The Telangana government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently unveiled Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) as the newest addition to the Digital Public Goods Registry in an effort to give farmers knowledge about the consequences of climate change.
Using remote sensing and pattern detection algorithms, DiCRA can distinguish between farms that are highly vulnerable to climate change and those that are resistant to it. It employs open-source technologies to encourage study and knowledge exchange on climate resilience and is based on empirical inputs crowdsourced from hundreds of data scientists and citizen scientists on top-performing farms. According to a press statement from the office of Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao, the platform, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), aims to enhance food security and systems.
Provide farmers with access to vital data and analytics
Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP, claims that the DiCRA platform will provide farmers with access to vital data and analytics that will enable them to lessen the effects of climate change on their crops and animals and, as a result, increase the resilience of their livelihoods and overall food security.
The Minister added, “We are happy to support this first-of-its-kind digital commons to drive climate action not only for Telangana but for the entire world with UNDP Accelerator Labs and partner organisations.”
In order to solve the global challenge of food security, he noted that Telangana’s commitment to open data policy, service delivery to farmers, and anticipatory governance has advanced with DiCRA’s joining
Digital Public Goods Registry. He continued by saying that it offers information on climate resilience at the farm level and works in conjunction with the state’s thriving innovation economy.
More than 500 residents and researchers joined DiCRA
In three months, more than 500 residents and researchers from adjacent digital ecosystems joined DiCRA to support climate action over 112,077 square kilometres of the State. Data and analyses created with open source software are made available through DiCRA for free, allowing for their widespread replication.
Climate change has multiple effects on agriculture, impacting crop output, nutrient quality, and livestock productivity. “Digital technologies show enormous potential in creating resilience as we tackle climate change,” stated UNDP Resident Representative in India Shoko Noda. We are pleased to integrate cutting-edge data-driven technology with DiCRA to increase agricultural output. We are eager to expand the platform’s usage across India.
