Google hosted the second edition of the Google I/O Connect developers conclave in Bengaluru. At the event, Google announced a partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to offer Artificial Intelligence training to 10,000 startups. Additionally, Google introduced the Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) Research API to India.
The ALU Research API is designed to address the challenges posed by global warming-induced erratic weather conditions, which have made it difficult for governments to increase food production to meet the needs of the growing global population. Technology can play a crucial role in understanding soil quality and weather conditions, helping farmers to grow crops more efficiently and yield better results. Google’s ALU Research API aims to make agricultural practices more data-driven and efficient, collaborating with Indian startups to support the farming sector both in India and globally.
Bengaluru-based Cropin Technology, which offers an AI platform for the food and agriculture sector, announced the launch of its new service, Sage, at the event. Powered by Google Gemini, Sage is touted to be the world’s first real-time agri-intelligence solution. It has converted over 16 million acres of the world’s agricultural landscape into a proprietary grid-based map, offering options of 3×3 meters, 10×10 meters, or 5×5 kilometers.
Sage can deliver data and intelligence at almost any scale with accuracy and speed. This enables consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, seed manufacturers, food processors, multilateral organizations, financial institutions, and governments to make informed decisions based on historical, present, and future data on cultivation practices, crops, irrigation, climate, and soil. Sage helps the Cropin Cloud platform to future-proof agri-food businesses’ production and supply chains.
Cropin uses advanced technologies such as generative AI, machine learning (ML), multilayered global climate data, a global crop knowledge graph, earth observation data, and advanced crop models to significantly increase crop production in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner. With AI and ML, Cropin Sage can even forecast future yields.
“At launch, Cropin’s enterprise customers can deploy Sage across geographic locations, providing intelligence on 13 key crops, including wheat, rice, potato, and maize, which collectively cover almost 80% of the world’s food demand. Cropin plans to build and deploy Sage globally in a phased approach, aligned with enterprise customer requirements and demand,” the company said.
