New Delhi, May 12 -- On the International Day of Plant Health, ITC highlighted the role of its ITCMAARS 'phygital' ecosystem in helping farmers detect crop diseases early and improve farm productivity through AI and machine learning-powered solutions.
Aligned with this year's theme, "Plant Biosecurity for Food Security", promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), ITC said its AI-enabled 'Crop Doctor' tool is supporting real-time diagnosis of plant diseases and pest infestations.
Available on the ITCMAARS superapp, Crop Doctor covers 70 crops and has been used over 3 lakh times.
The feature uses AI-based image analytics to identify diseases and provides customised remedial measures, including chemical, biological and mechanical crop management practices. Recommendations are offered in vernacular text and audio formats.
Launched in 2022, ITCMAARS has evolved into a Farming as a Service (FaaS) platform integrating digital technologies with farmer producer organisations (FPOs).
The platform has benefited nearly 2.5 million farmers and 2,180 FPOs across 11 states. Pilot estimates indicate a 10-15 per cent reduction in fertiliser usage, a 15-20 per cent increase in crop yields and around 25 per cent improvement in farm incomes.
The ecosystem also includes AI-powered Crop Calendar and Fertiliser Calculator tools, along with 'Krishi Mitra', an AI-based agri co-pilot developed with Microsoft.
Available in eight Indian languages, Krishi Mitra has addressed nearly 2 lakh farmer queries over two years.
ITC said ITCMAARS also leverages remote sensing, IoT analytics and Climate AI studies to identify crop stress, pest hotspots and climate
risks.
These initiatives support ITC's Climate Smart Agriculture programme, which now covers 31 lakh acres across 19 states and has benefited over 12 lakh farmers. Mpost
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.