IIT Kharagpur to Offer Online Course to Train Researchers on Digitization of Farming Technologies

IIT Kharagpur has announced that it will start an online course to train researchers for the application of digital technologies in agriculture.

The online course will be conducted by IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering.

In a statement, IIT Kharagpur Director, Virendra Kumar Tiwari claimed that the outreach projects in agricultural digitization are of paramount importance towards development and adoption of knowledge-intensive agriculture education. Besides this, the researchers also help globally in precision farming and smart farming as well through innovations and data analytics.

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This short- term course pertaining to agriculture will focus on teaching farmers about how to utilise technology for enhancing productivity with minimal effort and cost.

Devices like sensors, drones, robots, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Machine Vision Techniques, Computer- Aided Designs and advanced digital technologies application will be implemented in agriculture.

“The recent calamities and their after-effects have shown us that we all need to be prepared for such events or even return to the ways of organic farming while enhancing the agricultural yields by means of technology,” said the Director of IIT Kharagpur. 

The pilot programme will commence with the postgraduates, doctoral students and faculty members and scientists from the Vasantrao Marathwada Krishividyapeeth University, Maharashtra.

Need for the Programme-

• Agricultural Sector the largest employment vertical of India with the GDP share around 14%
• India has been witnessing a significant rise in yields and crop diversity due to mechanization programmes.
• Higher consumption due to population explosion as well as the rising income has been the constant challenges being faced by the agricultural sector.
• The course envisages the enhancement of quality and relevance of agricultural higher education to agricultural university students.
• It is crucial to empower human resources with digital technologies in the field of agricultural science and technology, particularly in less-explored domains.

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