Wadhwani AI gets $3.3-mn grant from Google.org

Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) on Friday said it has received $3.3 million (Rs27.42 cr) grant from Google.org for undertaking a project to protect staple food crops using pest mitigation technology.

Wadhwani AI’s solution, currently manifests in the Cotton Ace app that has helped improve crop productivity and farmer incomes, uses pictures uploaded by farmers to identify pests and provide data-driven solutions to address crop damage, while also providing them up-to-date information on weather, farming methods, and crop prices.

“We aim to boost efficiency and production in the Indian agricultural sector using AI. Our Cotton Ace app, supported by Google.org, has already increased farmers’ profits by 20 per cent and reduced pesticide expenses by 25 per cent. This recent grant will help us expand our technology to safeguard staple crops like rice, wheat, and corn,” Shekar Sivasubramanian, CEO of Wadhwani AI, said. The non-profit institute is one of 15 organisations worldwide to receive support through the $25 million philanthropy challenge by Google.org for projects that use artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the company said in a statement.

Annie Lewin, Senior Director of Global Advocacy and Head of Asia Pacific at Google.org, said: “This new grant to Wadhwani AI speaks directly to Google’s DNA, supporting the real-world application of the latest advancement in AI and technology to safeguard the sustenance of a whole nation.” Wadhwani AI will also create two language model-based apps that use verified sources like agriculture research and government schemes, integrating them into PM Kisan chatbot and Kisan Call Centres. These apps will include features like text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and translation for Indian languages, making it easier for people to access this information using voice commands in multiple languages.