Global crop science major Syngenta Group aims to expand its digital platform, ‘Cropwise Grower’, to support India’s smallholder farmers by providing access to the latest technologies, market prices, and agronomist services in local languages, a senior company official said.
“The game changer is that the small farmers who might not have had access to expert agronomists, can now get answers from an AI in their local languages personalized to their specific farm holding,” Feroz Sheikh, chief information and digital officer, Syngenta Group, told FE.
He said the platform has been customised for Indian small farmers and assists them in selecting seeds and detecting pests such as nematodes using artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery.
Present userbase
Currently, the application is used by 2.38 million farmers, covering nearly 6 million hectares across the country. It has seen significant adoption in northern states such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, with plans underway to expand into Andhra Pradesh.
According to the official, the long-term vision is to create a unified ecosystem where farmers can access market prices and other essential information without paying subscription fees.
Syngenta is also aiming to integrate Cropwise with the agriculture ministry’s proposed Virtually Integrated System To Access Agricultural Resources (VISTAAR). Through this initiative, farmers will gain access to virtual classrooms where they can learn best agricultural practices, improve productivity, and access credit, insurance, and digital marketplaces.
Feroz on app adoption
Feroz stated that adoption of Cropwise has been rapid since its launch 18 months ago, and its future integration with VISTAAR will depend on the evolving landscape of India’s agriculture sector. He added that the company was the first to launch drone-based agricultural services in India in 2023, which farmers can now request directly through the Cropwise app.
The company is also developing an AI-powered chatbot to provide instant responses to farmer queries, initially focusing on crops such as cotton, paddy, and soybean. This pilot program will facilitate communication in both Hindi and Marathi, ensuring it is relevant and accessible to local farmers.
Cropwise, a digital platform, supports small-holders farmers globally by providing insights and recommendations to increase crop yields. Currently about 78 million hectares have been covered under the ‘Cropwise” app across the globe. “In the next four to five years we are aiming to cover another 25 million hectares with a Crop Wise app to reach an overall 100 million hectare,” Sheikh said.
