production…
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