Sugarcane Cultivation Using AI: Experts say that the use of AI is likely to increase sugarcane cultivation by about 30 percent. This will help sugar mills run for a long time and will also reduce losses.

Sugarcane Cultivation News: The use of AI in sugarcane cultivation is likely to reduce water requirements by 50 percent and increase production per acre by about 30 percent. An expert in this field said this on Wednesday. It is noteworthy that recently a meeting was held in Pune in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, in which the use of AI in sugarcane cultivation was discussed.

Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar, director of Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factory Association Limited, told PTI, "Microsoft has worked for a long time on the use of AI for sugarcane cultivation and has assured to increase sugarcane production by 30 percent and reduce water use by half. This will help sugar mills run for a longer period (more than 110 days) and also reduce losses."

How much will the new technology cost?

He said, that 40 (23 cooperative and 17 private) sugar mills of Maharashtra, which do not have any outstanding loan of VSI, will be included in this project (use of AI in sugarcane cultivation). Dandegaonkar said that initially, a farmer may need Rs 25,000. This technology will work on forecasting, soil testing, irrigation alerts, limiting the use of pesticides and protecting soil quality. He said that sugarcane production has decreased in Maharashtra.

How much is the sugarcane production?

Dandegaonkar said, "Due to less rainfall, the production per acre in the state has come down to 73 tonnes. With the use of AI, we can reach at least 150 tonnes per acre production in the near future." He said, "Farmers need to install drip in their fields for irrigation. We can hope that by the end of August or the first week of September, the first such station will be installed and operational."