Agri-startup developed CLASS analytical tool to assist settle crop loss claims in 7 days
Agrotech India has developed the Crop Loss Assessment Support System (CLASS), an analytical software platform that can be used to assess a crop’s yield or loss using remote sensing technology and drones, and then analyzed by ‘millions of algorithms.’
These algorithms, according to Akhilesh Jain, Co-founder of Agrotech India, would analyze data provided by remote-sensing technologies, primarily satellites, and drones, to calibrate yield and crop loss. As a result, growers may be able to seek Agri insurance in the event of a crop loss. ‘In fact, using CLASS will assist settle crop loss claims in seven days rather than the current 45 days,’ Jain explained.
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Settlement postponed
The firm, which was founded in 2019, focused on the Prime Minister’s Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) because it was based on agricultural yield. ‘When the crop was cut, the yield was manually measured. Growers were angry because it took so long to settle the farmers’ insurance benefits package,’ stated the co-founder of Agrotech, which is supported by Trinity Group (India) and East European startup Ctrl2Go LLC.
Agrotech conducted a trial project in Uttar Pradesh and offered it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare since farmers were becoming dissatisfied with the time it took to settle their claims.
A test project
In fact, the Centre asked 12-13 companies to carry out the first crop loss and yield pilot study. He explained, ‘We were shortlisted based on the trial we ran in five villages.’
The selection was subsequently whittled down to 6-7 companies, who were then requested to do another pilot in additional villages. Agrotech took up the project in 50 districts as part of this. ‘After that, we executed a second pilot operation in 50 regions, 25 during the kharif season and the remainder during the rabi season. Our technology has been thoroughly examined and validated,’ Jain explained.
Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat are among the states with 50 districts.
Crop evaluation in digital format
‘We have the most advanced technology to monitor agricultural progress, despite the fact that it is new to the country,’ he said, adding that farmers could profit greatly from the government, banks, and insurance companies.
While Agrotech has approached a number of companies, including FMCG companies, to give its technological platform, the State Bank of India has already begun to use it. ‘Our technology will assist banks in digitally assessing crops and providing loans to farms by validating yields,’ Jain explained.
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Agrotech has also made a free farm advisory services app available to farmers. Farmers may use the app to get advice on crop health, which crops to plant, which pests or diseases are a threat to the crop, fertilizer use, and weather forecasts. ‘By the end of 2020-21, 10,000 farmers had downloaded the app. By the end of this fiscal year, we hope to have onboarded one million growers,’ he stated.
Farmers’ income has also benefited from the advising service. For example, in Uttar Pradesh, a farmer who had been cultivating paddy for ten years was asked to plant jackfruit on a portion of his acreage. ‘The farmer’s revenue increased 1.5 times in one season as a result of this,’ the Agrotech co-founder explained.
Management of water resources
Agrotech is also involved in water resource management, which involves restoring and rejuvenating water bodies all throughout the country. ‘We had 800,000 water bodies at one point, but 70% of them are now dead.’ The Centre is working hard to resurrect these bodies, and we’re doing our part by bringing in cutting-edge technology,’ Jain said.
The method is based on filtration and is also reliant on the drainage water. In Ghaziabad, the firm has embarked on a project to treat wastewater from the Brij Vihar drain or sewage. ‘The drainage system hasn’t been cleaned in years, and as a result, water overflows during the monsoon and into homes.’ He explained that the drainage is being rejuvenated in two stages.
The sewage is mechanically cleaned in the first phase to remove the sludge and desilt it. Filtration is the following step, which lowers the biochemical and chemical oxygen demand levels in the sewage. ‘We’ve finished renewing two kilometres of 12 kilometres of sewage, which now resembles a canal. The local civic body has been helpful as well, with Ghaziabad Commissioner Mahendra Singh Tanwar at the forefront,’ Jain said.
Agrotech has 700 developers and engineers on staff, 47 proprietary solutions, and 38 patents. Also Read | Farmers can now get benefited from free precision farming advice from remote sensing.
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