India is one of the world’s primary cotton producers and is estimated to have six million cotton farmers. Unfortunately, a massive share of their yield is lost to pests every year. With pesticides being the most common solution to counter infestation, they are often over-used causing harm to the environment, land, and health of the farmers.
Wadhwani AI has the solution.

Their app CottonAce offers real-time guidance and recommendations to cotton farmers that target pests at the right time and with the most effective measures, reducing the risk of damaging their crops.

It’s easy to use, too. Farmers install pest traps, photograph the trap catch, and upload the images into the app where AI analyses the photos and gives instant directions on what pesticide to use and when to apply it.

In trials, CottonAce has helped reduce pesticide use by an estimated 25 percent, increased awareness around indiscriminate usage, and raised incomes for farmers.

VIDEO 55 seconds

Team members: Shekar Sivasubramanian, Dr. Alpan Rawal, Vikram Kumar, Dr. Jigar Doshi, Dr. Jerome White, Sonali Ghike, Dr. Srinivas Rao and Dr. Utkarsh Ghate.
Country: India
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