Kerala signs MoU with Cisco to launch smart farming infrastructure

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with networking giant Cisco to carry the benefits of digital technology and data science to the farming communities in the state.

According to Cisco, the first phase of this initiative will be carried out in 15 panchayats across Kannur district. In accordance with the MoU, Cisco will build an Agri-Digital Infrastructure (ADI) platform, to set up village knowledge centers (VKCs) for knowledge delivery, and deliver access to e-learning and suggested services to the farming and fishing communities in Kannur.

Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagements at Cisco, said in a statement, “The impact of technology can be transformational for those who need it most, elevating standards of living and foster economic development.”

The ADI platform will deliver access to a data store with farming data of paddy and prawn farms in the region along with land and farmer profile databases.

This data store will run Cisco’s analytics and calculate engines to abstract understandings on crop yields, weather patterns, plant disease patterns, soil quality, moisture content, forecasting and other data, and make it accessible to farmers and government officials through the village knowledge centers.

This Cisco ADI Platform will be added by a custom-built smart agricultural platform that uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, non-IoT databases, satellite/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images to gather and relay real-time intelligence on soil content, moisture, weather conditions and other parameters, the company said. Through the village knowledge centres, farmers would also be able to access vital information on government policy updates, crop advisory services, market trends, rates and best practice videos. Farmers will also gain accessibility to government provisioned financing on a content management system through a mobile application and web portal, Cisco said.